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National Express East Anglia

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Not to be confused with National Express East Coast.
National Express East Anglia
File:NX-East-Anglia.png
Overview
Franchise(s)Greater Anglia
1 April 2004 - 5 February 2012
[1]
Main region(s)East of England
Other region(s)London
Fleet size282 (+15 on order)
Stations called at168
Parent companyNational Express Group
Reporting markLE
Other
Websitewww.nationalexpresseastanglia.com
Route map
Route map

National Express East Anglia (commonly abbreviated to NXEA)[2][3][4] is the brand name of London Eastern Railway Ltd, a British train operating company. It is part of the National Express Group and was branded as 'one' from 1 April 2004 to 26 February 2008.[5] 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 the East of England (East Anglia).

History

The franchise began on 1 April 2004 and is due to run until 5 February 2012.[1] 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.[6]

On 26 November 2009, the Department for Transport announced that National Express East Anglia was to lose its 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,[7] even though National Express East Anglia had met all of its targets required for the franchise to be extended.

From December 2010 the through service to London from Lowestoft ceased operation.

On 18 June 2010, following the 2010 General Election, the Department for Transport announced that the replacement process for the two remaining National Express franchises would be "put on hold". This could result in the National Express franchise continuing to operate after 31 March 2011, the date the DfT initially stated that National Express would lose the franchise on.[8]

On 24 March 2011 it was announced that National Express was unsuccessful in acquiring the rights to continue the franchise, resulting in the company losing the right to continue running its services. The current franchise will end on 5 February 2012.[1] The new franchise will run for 17 months, with an optional one-year extension. The short period is to allow for the publishing of proposed changes to rail franchises and their implementation. The bidders are Abellio, Go-Ahead and Stagecoach.[9]

Brand identity

Mk 3 Coaches at Liverpool street
Diesel locomotive 47818 at Cambridge on 23 August 2004. Owned by Cotswold Rail but hired to ‘one’, this locomotive was used extensively over the summer of 2004 to haul passenger trains between London Liverpool St and Norwich which had been diverted from their usual all-electrified route because of engineering work at Ipswich.

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.[5] 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.[10]

'One' brand

National Express East Anglia had poor industrial relations at the start of the franchise, with strikes by guards and drivers relating to ticket machines and rest day working respectively, but these issues were later resolved. Changes to the timetable were implemented in December 2005 in accordance with DfT requirements,[11] which left some stations without any off-peak service, although a new route was introduced between Hertford East and Stratford. Other timetable changes resulted in reduced access to the Berney Marshes by means of Berney Arms railway station but an extra 3,000 seats on the West Anglia Route.

The former InterCity trains inherited by National Express East Anglia on the Great Eastern Main Line used locomotive-hauled Mark 2 sets of coaches. The Mark 2 sets were replaced with ex-Virgin Trains Mark 3 sets and all 116 Mark 3 coaches were refurbished. Replacing the Class 86 locomotives and Mk2s with Class 90s and Mk3s from the WCML was criticised as a result of their poorer condition resulting from a lack of maintenance and cleaning before they were withdrawn from service with Virgin.

National Express East Anglia also received criticism for its references to "newer" trains, since the Mk3s are in fact only a few years newer than the Mk2s, in some cases being introduced just one year later.[12] These changes did result in improvements though: the Class 90s were probably the main factor in the 17% improvement in the 'miles per 5-minute delay' figure in the year up to October 2006, but this still left the operator behind all the other ex-InterCity services, in terms of performance, as reported in the January 2007 edition of Modern Railways.

A Class 90 powered DVT-headed main line service heads towards Norwich Thorpe on 12 April 2007

'National Express East Anglia' brand

It was announced on 12 November 2007 that, as part of a company-wide re-branding exercise, National Express was to change the name of One to National Express East Anglia with effect from February 2008.[13]

Services

InterCity Anglia Class 90 No. 90015 at London Liverpool Street

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.[14]

