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North West & Central region

North West & Central (NW&C) is the ‘Backbone of Britain’ – the economic spine linking our main cities. We connect workers with jobs, people with loved ones and goods to market.

Our infrastructure runs from London Euston and Marylebone in the south through the Chiltern and West Midlands regions, the North West of England and Cumbria before joining with Scotland at Gretna. We are home to the West Coast Mainline, the busiest mixed-use railway in Europe, serving London, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Edinburgh and Glasgow.

We have 8,000 employees. Our vision is “One team safely delivering excellent services for customers and taxpayers.” We will achieve this vision by embedding a safe, caring workforce culture that welcomes everyone and embraces new ideas and fresh thinking. 

We are committed to transforming North West and Central region, and by extension the whole of Network Rail, into a customer-focused, service organisation. We will put passengers first. We will prioritise safe, reliable train services against the ongoing need to build a bigger, better railway capable of transporting more people and produce in future. 

In the five years to 2024, passenger demand is set to grow by 12% and freight by 18%. Major railway upgrade schemes to cater for this growth include HS2, East West Rail, Midlands Rail Hub and the Great North Rail Project.

Rob McIntosh
Managing director, North West & Central region

North West and Central region in numbers

  • 246.5 million annual rail passenger journeys
  • 1.3 million passengers travel through this region each weekday
  • 571 stations
  • 4 managed stations: Birmingham New Street, Manchester Piccadilly, Liverpool Lime Street, London Euston
  • We are 24% of Britain’s railway
  • 6,724 passenger and freight services per day
  • 700,000 tonnes of freight is moved each week
  • 712 level crossings
  • 7,100 bridges
  • 150 signal boxes

Routes in the North West & Central region

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