Customer Promise

Welcome to Northern

At Northern, we are passionate about making sure that your journey with us is a great experience. Our Passengers' Charter sets out our promises of the service we will deliver for you.

We review our Passengers' Charter every two years in consultation with Transport Focus, the independent transport watchdog. You can view or download a copy of our Passengers' Charter from our website or pick up a copy at staffed stations served by our trains. Or, contact our Customer Experience Centre, and they will send you one.

You can contact us:

• through this website
• by emailing [email protected]
• by phoning our Customer Experience Centre on 0800 200 6060
• on X (formerly known as Twitter) or Facebook: @northernassist
• through any member of staff at our stations or on the train
• by writing to us at Freepost NORTHERN RAILWAY.

We will always record your comments and suggestions. Each month we will review them and report to our board on new trends and issues. We will also use your comments, issues and suggestions to improve our service.

Our Customer Experience Centre is staffed between 06:00 - 23:00 on days when trains are running and can help with complaints, assistance bookings (if you need help during your journey) and general enquiries: 0800 200 6060.

Join In

This is your Northern - we want your ideas and for you to get involved with what we do. There are several ways you can do this.

• speak to our staff - many of our stations are staffed throughout the day and our team would love to hear from you.
• meet the manager - We will have regular ‘meet the manager’ events, where you can meet the local management team. We will advertise events beforehand at stations and on our website.
• join our 10,000 volunteers who help make Northern a better place.

View our Northern Passengers' Charter 2024

Performance - Passengers' Charter Commitment

To find out how the franchise has been performing, please visit our Performance page.

Service Quality - Our Commitment to Quality

To find out how we are doing in our service quality audits, please visit our Service Quality page.

Passenger rights obligations (PRO)

The Rail Passenger Rights and Obligations (PRO) Regulation is aimed at enhancing and strengthening the rights of rail passengers, particularly regarding customer information and ticketing provision, compensation and assistance. It also provides rights for disabled people and people with reduced mobility.

As part of the PRO Regulation, we are required to publish an annual service quality report, which you can view here:

View our Rail Passenger Rights and Obligations (PRO) Regulation reporting 2025-2026 document.

Customer information pledges

Feedback from customers consistently tells us that the flow of information about train services that are experiencing disruption is a priority for them and is an area we need to focus on more strongly. Whilst it is recognised that Northern has the responsibility for managing our relationship with our customers, the interconnected nature of the rail industry means that a coordinated approach with industry partners to the customer information during major delays/disruptions is appropriate and important.

Whilst we always try our best to make your journey as simple as possible, we understand that, sometimes things don’t always go to plan when travelling by rail.

Customers across the rail industry tell us that this is an area we need to improve, which is why Northern has been working closely with other train operators, Network Rail and the Rail Delivery Group as part of the Smarter information programme.

The Smarter information programme

This programme aims to achieve a step change in customer experience through providing you with improved information, when and how you wish to receive it.

Across the rail industry, we have now agreed a set of pledges, which outline what you can expect, before, during and after your journey.

What do the Customer Information Pledges say?

The customer information pledges

• Show we care by listening to our customers and putting their needs first
• Commit to a set of guiding principles that will bring real consistency to customers who choose to travel by train
• Bring together best practices from across the rail industry and other industries to support you during disruption, enabling you to get to your destination as quickly as possible

You can view the Rail Delivery Group customer information pledges here