Southend & Metro
Route Frequency Calling at
London Liverpool Street to Shenfield 6 trains per hour Stratford, Maryland, Forest Gate, Manor Park, Ilford, Seven Kings, Goodmayes, Chadwell Heath, Romford, Gidea Park, Harold Wood, Brentwood
Romford to Upminster 2 trains per hour Emerson Park
London Liverpool Street to Southend Victoria 3 trains per hour Stratford, Romford (Hourly), Shenfield, Billericay, Wickford, Rayleigh, Hockley, Rochford, Southend Airport, Prittlewell
Wickford to Southminster Every 40 minutes Battlesbridge, South Woodham Ferrers, North Fambridge, Althorne, Burnham-on-Crouch
Mainline
Route Frequency Calling at
London Liverpool Street to Norwich 2 trains per hour Stratford (hourly, pick up only), Chelmsford (hourly), Colchester (North), Manningtree, Ipswich, Stowmarket (hourly), Diss
London Liverpool Street to Ipswich 1 train per hour Stratford, Shenfield, Chelmsford, Hatfield Peverel, Witham, Kelvedon, Marks Tey, Colchester (North), Manningtree
London Liverpool Street to Clacton-on-Sea 1 train per hour Stratford, Shenfield, Ingatestone, Chelmsford, Witham, Colchester (North), Wivenhoe, Thorpe-le-Soken
London Liverpool Street to Colchester Town 1 train per hour Stratford, Romford, Shenfield, Chelmsford, Witham, Kelvedon, Marks Tey, Colchester (North), Colchester Town
London Liverpool Street to Braintree 1 train per hour Stratford, Shenfield, Ingatestone, Chelmsford, Witham, White Notley, Cressing, Braintree Freeport
Marks Tey to Sudbury 1 train per hour Chappel & Wakes Colne, Bures
Colchester to Walton-on-the-Naze 1 train per hour Colchester Town, Hythe (Essex), Wivenhoe, Alresford (Essex), Great Bentley, Weeley, Thorpe-le-Soken, Kirby Cross, Frinton-on-Sea
Manningtree to Harwich Town 1 train per hour Mistley, Wrabness, Harwich International, Dovercourt
Rural
Route Frequency Calling at
Ipswich to Felixstowe 1 train per hour Westerfield, Derby Road, Trimley
Ipswich to Lowestoft 2 hourly (alternates with service blow) Westerfield, Melton, Wickham Market, Saxmundham, Darsham, Halesworth, Brampton, Beccles, Oulton Broad South
Ipswich to Saxmundham 2 hourly (alternates with service above) Westerfield, Melton, Wickham Market, Saxmundham
Ipswich to Cambridge 1 train per hour Needham Market, Stowmarket, Elmswell, Thurston, Bury St Edmunds, Kennett (two hourly), Newmarket, Dullingham (two hourly)
Ipswich to Peterborough 2 hourly Stowmarket, Bury St Edmunds, Ely, March, Whittlesea (Whittlesey)
Norwich to Lowestoft 1 train per hour Brundall, Cantley, Reedham, Haddiscoe, Somerleyton, Oulton Broad North
Norwich to Great Yarmouth 1 train per hour Brundall Gardens, Brundall, Lingwood, Acle or as a limited service: Brundall Gardens, Brundall, Cantley, Reedham, Berney Arms (on request)
Norwich to Sheringham 1 train per hour Salhouse (two hourly), Hoveton & Wroxham, Worstead (two hourly), North Walsham, Gunton (two hourly), Roughton Road (two hourly), Cromer, West Runton
Norwich to Cambridge 1 train per hour Wymondham, Attleborough, Thetford, Brandon, Ely
West Anglia
Route Frequency Calling at
London Liverpool Street to Chingford 4 trains per hour Bethnal Green, Hackney Downs, Clapton, St James Street, Walthamstow Central, Wood Street, Highams Park
London Liverpool Street to Enfield Town 2 trains per hour Bethnal Green, Cambridge Heath, London Fields, Hackney Downs, Rectory Road, Stoke Newington, Stamford Hill, Seven Sisters, Bruce Grove, White Hart Lane, Silver Street, Edmonton Green, Bush Hill Park
London Liverpool Street to Cheshunt via Seven Sisters 2 trains per hour Bethnal Green, Cambridge Heath, London Fields, Hackney Downs, Rectory Road, Stoke Newington, Stamford Hill, Seven Sisters, Bruce Grove, White Hart Lane, Silver Street, Edmonton Green, Southbury, Turkey Street, Theobalds Grove
London Liverpool Street to Hertford East 2 trains per hour Hackney Downs, Tottenham Hale, Ponders End, Brimsdown, Enfield Lock, Waltham Cross, Cheshunt, Broxbourne, Rye House, St. Margarets, Ware
London Liverpool Street to Cambridge Semi-fast 1 train per hour Tottenham Hale, Cheshunt, Broxbourne, Harlow Town, Sawbridgeworth, Bishops Stortford, Audley End, Whittlesford Parkway
London Liverpool Street to Cambridge Slow 1 train per hour Tottenham Hale, Cheshunt, Broxbourne, Roydon, Harlow Town, Harlow Mill, Sawbridgeworth, Bishops Stortford, Stansted Mountfitchet, Elsenham, Newport, Audley End, Great Chesterford, Whittlesford Parkway, Shelford
Stratford to Stansted Airport 1 train per hour Tottenham Hale, Northumberland Park, Enfield Lock, Cheshunt, Broxbourne, Roydon, Harlow Town, Harlow Mill, Sawbridgeworth, Bishops Stortford, Stansted Mountfitchet
Stansted Express
Route Frequency Calling at
London Liverpool Street to Stansted Airport 4 trains per hour Tottenham Hale (pick up only), Harlow Town (2 trains per hour), Bishops Stortford (2 trains per hour)

Former Anglia franchise

Great Eastern Class 321/3 No. 321311 at London Liverpool Street.

