First Great Eastern
 | |
 Class 360 Desiro at Ipswich station in January 2004 | |
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Franchise(s) | Great Eastern 5 January 1997 - 31 March 2004 |
| Main region(s) | East London East of England |
| Fleet size | 144 |
| Stations called at | 61 |
| Parent company | FirstGroup |
| Reporting mark | GE |
First Great Eastern[1] was a train operating company in England owned by FirstGroup, that operated the Great Eastern franchise from January 1997 until March 2004. All services called at Stratford.
Services
First Great Eastern operated all stops and limited stops services on the Great Eastern Main Line from London Liverpool Street to Southend Victoria, Southminster, Braintree, Colchester Town, Clacton-on-Sea, Walton-on-the-Naze, Harwich Town and Ipswich. It also ran services on the Romford to Upminster Line and Gainsborough Line from Marks Tey to Sudbury.[2]
Rolling stock
First Great Eastern inherited a fleet of Class 312, Class 315 and Class 321s from British Rail. A Class 153 was hired from Anglia Railways for the Marks Tey to Sudbury service due to it not being electrified, a Class 150 being used on weekdays and a Class 153 on weekends. Prior to this arrangement, a Class 121 Bubble Car was hired from Silverlink.[3]
A franchise commitment was the replacement of the Class 312s. In May 2001, First Great Eastern ordered 21 Class 360 Desiros with the first entering service in August 2003.[4]
| Class | Image | Type | Top speed | Number | Routes operated | Built | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| mph | km/h | ||||||
| 121 Bubble Car | 
|
diesel multiple unit | 70 | 112 | Hired from Silverlink |
Marks Tey - Sudbury | 1960 |
| 150 | 
|
diesel multiple unit | 75 | 120 | Hired from Anglia Railways |
Marks Tey - Sudbury | 1984–1987 |
| 153 | 
|
diesel multiple unit | 75 | 120 | Hired from Anglia Railways |
Marks Tey - Sudbury | 1987-1988 |
| 312 | 
|
electric multiple unit | 90 | 145 | 24 | Colchester - Walton-on-the-Naze Harwich Town - Manningtree London Liverpool Street - Clacton-on-Sea and Ipswich (peak times only) |
1975-1978 |
| 315 | 
|
electric multiple unit | 75 | 120 | 43 | London Liverpool Street - Shenfield and Southminster Romford - Upminster |
1980-1981 |
| 321 | 
|
electric multiple unit | 100 | 160 | 77 | London Liverpool Street - Braintree, Southend Victoria, Ipswich, Walton-on-the-Naze, Colchester Town, Clacton-on-Sea Wickford - Southminster (Sundays only) |
1988-1990 |
| 360/1 Desiro |
|
electric multiple unit | 100 | 160 | 21 | London Liverpool Street - Clacton-on-Sea and Harwich Town London Liverpool Street - Ipswich (peak times only) |
2002–2003 |
Depot
First Great Eastern's fleet was maintained at Ilford depot.
Demise
In 2002, as part of a franchise reorganisation by the Strategic Rail Authority, it was announced that the Great Eastern franchise would be merged into the Greater Anglia franchise.[5] In December 2003, the Strategic Rail Authority awarded the Greater Anglia Rail Franchise to National Express, and the services operated by First Great Eastern were transferred to One on 1 April 2004.[6]
References
- ^ Companies House extract company no 3007936 Great Eastern Railway Limited
- ^ First Great Eastern route map August 2003
- ^ "Bubble cars revived, depot opens to solve Great Eastern branch crisis" Rail issue 312 27 August 1997 page 10
- ^ Rail issue 468 20 August 2003 page 9
- ^ Rail issue 426 9 January 2002 page 4
- ^ "National Express wins rail franchise". The Daily Telegraph. London. 22 December 2003.
External links
Media related to First Great Eastern at Wikimedia Commons
