National Express East Anglia
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| Franchise(s): | Greater Anglia 1 April 2004 - 31 March 2011[1] |
| Main region(s): | East of England |
| Other region(s): | London |
| Fleet size: | 267 |
| Stations called at: | 167 |
| National Rail abbreviation: | LE |
| Parent company: | National Express Group |
| Web site: | www.nationalexpresseastanglia.com |
National Express East Anglia is a train operating company and brand name of London Eastern Railway Ltd in the United Kingdom. It is part of the National Express Group and was branded as ‘one’ from 1 April 2004 to 26 February 2008.[2] It provides local, suburban and express services from Liverpool Street station in the City of London to destinations in the railway franchise known as the Greater Anglia network, stretching from north and east Greater London to Essex, Hertfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Suffolk and Norfolk in East Anglia. The current franchise will end on 31 March 2011, when National Express will be replaced with a new operator.[1]
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[edit] History
The franchise began on 1 April 2004 and is due to run until 31 March 2011. It combined the services previously operated by Anglia Railways, First Great Eastern and the West Anglia (WA) division of WAGN. The large franchise was created in order to improve efficiency and reliability as part of a move to reduce the number of train operating companies providing services from a single London terminal. As a result of the new franchise, the number of operators on the Great Eastern Main Line was reduced, with the company operating most services on the line.[3]
On 26 November 2009, the Department for Transport announced that National Express East Anglia were to lose their franchise in March 2011 rather than be granted an extension to operate it until 2014 which had previously been an option. The decision follows the failure of sister company National Express East Coast.[1]
[edit] Brand identity
The area names from the former franchises were initially retained by the new franchise. However, all services other than Stansted Express were later branded simply ‘one’, reflecting the union of the three smaller franchises into one single franchise. This led to passenger confusion as they were unable to establish for example whether the announcer was saying the 07:20 "one" service would be delayed, or the 07:21 service. On 12 November 2007 it was announced that, as part of a company-wide re-branding exercise, National Express would change the name of the company to National Express East Anglia on 27 February 2008.[2] On 11 December 2007 the first Class 90 locomotive to be re-liveried was rolled out of Crown Point depot in Norwich and was pictured in service the next day.[4]
[edit] Services
In addition to its domestic services, the company is also a partner with Stena Line and Nederlandse Spoorwegen in the Dutchflyer service. All the London services use Liverpool Street as their terminus. This station is visited by 123 million people a year.[5]
[edit] Former Anglia franchise
- Intercity services to Colchester, Ipswich and Norwich as well as local services in Suffolk and Norfolk
- Bittern Line (Norwich–Cromer–Sheringham)
- Breckland Line (Norwich-Ely (continuing to Cambridge)
- East Suffolk Line (Ipswich–Lowestoft continuing to London Liverpool Street)
- Ely to Peterborough Line (Ely-Peterborough)
- Felixstowe Branch Line (Ipswich–Felixstowe)
- Ipswich to Ely Line (Ipswich–Bury St. Edmunds, continuing to Ely/Newmarket–Cambridge)
- Wherry Lines (Norwich–Great Yarmouth / Lowestoft)
[edit] Former Great Eastern franchise
- Mainline services to Chelmsford, Colchester, Clacton-on-Sea and Ipswich.
- 'Shenfield Metro’ service Liverpool Street-Shenfield
- Upminster Branch Line (Romford–Upminster)
- Shenfield to Southend Line (Shenfield–Southend Victoria)
- Crouch Valley Line (Shenfield–Wickford–Southminster)
- Braintree Branch Line (Witham–Braintree)
- Gainsborough Line (Marks Tey–Sudbury)
- Sunshine Coast Line (Colchester–Colchester Town–Clacton-on-Sea and Walton-on-the-Naze)
- Mayflower Line (Manningtree–Harwich)
[edit] Former West Anglia franchise
- Lea Valley Lines (London to Seven Sisters / Tottenham / Chingford / Enfield / Cheshunt). Also services on the Hertford East Branch Line
- Local services from Liverpool Street to Stansted Airport
- Stratford to Stansted Airport
- West Anglia Main Line London – Harlow – Cambridge (and limited service to King's Lynn)
[edit] Stansted Express sub-brand
- Express Rail Air Link Service between Liverpool Street and Stansted Airport
[edit] Rolling stock
The company operates a fleet of Class 153, 156 and 170 DMUs for the local lines, with Class 315, 317, 321 and 360 EMUs for the mainline commuter services, and Class 90 locomotives with Mark 3 coaching stock for the intercity services.
Much of the rolling stock is in need of modernisation; class 150s have been replaced 156s from Central Trains. The Class 170s are used predominantly on longer services, as they have slower acceleration than the Class 153 and 156 stock, meaning they cannot stick to the timetables of the many local lines.
