Silverlink

Class 313 atKilburn High Road in 2007
Overview
Franchises	North London Railways 2 March 1997 – 10 November 2007
Main region	Greater London
Other regions	Bedfordshire,Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire,Northamptonshire
Fleet	67
Stations called at	88
Parent company	National Express
Reporting mark	SS
Successors	London Overground London Midland
Other
Website	Archived website
Route map Legend Bedford Bedford St Johns Kempston Hardwick Birmingham New Street Stewartby Birmingham International Millbrook Coventry Lidlington Rugby Ridgmont Long Buckby Aspley Guise Northampton Woburn Sands Wolverton Bow Brickhill Milton Keynes Central Fenny Stratford Bletchley Leighton Buzzard Cheddington St Albans Abbey Tring Park Street Berkhamsted How Wood Hemel Hempstead Bricket Wood Apsley Garston Kings Langley Watford North Watford Junction Watford High Street Bushey Carpenders Park Hatch End Headstone Lane Harrow & Wealdstone ()Kenton ()South Kenton ()North Wembley ()Wembley Central Stonebridge Park () Harlesden () Willesden Junction () Kensington (Olympia) Kensal Green() West Brompton Queen's Park Clapham Junction Kilburn High Road Acton Central South Hampstead South Acton Euston Gunnersbury Kensal Rise Kew Gardens Brondesbury Park Richmond Brondesbury West Hampstead Finchley Road & Frognal Hampstead Heath Gospel Oak Kentish Town West Upper Holloway Camden Road Crouch Hill Caledonian Road & Barnsbury Harringay Green Lanes Highbury & Islington South Tottenham Canonbury Blackhorse Road Dalston Kingsland Walthamstow Queen's Road Hackney Central Leyton Midland Road Homerton Leytonstone High Road Hackney Wick Wanstead Park Stratford Woodgrange Park West Ham Barking Canning Town Custom House Silvertown North Woolwich OtherNational Rail Shared route withBakerloo line Silverlink County OtherUnderground lines transferred to Central Trains 2004 DLR Silverlink Metro Birmingham Intl Airport service withdrawn 2006 Woolwich Ferry This diagram: view talk edit

Silverlink^[1] was atrain operating company in the United Kingdom owned byNational Express that operated the North London Railways franchise from March 1997 until November 2007. At the end of 2007, Silverlink Metro services were taken over byLondon Overground and Silverlink County services were taken over byLondon Midland.

The North London Railways franchise was awarded toNational Express on 7 February 1997.^[2] National Express commenced operating the franchise on 3 March 1997.

After initially trading asNorth London Railways, in September 1997 the franchise was rebranded as Silverlink.^[3]

The franchise was due to finish on 15 October 2006, but on 11 August 2006 theDepartment for Transport granted an extension until 10 November 2007.^[4] Upon its closure, its London metro services were taken over byLondon Overground and the remainder were merged withCentral Trains' western services to formLondon Midland.

Silverlink had two sub-brands:

Silverlink Metro was used for services primarily within Greater London:

• North Woolwich – Richmond (the North London Line)
• Willesden Junction – Clapham Junction (the West London Line)
• London Euston – Watford Junction viaWillesden Junction (the Watford DC line)
• Gospel Oak – Barking (the Gospel Oak to Barking Line)

Silverlink County was used for services beyond Greater London:

• London Euston –Northampton (Birmingham New Street until 2004)
• Watford Junction – St Albans Abbey (the St Albans Abbey Line)
• Bletchley – Bedford (the Marston Vale Line)

Silverlink Metro operated these services.

Note: Changes during the franchise period are noted but changes to the lines before and after the franchise are not.

These services ran on theNorth London line:

† At the end of service on Saturday 9 December 2006 the line between Stratford and North Woolwich closed, as much of the route was duplicated by theDocklands Light Railway and theJubilee line, leaving Stratford as the eastern terminus of the North London Line.^[5]

These services ran via theWest London line:

Shepherd's Bush on the West London Line was due to open under the franchise (with signage in Silverlink colours installed), but platform widening work meant that it finally opened in September 2008 underLondon Overground management, the signage being replaced with the London Overground roundels by that time.

These services ran on theWatford DC line:

† = also served by theBakerloo line.

These services ran on theGospel Oak to Barking line:

Birmingham Line services ran on the slow lines of theWest Coast Main Line. The service was cut back to Northampton in September 2004, with services north of Northampton being transferred to partner operatorCentral Trains,^[6] and some through services remained. (Central Trains, like Silverlink, was a subsidiary ofNational Express and the operations shared rolling stock.)