Former Great Eastern franchise

Newly reliveried West Anglia Class 317/5 No. 317505 at London Liverpool Street

Former West Anglia franchise

Newly reliveried Stansted Express Class 317/7 No. 317719 at London Liverpool Street

Stansted Express sub-brand

File:Stanstedxpresslogo.png
National Express branding for the Stansted Express
  • Express Rail Air Link Service between Liverpool Street and Stansted Airport

Rolling stock

The company operates a fleet of Class 153, 156 and 170 DMUs for the local lines, with Class 315, 317, 321, 360, 379 EMUs for the mainline commuter services, and Class 90 locomotives with Mark 3 coaching stock for the intercity services.

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.[citation needed]

Current fleet

Class Image Cars per set Type Top speed Number Routes operated Built
mph km/h
Class 08 N/A Shunter 15 24 2 Shunting at Norwich Crown Point 1953-1962
Class 47 N/A diesel locomotive 100 161 Hired from
Direct Rail Services 		Train Rescue
Norwich - Great Yarmouth
(Summer Only),
Norwich - Lowestoft
(Summer Only) 		1962–1968
Class 90 N/A electric locomotive 110 177 15 London Liverpool Street - Norwich 1987–1990
Class 153 Super Sprinter 1 diesel multiple unit 75 121 5 Ipswich - Lowestoft,
Ipswich - Felixstowe,
Norwich - Great Yarmouth,
Norwich - Lowestoft,
Norwich - Sheringham,
Sudbury - Marks Tey 		1987–1988
Class 156 Super Sprinter 2 diesel multiple unit 75 121 9 Ipswich - Lowestoft,
Ipswich - Felixstowe,
Norwich - Great Yarmouth,
Norwich - Lowestoft,
Norwich - Sheringham,
Sudbury - Marks Tey 		1987–1989
Class 170 Turbostar 2 or 3 diesel multiple unit 100 161 12 Cambridge - Norwich,
Ipswich - Cambridge,
Ipswich - Peterborough,
Ipswich - Lowestoft ,

Norwich - Great Yarmouth ,
Norwich - Lowestoft ,
Norwich - Sheringham 		1999–2002
Class 315 4 electric multiple unit 75 121 61 London - Shenfield,
London - Hertford East
London - Enfield Town,
London - Chingford,
London - Cheshunt
London - Southminster 		1980–1981
Class 317 4 electric multiple unit 100 161 60 London - Stansted Airport,
London - Cambridge,
London - Hertford East,
Romford - Upminster 		1981–1982
1985–1987
Class 321 4 electric multiple unit 100 161 94 London - Braintree,
London - Ipswich,
London - Southend Victoria,
London - Clacton,
Colchester - Walton-on-Naze,
Manningtree - Harwich,
Wickford - Southminster 		1988–1991
Class 360 Desiro 4 electric multiple unit 100 161 21 London - Ipswich,
London - Clacton,
London - Colchester Town
Manningtree - Harwich 		2002–2003
Class 379 Electrostar File:DSC01245-2.jpg 4 electric multiple unit 100 161 30
 London - Stansted Airport
London - Cambridge
London - Hertford East 		2010–2011
Mark 3 Coach N/A Passenger Coach 125 201 120 London Liverpool Street - Norwich
Norwich - Great Yarmouth
(Summer Only),
Norwich - Lowestoft
(Summer Only) 		1975–1988
File:Mk3DVT-82208 at Liverpool Street.jpg N/A Driving Van Trailer 110 177 15 London Liverpool Street - Norwich 1988

Past fleet

Class Image Type Built Withdrawn
Class 86 Electric locomotive 1965–1966 2005
Class 150/2 Diesel multiple unit 1984–1987 2004
Class 312 electric multiple unit 1975–1978 2004
Mark 2 Coach Passenger Coach 1964–1975 2005
Driving Brake Standard Open 1979–1986 2006

Diagrams

Class 360:

Class 321:

Future fleet

National Express are currently testing and have on order 28 Class 379s. Two are already in service and the rest will be introduced across 2011. The trains will run on the West Anglia routes to Stansted Airport and Cambridge, which will allow the release of a number of Class 317 units.[16] The trains are being built by Bombardier Transportation at its Derby Litchurch Lane facility.