As of July 2008, the Class 360s are being debranded, and are wearing a lilac livery with white doors. The 'Great Eastern' wording vinyls have been taken off. The Class 315, Class 317 (those in the ‘one’ livery) and Mark 3 units are also being debranded - ‘one’ logos have been removed, and the distinctive "rainbow" car ends painted over with the same blue as the rest of the body, and more recently have an interim National Express East Anglia branding on, the same style as used on former GNER Mk3s and Mk4s. Class 321s and Class 360s are also receiving the interim National East Anglia branding.
The first ever class 321 to be put in to the National Express livery 321303 has been released from Wabtec Rail, Doncaster. Also 321301-321321 'NSPCC Essex Full Stop' have been repainted into National Express livery.
There are plans to refurbish both the Class 317/6 EMUs and the entire Class 321 fleet, with the DTCO vehicle from Class 321/3 No. 321332 being the prototype experimental interior refurbishment unit with two differing interiors, including eight seats in the First Class cabin featuring fabric seats with the opposite eight seats being trimmed in leather. In Standard Class, one version of the seating is a light grey moquette with the stanchions painted in light grey. The other version has dark grey seat trim and red stanchions. There is a grey carpet in the First Class cabin and a grey vinyl flooring in Standard Class accommodation[citation needed].
The company plans to refresh the majority of its fleet, including the Class 360 units.
[edit] Current fleet
| Class | Image | Type | Top speed | Number | Routes operated | Built | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| mph | km/h | ||||||
| Class 47 |  |
diesel locomotive | 100 | 160 | Hired from Direct Rail Services | Train Rescue Great Yarmouth/Lowestoft- Norwich/London Liverpool Street (Summer Only) |
1963-1968 |
| Class 90 |  |
electric locomotive | 110 | 177 | 15 | Great Eastern Main Line InterCity services between London Liverpool Street and Norwich | 1987 - 1990 |
| Class 153 Super Sprinter |  |
diesel multiple unit | 75 | 120 | 5 | Ipswich-Cambridge, Ipswich-Lowestoft/Felixstowe, Norwich-Great Yarmouth, Norwich-Lowestoft, Norwich-Sheringham, Sudbury-Marks Tey | 1987 - 1988 |
| Class 156 Super Sprinter |  |
diesel multiple unit | 75 | 120 | 9 | Ipswich-Cambridge, Ipswich-Lowestoft/Felixstowe, Norwich-Great Yarmouth, Norwich-Lowestoft, Norwich-Sheringham, Sudbury-Marks Tey | 1987 - 1989 |
| Class 170 Turbostar |  |
diesel multiple unit | 100 | 160 | 12 | Cambridge - Norwich, Norwich - Lowestoft, Norwich - Great Yarmouth, Great Yarmouth - London Liverpool Street and London Liverpool Street - Peterborough/Lowestoft | 1999 - 2002 |
| Class 315 |  |
electric multiple unit | 75 | 120 | 61 | Liverpool Street - Shenfield/Southend Victoria/Southminster, Romford - Upminster, plus West Anglia Metro Services, and the Lea Valley. Will occasionally replace the Class 321s and Class 360s on long distance services. | 1980 |
| Class 317 |  |
electric multiple unit | 100 | 160 | 60 | Stansted Express, London Liverpool Street - Cambridge/Hertford East/Enfield Town, and Hertford East/Broxbourne - Stratford | 1981 - 1987 |
| Class 321 | |
electric multiple unit | 100 | 160 | 77 | Main routes: Braintree, Southminster, Southend Victoria to London and Colchester - Colchester Town and Walton-on-the-Naze. Also used between Clacton on Sea - Harwich Town - Ipswich and London. Will occasionally replace the Class 315s on metro services. | 1986-88 |
| Class 360 Desiro |  |
electric multiple unit | 100 | 160 | 21 | Mainline routes: Colchester - Clacton on Sea - Harwich Town - Colchester Town - Ipswich - Walton-on-the-Naze. Also used between Witham and Chelmsford and London. | 2000 - 2003 |
| Mark 3 Coach |  |
Passenger Coach | 125 | 200 | 120 | Great Eastern Main Line London Liverpool Street to Norwich | 1975 - 1988 |
 |
Driving Van Trailer | 110 | 177 | 15 | Great Eastern Main Line London Liverpool Street to Norwich | 1988 | |
[edit] Past fleet
| Class | Image | Type | Built | Withdrawn |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Class 86 |  |
electric locomotive | 1963 - 1967 | 2005 |
| Class 150/2 |  |
Diesel multiple unit | 1983 - 1985 | 2004 |
| Class 312 |  |
electric multiple unit | 1966-1974 | 2004 |
| Mark 2 Coach |  |
Passenger Coach | 1964 - 1975 | 2005 |
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Driving Brake Standard Open | 1979 | 2006 |
[edit] Diagrams
Class 360:
Class 321:
[edit] Future fleet
The Government's rolling stock plan will see the franchise take on 17 additional Class 321s from London Midland. National Express will also secure the order of new build EMUs for its services in West Anglia to Stansted Airport, which will allow the release of a number of Class 317 units.[6] National Express East Anglia have ordered 30 brand new Class 379 Electrostars in a £155 million deal. Bombardier will build the Electrostars at its Derby Litchurch Lane and all 30 four-car sets are due in traffic by December 2011.
