The first working was the 04.53 Barrow-in-Furness - Manchester Airport.
The fleet of 101 trains will comprise 58 class 195 DMUs (25 two-car and 33 three-car trains) and 43 class 331 EMUs (31 three-car and 12 four-car trains).
The DMUs will initially be used on Cumbria - Manchester Airport, Liverpool Lime Street - Manchester Airport, while the EMUs are making their passenger debut on the Doncaster - Leeds line.
The £500m order is being financed by Eversholt Rail leasing. Assembly is taking place at CAF plants in Zaragoza, Spain and Newport in Wales. The trains will be delivered at monthly intervals, with Northern due to receive the final set next year.
Passenger features include free Wi-Fi, at-seat power sockets, air-conditioning and real-time passenger information.
With the introduction of the Civity fleet, Northern will begin withdrawing its class 142 and 144 Pacer diesel railbuses in August. These trains, which date from the mid-1980s, are not compliant with legislation of Passengers with Reduced Mobility (PRM), which comes into effect on January 1 2020. All were due to be withdrawn by the end of this year, but the late delivery of the CAF trains means some Pacers may remain in service into 2020.
