 | |
 Class 360 Desiro at Ipswich in 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 |
| Successor | One |
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.
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]
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] [ full citation needed ]
| 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 |  | 75 | 120 | Hired from Anglia Railways | 1984–1987 | ||
| 153 |  | 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 |  | 75 | 120 | 43 | London Liverpool Street–Shenfield and Southminster Romford–Upminster | 1980–1981 | |
| 321 |  | 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 |  | 21 | London Liverpool Street–Clacton-on-Sea and Harwich Town London Liverpool Street–Ipswich (peak times only) | 2002–2003 | |||
First Great Eastern's fleet was maintained at Ilford depot.
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] [ full citation needed ] In December 2003, the Strategic Rail Authority awarded the Greater Anglia franchise to National Express, and the services operated by First Great Eastern were transferred to One (later National Express East Anglia) on 1 April 2004. [6]
Silverlink was a train operating company in the United Kingdom owned by National Express that operated the North London Railways franchise from March 1997 until November 2007. At the end of 2007 Silverlink Metro services were taken over by London Overground and Silverlink County services were taken over by London Midland.
Anglia Railways was a train operating company in England, owned by GB Railways and later FirstGroup, that operated the Anglia franchise from January 1997 until March 2004.
Midland Mainline was a train operating company in the United Kingdom that operated the Midland Main Line franchise between April 1996 and November 2007. It was owned by the British transport company National Express.
West Anglia Great Northern, commonly shortened to WAGN, was a train operating company in England. It operated the West Anglia Great Northern franchise between January 1997 and March 2004, as well as the Great Northern franchise between April 2004 and March 2006. It was initially owned by Prism Rail, and was subsequently acquired by the British transport conglomerate National Express.
National Express East Anglia (NXEA) was a train operating company in England owned by National Express that operated the Greater Anglia franchise from April 2004 until February 2012. Originally trading as One, it was rebranded National Express East Anglia in February 2008. It provided local, suburban and express services from London Liverpool Street to destinations in Essex, Hertfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Suffolk and Norfolk in the East of England.
The British Rail Class 156 Super Sprinter is a diesel multiple unit passenger train. A total of 114 sets were built between 1987 and 1989 for British Rail by Metro-Cammell's Washwood Heath works. They were built to replace elderly first-generation DMUs and locomotive-hauled passenger trains.
The British Rail Class 360 Desiro is an electric multiple unit class that was built by Siemens Transportation Systems between 2002 and 2005. The Class 360 is currently operated by East Midlands Railway and the Global Centre of Rail Excellence.
The British Rail Class 153 Super Sprinter are single-coach railcars converted from two-coach Class 155 diesel multiple units in the early 1990s. The class was intended for service on rural branch lines, either where passenger numbers do not justify longer trains or to boost the capacity on services with high passenger volume.
The British Rail Class 317 is an electric multiple unit (EMU) passenger train constructed by British Rail Engineering Limited in two batches: 48 sets were produced in 1981–82 and 24 sets in 1985–87. They were the first of several classes of British Rail EMU to be based on the all-steel Mark 3 bodyshell, departing from the PEP-aluminium design which had spawned the earlier Class 313 to Class 315, Class 507 and Class 508. The Mark 3 bodyshell was also the basis of Class 318, Class 455 and the diesel Class 150. The Class 317 uses overhead alternating current electrification. All units were withdrawn in July 2022.
Wessex Trains was a train operating company in the United Kingdom owned by National Express that operated the Wessex Trains franchise from October 2001 until March 2006, when the franchise was merged with the Great Western and Thames Valley franchises to form the Greater Western franchise.
The British Rail Class 322 was a class of electric multiple unit passenger train built by British Rail Engineering Limited in 1990 for the Stansted Express service from London Liverpool Street to Stansted Airport. After becoming surplus to requirements on this route, the fleet saw further use with a number of other operators.
The Gainsborough line is the current marketing name of the Sudbury branch line, a railway branch line off the Great Eastern Main Line in the east of England, that links Marks Tey in Essex with Sudbury in Suffolk. It is 11 miles 53 chains (18.77 km) in length and single-track throughout. The line's Engineer's Line Reference is SUD.
The British Rail Class 321 is a class of electric multiple unit (EMU) passenger train built by British Rail Engineering Limited's York Carriage Works in three batches between 1988 and 1991 for Network SouthEast and Regional Railways. The class uses alternating current (AC) overhead electrification. The design was successful and led to the development of the similar Class 320 and Class 322.
Cambridge railway station is the principal station serving the city of Cambridge in the east of England. It stands at the end of Station Road, 1 mile (1.6 km) south-east of the city centre. It is the northern terminus of the West Anglia Main Line, 55 miles 52 chains (89.6 km) down the line from London Liverpool Street, the southern terminus.
First North Western was a train operating company in England owned by FirstGroup that operated the North West Regional Railways franchise from March 1997 until December 2004.
First TransPennine Express was a British train operating company jointly owned by FirstGroup and Keolis which operated the TransPennine Express franchise. First TransPennine Express ran regular Express regional railway services between the major cities of Northern England as well as Scotland.
Sudbury railway station is the northern terminus of the Gainsborough Line, a branch off the Great Eastern Main Line in the East of England, serving the town of Sudbury, Suffolk. It is 11 miles 67 chains (19.05 km) down the line from the southern terminus of Marks Tey and 58 miles 32 chains (93.99 km) measured from London Liverpool Street; the preceding station on the branch is Bures. Its three-letter station code is SUY. The platform has an operational length for two-coach trains.
The British Rail Class 315 BEP is a fleet of alternating current (AC) electric multiple unit (EMU) trains, built by British Rail Engineering Limited at Holgate Road Carriage Works in York between 1980 and 1981; they replaced the Class 306 units. It was a variant of unit derived from British Rail's 1971 prototype suburban EMU design which, as the BREL 1972 family, eventually encompassed 755 vehicles across Classes 313, 314, 315, 507 and 508. Revenue services with Class 315 units commenced in 1980 and continued until December 2022.
Thameslink was a train operating company in the United Kingdom owned by Govia that operated the Thameslink franchise between March 1997 and March 2006.
Greater Anglia is a British train operating company owned as a joint venture by Transport UK Group and Mitsui & Co. It operates the East Anglia franchise, providing the commuter and intercity services from its Central London terminus at London Liverpool Street to Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk and parts of Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire as well as many regional services throughout the East of England.
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