Rail operator Northern has announced an ambitious new strategy to significantly increase passenger numbers across its network in the North of England over the next five years.
The '30 by 30' Vision for Growth
The company, which runs most local services in the region, aims to facilitate 30 million additional journeys annually by 2030. Dubbed the '30 by 30' plan, this initiative comes despite the operator facing consistent criticism from Northern politicians regarding service reliability throughout this year.
Alex Hornby, Commercial and Customer Director for Northern, stated the vision is firmly based on user research and confidence. "Our data shows that the demand for rail travel is greater than ever," he explained. "With improved performance, better value and greater convenience, we can make rail the natural choice for even more people and how they travel across the North."
Breaking Down the Passenger Growth Strategy
The plan outlines three equal pillars expected to drive this substantial growth:
- One third from organic growth in demand.
- One third from improved service reliability.
- One third from new integrated systems, including better ticketing and more connected rail networks across the North.
Hornby described this as a "growth plan with purpose" that is customer-led and designed to align with local economic ambitions and the national transport strategy.
Overcoming Past Challenges and Current Performance
Northern, the UK's second largest train operator running 2,650 daily services to over 500 stations, acknowledges its recent troubled history. The company came under effective Government control in 2020 as an operator of last resort after the previous franchise was deemed unacceptable.
Challenges have persisted, with Northern mayors like Greater Manchester's Andy Burnham criticising past improvement plans as "vague" and "still not good enough". Earlier this year, it was revealed the company was still using fax machines for some internal communications.
A central part of Northern's growth strategy hinges on achieving its '90/2' performance target: having 90% of trains arrive within three minutes of their scheduled time and fewer than 2% cancelled. Recent figures show the company has significant progress to make, with punctuality at 80.9% and 3.3% of services cancelled, though the cancellation rate does represent an improvement on previous levels.
Despite these hurdles, Northern reports that journey numbers and passenger satisfaction are now recovering at a rate above the national average, providing a foundation for its ambitious five-year plan.
