Northern Spirit hold the train franchise, believe it or not from the name, up north. They offer services as far south as Sheffield and travel to places like Wakefield, Leeds, Barnsley, Pontefract etc...
I often use a Northern Spirit service or range of services approximately 4 times a month. ... Read review
NH Hotels, the hotel chain leader in Europe, with more than 300 hotels in 20 countries in Europe, Latin America and Africa. Enter into our web site and find the best available tariff at all times
Record Rent a Car is present in the main spanish airports and has a very wide fleet. We offer: exceptional discounts, free additional drivers,
unlimited mileage... subscribe to our Club Record and take advantage of special offers.
Advantages: good punctuality, cheap fares Disadvantages: old trains
Northern Spirit hold the train franchise, believe it or not from the name, up north. They offer services as far south as Sheffield and travel to places like Wakefield, Leeds, Barnsley, Pontefract etc...
I often use a Northern Spirit service or range of services approximately 4 times a month. It is normally on the 20 minute journey between Wakefield and Pontefract, however I have travelled between Sheffield and Pontefract on a Northern ... ...I have very rarely seen Northern Spirit trains late. They, in my experiance, are incredibly punctual very rarely arriving more than 2 minutes late than expected. The staff are very friendly and there fares are very respectable as well, allowing travel in Yorkshire very cheap. There is also the oppurtunity to purchase a Metro Card, which will see a cut in fares. I however don't possess one of these as I use a Railcard for more wide spread use. more
Northern Spirit hold the train franchise, believe it or not from the name, up north. They offer services as far south as Sheffield and travel to places like Wakefield, Leeds, Barnsley, Pontefract etc...
I often use a Northern Spirit service or range of services approximately 4 times a month. It is normally on the 20 minute journey between Wakefield and Pontefract, however I have travelled between Sheffield and Pontefract on a Northern Spirit service, taking approximately an hour.
I will be perfectly frank about the service and say that there is a distinct trade off. I have very rarely seen Northern Spirit trains late. They, in my experiance, are incredibly punctual very rarely arriving more than 2 minutes late than expected. The staff are very friendly and there fares are very respectable as well, allowing travel in Yorkshire very cheap. There is also the oppurtunity to purchase a Metro Card, which will see a cut in fares. I however don't possess one of these as I use a Railcard for more wide spread use.
The one thing that isn't so impressive about Northern Spirit is their trains. Don't get me wrong, the trains aren't neccissarily dirty as in bits of litter around, but they are very old trains. I don't know what the situation is with Northern Spirit, whether they're waiting fro a stock of new trains being built at the moment, or if they are sticking with the present old BR stuff, trading off old trains for cheap fares.
Whatever happens we must remember that you aren't going to expect Virgin luxury on a Northern Spirit because they are a local operator and hence you're not expected to be on their trains for very long as you would be on a cross country Virgin. However one local company, Central Trains, have some very nice new trains whereas the seating arrangement on Northern Spirit tends to be like bus seats and no arm rests.
Overall, despite recent rail problems I have no problem using Northern Spirit instead of my car because they are good value and also punctual so go and give the train a go in the Yorkshire area.
Advantages: Frequent service, much better than the bus Disadvantages: Trains could be dirty but staff do clean often
...right.
The standard of Northern Spirit trains is not very high but the service does have good points which I think need pointing out.
Over the two years I used the service on a daily basis I noticed the staff were very good with disabled travellers and most of them stop to ask the many mothers who use the service need a hand with pushchairs, etc. I mention it because this is a point that has been picked up in the criticisms of the national rail ... ...the 'reasonable' part of the Northern Spirit route. I found the service reliable, frequent and with the use of the teen travel monthly ticket I used, relatively cheap. On the occasions when I am in the region I have no quarms about the service as it eases the parental taxi burden and is quicker than getting them to drive! It's still cheap for a day out. I think for a regional rail service in an area where the Newcastle metro is being given high priority ...
lucypenman 30.01.2001
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Northern Spirit
Advantages: I can get my fare back on expenses Disadvantages: smelly train, broken down train, late train
...service is one run by Northern Spirit - I implore you to go a bit earlier and find an alternative bus service.
Today I had the audacity to expect the train to run to time out of Leeds. It did not, in fact it was 40 minutes late after the first train that turned up supposedly "broke down" at the station. However, this same train seemed to have no trouble pulling into the station laden with passengers and similarly had little trouble in pulling out ... ...I shall be writing to Northern Spirit in an attempt to get back my £4.50 train fare. Luckily, as I am only working away from my office for today and tomorrow, I will only have to endure this hellish experience one more time.
