Northern introduces business regions

Northern Rail has created four business regions, and appointed four regional directors to run these areas.

Based in Leeds, Manchester, Preston and Newcastle, it will be the responsibility of the directors to develop services locally. They will start from July 1.

The regions are Central, which covers Clitheroe, Colne, Crewe, Stoke and Buxton; East, which covers Hull, Nottingham, Todmorden and Armathwaite; North-East, which covers Carlisle, Whitby, Chathill and Teeside Airport, and West, which covers Ellesmere Port, Liverpool, Blackpool and the Cumbrian Coast.

“Regions are the heart of our new franchise. They will enable the transformation of Northern, bringing our people and service delivery closer to the communities and customers we serve,” said Northern Managing Director Alex Hynes. He explained that the four directors will use the company’s extensive local knowledge to build services that meet the needs of the particular regions.

In April, Hynes told RAIL 799 that the directors lead their respective regions and that it will be up to them regarding how they best serve the local areas.

The regional directors are: Liam Sumpter (Central), Paul Barnfield (East), Mike Paterson (North-East) and Sharon Keith (West).

• For more on this, read RAIL 803, published on June 22.
• To read the Alex Hynes interview, read RAIL 799.