Silverlink

For other uses, see Silver link.

Silverlink^[1] was a train operating company in the United Kingdom owned by National 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 by London Overground and Silverlink County services were taken over by London Midland.

Silverlink

Class 313 at Kilburn High Road in 2007
Overview
Franchise(s)	North London Railways 2 March 1997 – 10 November 2007
Main region(s)	Greater London
Other region(s)	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 Other National Rail Shared route with Bakerloo line Silverlink County Other Underground lines transferred to Central Trains 2004 DLR Silverlink Metro Birmingham Intl Airport service withdrawn 2006 Woolwich Ferry This diagram: view talk edit

History

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

After initially trading as North 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 the Department for Transport granted an extension until 10 November 2007.^[4] Upon its closure, its London metro services were taken over by London Overground and the remainder were merged with Central Trains' western services to form London Midland.

Branding

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 via Willesden 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

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.

North London line

These services ran on the North London line:

	Richmond (interchange for District line)
	Kew Gardens (interchange for District line)
	Gunnersbury (interchange for District line)
	South Acton
	Acton Central
	Willesden Junction (interchange for Bakerloo line, West London line and Watford DC Line)
	Kensal Rise
	Brondesbury Park
	Brondesbury
	West Hampstead (interchange for Jubilee line and First Capital Connect)
	Finchley Road & Frognal
	Hampstead Heath
	Gospel Oak (interchange for Gospel Oak to Barking line)
	Kentish Town West
	Camden Road
	Caledonian Road & Barnsbury
	Highbury & Islington (interchange for Victoria line)
	Canonbury
	Dalston Kingsland
	Hackney Central
	Homerton
	Hackney Wick
	Stratford (interchange for Central line, Jubilee line, Docklands Light Railway, c2c (limited services - early morning, late night and during engineering works only) and National Express East Anglia)
	West Ham †
	Canning Town †
	Custom House †
	Silvertown †
	North Woolwich †

† 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 the Docklands Light Railway and the Jubilee line, leaving Stratford as the eastern terminus of the North London Line.^[5]

West London line

These services ran via the West London line:

	Willesden Junction (interchange for North London Line, Watford DC Line and Bakerloo line)
	Kensington (Olympia) (interchange for District line and Southern)
	West Brompton (interchange for District line and Southern)
	Clapham Junction (interchange for South West Trains and Southern)

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 under London Overground management, the signage being replaced with the London Overground roundels by that time.

Watford DC line

These services ran on the Watford DC line:

	London Euston (interchange for Northern line, Victoria line and Virgin (West Coast Main Line)
	South Hampstead
	Kilburn High Road
	Queen's Park †
	Kensal Green †
	Willesden Junction † (interchange for North London Line and West London Line)
	Harlesden †
	Stonebridge Park †
	Wembley Central † (interchange for Southern during the peaks)
	North Wembley †
	South Kenton †
	Kenton †
	Harrow & Wealdstone † (interchange for Northampton Line and Southern)
	Headstone Lane
	Hatch End
	Carpenders Park
	Bushey
	Watford High Street
	Watford Junction (interchange for Northampton Line, St Albans Abbey Line, Virgin (West Coast Main Line), Southern)

† = also served by the Bakerloo line.

Gospel Oak to Barking line

These services ran on the Gospel Oak to Barking line:

	Gospel Oak (interchange for North London Line)
	Upper Holloway
	Crouch Hill
	Harringay Green Lanes
	South Tottenham
	Blackhorse Road (interchange for Victoria line)
	Walthamstow Queens Road
	Leyton Midland Road
	Leytonstone High Road
	Wanstead Park
	Woodgrange Park
	Barking (interchange for District line, Hammersmith & City line and c2c)

Silverlink County

Birmingham/Northampton

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

	London Euston (interchange for Watford DC Line and Virgin Trains West Coast and First ScotRail sleeper service)
	Harrow & Wealdstone (interchange for Watford DC Line and Southern (via West London Line) )
	Bushey
	Watford Junction (interchange for Watford DC Line, St Albans Abbey Line, Virgin Trains and Southern)
	Kings Langley
	Apsley
	Hemel Hempstead
	Berkhamsted
	Tring
	Cheddington
	Leighton Buzzard
	Bletchley (interchange for Marston Vale Line)
	Milton Keynes Central (interchange/terminus for Southern, interchange with Virgin Trains)
	Wolverton
	Northampton

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

	Long Buckby
	Rugby
	Coventry
	Birmingham International
	Birmingham New Street

Abbey Line

These services ran on the Abbey Line

	Watford Junction (interchange for Northampton/Birmingham services, Virgin West Coast, Watford DC Line and Southern)
	Watford North
	Garston
	Bricket Wood
	How Wood
	Park Street
	St Albans Abbey

Marston Vale line

These services ran on the Marston Vale line between Bedford and Bletchley:

	Bletchley (interchange for Northampton Line)
	Fenny Stratford
	Bow Brickhill
	Woburn Sands
	Aspley Guise
	Ridgmont
	Lidlington
	Millbrook
	Stewartby
	Kempston Hardwick
	Bedford St Johns
	Bedford (interchange for First Capital Connect and Midland Mainline)

Performance

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. A London Assembly report said passengers found the service "shabby, unreliable, unsafe and overcrowded".^[11]

Rolling stock

Silverlink inherited a fleet of Class 117 and Class 121 diesel multiple units, and Class 313 and Class 321 electric multiple units, from British Rail.

To replace the elderly Class 117s and 121s, which operated the Gospel Oak - Barking and Bletchley - Bedford services, seven Class 150 Sprinters were transferred from Central Trains in summer 1999; an eighth followed in 2006.^{[12][full citation needed]} Pending the Sprinters' arrival, Silverlink hired Class 31 locomotives from Fragonset to top and tail Mark 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 three Class 508s transferred from Merseyrail. The Class 321s operated County services to Northampton and Birmingham; they were joined in 2005 by new Class 350s. The Watford Junction - St Albans Abbey service was operated for many years by Class 313s, but later 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 at Milton 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]

The Strategic Rail Authority decided to divert thirty four-carriage Siemens Desiro trains from an order placed by South West Trains to provide stock with faster acceleration for the West 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 of Mark 3 carriages, formerly of Virgin Trains, hauled by Virgin Class 87 and EWS Class 90 electric locomotives on peak-hour Northampton services.^[14][15] Additionally, five Class 321s were hired from One, another National Express-owned operator.

Fleet

Class	Image	Type	Top speed		Number	Routes operated	Built	Period used	Notes
			mph	km/h
121 Bubble Car		DMU	70	112	4	Gospel Oak to Barking Line Marston Vale Line	1960	1997–2001	Replaced by Class 150s.
150/1 Sprinter			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
350/1 Desiro					30	Silverlink County: Northampton Line	2004–2005	2004–2007	Shared use by Central 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.

Class 313 at North Woolwich in 2001, closed in 2006.

Depots

Silverlink's fleet was maintained at Bletchley Depot. Following Virgin Trains ceasing to operate electric locomotives, Silverlink's Metro fleet moved to Willesden Depot.

In 2006 Alstom 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 to Bletchley 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.

Demise

As part of a wider redrawing of the rail franchise map by the Department 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 of Transport for London under the banner of the London Overground. On 19 June 2007 Transport for London announced it had awarded the London Overground concession to a Laing Rail/MTR joint venture.^[16]

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

Silverlink's services transferred to London Overground Rail Operations and London Midland on 11 November 2007.