Really best avoided! ...
andyev 22.02.2001
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Northern Spirit
Advantages: Disadvantages: expensive, uncomfortable, moves about., not clean
...believe that they just use these trains because it is shorter distances, because when I lived in Scotland, and used to do the same length of journey, we had fantastic trains. So c'mon Northern Spirit, let the passengers travel in comfort, or they may just take to the buses. ...
georgie 14.08.2000
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Northern Spirit
Advantages: pretty punctual, serve a good area Disadvantages: trains are old
...I travel on loads of Northern Spirit trains because im in Yorkshire a lot. I find myself using Northern Spirit between Sheffield sometimes and onto Wakefield and Pontefract. For starters what can I say about punctuality? Well on the whole apart from the once when it was 15 mins late, I find them to always leave the station within 3 or 4 minutes of the time they should do although most of the time they are pretty punctual. Right now for the staff, ... ...a slight failing point for Northern Spirit. My local operator, Central Trains have invested a fair amount in new trains and now have a decent amount of new trains operating. I havent seen any new Northern Spirit trains, in fact they are pretty old from what I have travelled on and seen. Although they are always clean inside I cant help but think they are a bit rickety. I dont know if it is just the Wakefield - Pontefract route that I travel on most, ...
CyrixDes 06.05.2001
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Northern Spirit
Advantages: Fast, clean, on-board facilities Disadvantages: Expensive snack trolley, Darlington Station in general
I'm not a big traveller, so when I had the chance to go to London for the weekend, I jumped at the chance. The ticket booking was done by a friend of mine, and the time they took to arrive was OK. After ordering, they were here within two days. Although £41 for a return ticket is expensive, it is well worth it.
Although I live in Hartlepool, getting to Darlington isn't a problem, as there are bus and train links.
Darlington station was probably ... ...station, it's a mess. There are very few facilities.
Anyway, the train arrived on time, and I found my way into my reserved seat. The journey was excellent. The train was quiet, and during the journey, a snack trolley and ice cream man went past. The prices were quite expensive, so I didn't buy anything. 3 hours later, I was at King's Cross. For someone who has spent his life travelling mainly by car and coach, three hours was an amazing time. ...
Scribbler 18.09.2000
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Northern Spirit
Frequency of trains
Reliability of trains
Comfort of trains
On-board facilities
Similar reviews »
Reviews which might be of interest for "Northern Spirit"
Advantages: more investement, new trains, doesnt require as much Government money Disadvantages: Railtrack making a mess of things at the moment
and hence I believe that we will begin to reap the rewards very soon.
I am starting to see a lot of new trains arriving now. My local operator, Central Trains, have just unveiled their lovely new trains and they really are so comfortable and clean that I couldn't believe it when I first travelled on them. Back this up with my other main long distance operator, Virgin Trains, spate of new trains arriving between now and 2005, I believe we are in an increasingly better situation.
Overall I think there are safety concerns but I will continue to travel on Britains Railways and I will continue to sing the praises of the 3 operators I use, Central Trains, Virgin Trains and NorthernSpirit. This is because i've had some decent service off all 3. ...
GraWar 02.05.2001
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of British Rail
Advantages: more investement, new trains, doesnt require as much Government money Disadvantages: Railtrack making a mess of things at the moment
and hence I believe that we will begin to reap the rewards very soon.
I am starting to see a lot of new trains arriving now. My local operator, Central Trains, have just unveiled their lovely new trains and they really are so comfortable and clean that I couldn't believe it when I first travelled on them. Back this up with my other main long distance operator, Virgin Trains, spate of new trains arriving between now and 2005, I believe we are in an increasingly better situation.
Overall I think there are safety concerns but I will continue to travel on Britains Railways and I will continue to sing the praises of the 3 operators I use, Central Trains, Virgin Trains and NorthernSpirit. This is because i've had some decent service off all 3. ...
Advantages: errrr... Disadvantages: northern trains, everything about them really
Where to Start with Northern Trains...
An introduction...
The original company was regional railways, who were very reliable and operated wonderful services. From here NorthernSpirit took over and whilst not doing anything bad for the system, they really ran the trains and nothing more. After this there was arriva buses, no trains, no, I was right the first time it was buses I think. As you have probably gathered they virtually always had problems resulting in buses. Northern Trains have made some improvements but really have not done all too much for it.
The route...
Name a staion in northern england and the chances are that northern trains will operate a train to it. The routes are extremely extensive, but in many cases they make very little sense and take odd and long routes where better routes could be used. Many services ...
DC-DanielColeflax 16.05.2007 (04.06.2008)
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Arriva Trains Northern
![Can I Keep This Pen [Digipak] - Northern State](http://imagesa.ciao.com/iuk/images/products/small/712/Can_I_Keep_This_Pen_Digipak_Northern_State__6729712.jpg)