| Class | Image | Type | Top speed | Quantity | Routes operated | Built | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| mph | km/h | ||||||
| Class 321 | |
electric multiple unit | 100 | 160 | 17 | Mainline routes: Colchester - Clacton on Sea - Harwich Town - Colchester Town - Ipswich - Walton-on-the-Naze. Also used between Braintree, Southminster, Southend Victoria, Witham and London. Will occasionally replace the Class 315s on metro services. | 1989 |
| Class 379 |  |
electric multiple unit | 100 | 160 | 30 | Stansted Express | 2009-2011 |
[edit] Ticketing
Unlike many other operators in the London area, the company allows Oyster card pay as you go to be used on a limited number of its services and has announced roll-out plans for the remaining stations in Greater London.[7]
[edit] Performance
Infrastructure problems have caused problems with performance. According to Network Rail, the main problems have been track circuit failures, broken rails, track faults, points failures and overhead line equipment (OLE) failures.[8] Network Rail, who are responsible for the infrastructure, intended to improve performance by work carried out during a planned closure of London Liverpool Street station over Christmas and New Year 2007/8. This allowed much of the outer London overhead line equipment to be replaced by modern, self-tensioning lines.[8] The work was carried out, but over-ran at short notice by some 24 hours, causing ridicule in the national press.[9]
Detailed figures (from the January edition of Modern Railways) of the miles covered per 5-minute delay for the year ending October 2008 showed that all of the operator's trains had improved over the previous year. The most reliable trains in the fleet were again the Class 360 Desiros (mainly Clacton-on-sea - London Liverpool Street), which achieved over 38,000 miles per 5-minute delay. The least reliable were the Shenfield / West Anglia Metro trains which, although improving over the year by 71%, only achieved some 10,000 miles per 5-minute delay. The 'Inter-City' Class 90 locomotive-hauled Norwich - Liverpool Street trains were little better at 10,400 miles per 5-minute delay.
For the 12 months to 8 December 2007, the average punctuality for all services was 89.6%.[10] Where delays occur the company has paid compensation to those who request it as part of their Passengers' Charter.[11]
The latest performance figures for the first quarter of the 2009-10 year released by the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) were 92.5% for the public performance measure (PPM)[12] for the quarter and 90.8% for the moving annual average (MAA)[12] for the twelve months up to the end of the first quarter. Both of these measures are up slightly on the previous year.
[edit] References
- ^ a b c "National Express loses East Anglia rail franchise". BBC News. 2009-11-26. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8380108.stm.
- ^ a b "‘one’ Railway to vanish as National Express begins major rebranding exercise". Railway Herald. 2007-11-17. pp. Page 9. http://www.railwayherald.co.uk/issues/RHUK/Issue109HIGH.pdf. Retrieved 2008-02-13.
- ^ Network Rail - Route 7 - Great Eastern (PDF)
- ^ The RailwayCentre.Com Old Pictures of the Day - December 2007
- ^ Network Rail - Liverpool Street
- ^ Rolling Stock Plan - Indicative Number of Additional Vehicles required by English TOCs by 2014
- ^ National Express East Anglia - National Express to extend availability of Oyster Pay As You Go
- ^ a b Network Rail - Route Plans 2007: Route 7 Great Eastern pp. 4-5
- ^ "Hamfisted handling of delays adds to the pain" Times 03.01.08
- ^ National Express East Anglia - Performance bar
- ^ Delay-Repay.com
- ^ a b Office of Rail Regulation - National Rail Trends, (2009), p. 5
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: National Express East Anglia |
- National Express East Anglia Official website
- Keith Briggs - Colchester train performance data
- Keith Briggs - Ipswich train performance data
- NXEA Cheats - a National Express money saver website
| Preceded by Anglia Railways Anglia franchise |
Operator of Greater Anglia franchise 2004 - present |
Incumbent |
| Preceded by First Great Eastern Great Eastern franshise |
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| Preceded by WAGN West Anglia Great Northern franchise |
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