Prior to 2004 the service also continued to Birmingham, calling at the following stations:

These services ran on theAbbey Line

These services ran on theMarston Vale line betweenBedford andBletchley:

Silverlink was categorised as a London and South East operator by the Office for Rail Regulation (ORR) and was one of the best performing TOCs in this sector with a PPM (Public Performance Measure) of 90.8% for the last quarter of the financial year 2006/7.^[7] Despite these figures,^[8] the Silverlink Metro franchise on the North London Line was regarded by frequent travellers as offering a poor service,^[9] with extremely congested trains and an unreliable service^[10] with some trains cancelled shortly before they were due to arrive. ALondon Assembly report said passengers found the service"shabby, unreliable, unsafe and overcrowded".^[11]

Silverlink inherited a fleet ofClass 117 andClass 121diesel multiple units, andClass 313 andClass 321electric multiple units, fromBritish Rail.

To replace the elderly Class 117s and 121s, which operated the Gospel Oak - Barking and Bletchley - Bedford services, sevenClass 150Sprinters were transferred fromCentral Trains in summer 1999; an eighth followed in 2006.^{[12][full citation needed]} Pending the Sprinters' arrival, Silverlink hiredClass 31 locomotives fromFragonset to top and tailMark 2 carriages on Bletchley - Bedford services in 1998/99.

The Class 313s operated Metro services on the electrified routes; they were joined on the Euston - Watford Junction service in 2003 by threeClass 508s transferred fromMerseyrail. The Class 321s operated County services toNorthampton and Birmingham; they were joined in 2005 by newClass 350s. The Watford Junction - St Albans Abbey service was operated for many years by Class 313s, but latter was usually operated by Class 321s with Silverlink Metro drivers and Silverlink County guards.

On 16 July 2004,Virgin Trains announced that it was withdrawing most of its stops atMilton Keynes Central, which were used by up to 6,000 passengers a day. Commuters became unhappy at the prospect of switching to older Silverlink trains, and a longer journey. Silverlink countered this with the temporary usage of ex-Virgin stock, still in Virgin colours.^[13]

TheStrategic Rail Authority decided to divert thirty four-carriageSiemens Desiro trains from an order placed bySouth West Trains to provide stock with faster acceleration for theWest Coast Main Line operators. These trains, the Class 350s, were not allocated to a specific operator, but were instead used jointly by Silverlink and Central Trains, both owned by National Express.

Pending the arrival of these trains, from September 2004 Silverlink introduced two sets ofMark 3 carriages, formerly of Virgin Trains, hauled by VirginClass 87 andEWSClass 90 electric locomotives on peak-hour Northampton services.^[14][15] Additionally, five Class 321s were hired fromOne, another National Express-owned operator.

Class	Image	Type	Top speed		Number	Routes operated	Built	Period used	Notes
			mph	km/h
121Bubble Car		DMU	70	112	4	Gospel Oak to Barking Line Marston Vale Line	1960	1997–2001	Replaced by Class 150s.
150/1Sprinter			75	120	8		1984–1987	1999–2007
313/1		EMU			23	Silverlink Metro: North London Line West London Line Watford DC Line	1976–1977	1997–2007	Refurbished between 1997 and 2001.
321/4			100	160	37	Silverlink County: Northampton Line St Albans Abbey Line	1989–1990	1997–2007
350/1Desiro					30	Silverlink County: Northampton Line	2004–2005	2004–2007	Shared use byCentral Trains and Silverlink on the southern section of the West Coast Main Line.
508/3			75	120	3	Silverlink Metro: Watford DC Line	1979–1980	2003–2007	Refurbished 2003.

Silverlink's fleet was maintained atBletchley Depot. FollowingVirgin Trains ceasing to operate electric locomotives, Silverlink's Metro fleet moved toWillesden Depot.

In 2006Alstom proposed closing Willesden. The depot's closure would have meant the Class 508s would have had to relocate to another depot, and the Class 313s having to return toBletchley Depot (which was also due to close). On 12 May 2007, Silverlink took over direct running of the depot and its staff for the final six months of its franchise.

As part of a wider redrawing of the rail franchise map by theDepartment for Transport, the Silverlink network was to be broken up when it was renewed in November 2007.

The Silverlink Metro services were moved to the control ofTransport for London under the banner of theLondon Overground. On 19 June 2007Transport for London announced it had awarded the London Overground concession to aLaing Rail/MTR joint venture.^[16]

The Silverlink County services were merged with theCentral Trains services around Birmingham to create a new West Midlands franchise. On 22 June 2007 theDepartment for Transport announced it had awarded the West Midlands franchise toGovia.^[17]

Silverlink's services transferred toLondon Overground Rail Operations andLondon Midland on 11 November 2007.

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