Performance

Infrastructure problems have affected 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.[17] Network Rail, which is 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.[17] The work was carried out, but over-ran at short notice by some 24 hours, causing ridicule in the national press.[18]

Detailed figures (from the January edition of Modern Railways) of the miles covered per 5-minute delay for the year ending October 2009 showed that 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 'workhorse' Class 321s by comparison returned some 21,500 miles per 5-minute delay, while the 'Inter-City' Class 90 locomotive-hauled Norwich - Liverpool Street trains came in at some 14,000 miles per 5-minute delay - this last figure being a 35% improvement on last year's 10,400. The Class 90 locomotives won the Silver Spanner award for InterCity rolling stock at the Annual National Rail Awards 2009.

For the 12 months to 8 December 2007, the average punctuality for all services was 89.6%.[19] Where delays occur, the company has paid compensation to those who request it as part of its Passengers' Charter.[20]

The latest performance figures for the third quarter of the 2010-11 year released by the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) were 86.4% for the public performance measure (PPM)[21] for the quarter and 90.2% for the moving annual average (MAA)[22] for the twelve months up to the end of the third quarter. The PPM is down slightly compared to the previous quarter. Passenger satisfaction with the company in 2010 was the second lowest in the UK, at 79%.[23]

Compensation

National Express East Anglia operates a Delay Repay scheme under the terms of its Passengers' Charter which is more generous than the minimum provided for by the National Rail Conditions of Carriage.[24] However it does mean passengers have to remember to claim compensation whereas the majority of the other train operating companies automatically provide compensation on season ticket renewals.

References

  1. ^ a b c "Pre-Qualification Process Document for the Greater Anglia Franchise" (PDF). Department for Transport. 11 January 2011. Retrieved 7 May 2011.
  2. ^ "Jobs at NXEA". National Express East Anglia. Retrieved 26 March 2011.
  3. ^ "NXEA (Formerly one)". Department for Transport. Retrieved 26 March 2011.
  4. ^ Manningtree Rail Users Association. Retrieved 26 March 2011.
  5. ^ a b "'one' Railway to vanish as National Express begins major rebranding exercise" (PDF). Railway Herald. Scunthorpe. 17 November 2007. p. 9. Retrieved 28 June 2011.
  6. ^ "Route 7 - Great Eastern" (PDF). Network Rail.
  7. ^ "National Express loses East Anglia rail franchise". BBC News. 26 November 2009.
  8. ^ "Franchise replacements put on hold by Department for Transport". RailNews. Stevenage. 18 June 2010.
  9. ^ "Shortlisted bidders for Greater Anglia and Intercity West Coast rail franchises" (PDF). Department for Transport. Retrieved 14 May 2011.
  10. ^ The RailwayCentre.Com Old Pictures of the Day - December 2007
  11. ^ "Misery on the trains". Hoddesdon & Broxbourne Mercury. 16 December 2005.
  12. ^ Stakeholders view new Mark 3 carriages, 6 March 2006
  13. ^ "'one' Railway to vanish as National Express begins major re-branding exercise" (PDF). Railway Herald. 17 November 2007. p. Page 9. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 November 2007. Retrieved 17 November 2007.
  14. ^ "Liverpool Street". Network Rail.
  15. ^ Control will transfer to the Crossrail franchise in 2016, but the Crossrail service via central London will not start until construction is compete in 2018. "TfL Board Meeting Summary: DLR, Overground and Other Ways of Travelling". London Reconnections. 2 October 2008.
  16. ^ "Rolling Stock Plan - Indicative Number of Additional Vehicles required by English TOCs by 2014". Department for Transport. 30 January 2008. Retrieved 31 May 2011.
  17. ^ a b Network Rail - Route Plans 2007: Route 7 Great Eastern pp. 4-5
  18. ^ Jameson, Angela (3 January 2008). "Hamfisted handling of delays adds to the pain". The Times. London.
  19. ^ National Express East Anglia - Performance bar
  20. ^ "Delay Repay". Julian Self. 5 April 2010. Retrieved 31 May 2011.
  21. ^ "National Rail Trends Chapter 2" (PDF). ORR.
  22. ^ "Rail Performance up to 2010-11 Q3" (PDF). Office of Rail Regulation.
  23. ^ "National Passenger Survey Autumn 2010 Main Report". Passenger Focus.
  24. ^ "Delay Repay Compensation". National Express East Anglia. Retrieved 31 May 2011.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to National Express East Anglia.


Preceded by
Anglia Railways
Anglia franchise
 Operator of Greater Anglia franchise
2004 - February 2012 		Incumbent
Preceded by
First Great Eastern
Great Eastern franchise
Preceded by
WAGN
West Anglia Great Northern franchise

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