Question: What company jointly owned a British train operating company that had a steering partnership with a rail programme in Northern England to improve and increase train services and reduce journey times between its major cities and towns by electrifying lines and removing a major rail bottleneck in Manchester?
Sentence (from "Northern Hub"): The project's steering partnership involves Network Rail, Deutsche Bahn, First TransPennine Express, Northern Rail, East Midlands Trains, CrossCountry, Freightliner, the Department for Transport, Transport for Greater Manchester and Merseytravel.
Relevant evidence: No