sentences:  In 2004, the First North Western franchise was merged with that of neighbouring train company Arriva Trains Northern to create a new franchise covering the north of England.The new franchise was won by Northern Rail, owned by the Serco-Abellio consortium (who, coincidentally, had been named as the operators of the Merseyrail Electrics franchise a year earlier).The City Line differs from the Northern and Wirral lines of the Merseyrail Network in that many of the routes are shared with inter-city express services.