Arriva Trains Merseyside

Arriva Trains Merseyside[1] was a train operating company in England owned by Arriva that operated the Merseyrail Electrics franchise from January 1997 until July 2003, when the Merseyrail railway franchise was transformed into the local Merseyrail concession, owned by the Merseyrail Passenger Transport Executive (Merseytravel).

Arriva Trains Merseyside

Overview
Franchise(s)	Merseyrail 19 January 1997 – 20 July 2003
Main region(s)	Merseyside
Other region(s)	Lancashire Cheshire
Fleet size	53
Stations called at	67
Stations operated	66
Parent company	Arriva
Reporting mark	ME

History

The Merseyrail Electrics franchise was awarded by the Director of Passenger Rail Franchising to MTL with operations commencing on 19 January 1997.[2] MTL retained the Merseyrail Electrics brand.

On 18 February 2000, MTL was purchased by Arriva,[3][4] and on 27 April 2001, rebranded as Arriva Trains Merseyside.[5]

On 23 April 2003, Serco-Abellio were awarded the Merseyrail Electrics franchise with the services operated by Arriva Trains Merseyside transferring to Merseyrail on 20 July 2003.[6]

Routes

Northern Line

• Southport to Hunts Cross
• Ormskirk to Liverpool Central
• Kirkby to Liverpool Central

Wirral Line

• New Brighton to Liverpool Central
• Chester to Liverpool Central
• Ellesmere Port to Liverpool Central
• West Kirby to Liverpool Central

Rolling stock

Arriva Trains Merseyside inherited a fleet of Class 507 and Class 508s from Regional Railways. It also inherited a fleet of Class 73 locomotives and Class 936 units for use on infrastructure trains, these were sold in 2002.

Class	Image	Type	Top speed		Number	Routes operated	Unit numbers	Built
			mph	km/h
73		Loco	80	129	4	Northern Line Wirral Line	73001–002, 73005–006	1962
507		EMU	75	120	32	Northern Line Wirral Line	507001–021, 507023–033	1978–80
508/1		EMU	75	120	21	Northern Line Wirral Line	508103–104, 508111–112, 508114–115, 508117, 508124–128, 508130, 508134, 508136–141, 508143	1979–80
936		EMU	60	97	3	Northern Line Wirral Line	936001–003	1955–56

Depot

Arriva Trains Merseyside's fleet was maintained at Birkenhead North Depot.

References

1. Companies House extract company no 3007941 Arriva Trains Merseyside Limited formerly Merseyrail Electrics Limited
2. "Local bus company MTL wins the Merseyrail Electrics franchise" Rail issue 296 15 January 1997 page 11
3. Recommended Cash Offer for MTL Services Arriva 18 February 2000
4. "Arriva buys MTL for £84m" Rail issue 378 8 March 2000 page 13
5. "Name changes for Arriva TOCs" Rail issue 408 2 May 2001 page 9
6. Merseyrail franchise goes Dutch The Daily Telegraph 24 April 2003

Further reading

• Hunt, John (7–20 October 1998). "Sparkies 'cross the Mersey...". RAIL. No. 341. EMAP Apex Publications. pp. 28–33. ISSN 0953-4563. OCLC 49953699.