Silverlink

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.

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 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 described the service as "shabby, unreliable, unsafe and overcrowded".

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.[11] 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.[12]

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. 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.

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.

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.[13]

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.[14]

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

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Silverlink.

• Official website
• National Express Group website