It was established as LNWR by Pete Waterman during 1993; in under a decade, it had become the largest privately-owned provider of rail maintenance services in the UK.

The company has also carried out extensive overhauls on operator's whole fleets, as well as the restoration of several heritage locomotives.

Arriva TrainCare has sought to achieve a high standard of working practice and to improve conditions for its employees and various stakeholders.

The company was founded in 1993 as London & North Western Railway (LNWR) by the British record producer Pete Waterman to provide maintenance for locomotives and rolling stock for specialist and charter operators from premises in Crewe.

[9] In 2011, amid a restructuring of DB Schenker, a sister to Arriva company, several facilities in Bristol, Cambridge, Eastleigh, and Newcastle-upon-Tyne were integrated into LNWR.