57-585: 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. The InterCity Anglia franchise was awarded by the Director of Passenger Rail Franchising to GB Railways , with the franchise commencing on 5 January 1997. In June 1998, Anglia Railways unveiled a turquoise and white livery. Prior to 1997,
114-712: A 100% FirstGroup subsidiary when the 24.5% shareholder bought out its partners. The TOCs were renamed First Great Western and First North Western . Go-Ahead Group bought the remaining 35% share in Thames Trains . Virgin Group sold a 49% share in Virgin Rail Group that operated the CrossCountry and West Coast franchises to Stagecoach . The completion of the rail link to Heathrow Airport led to Heathrow Express , an open-access operator outside
171-571: A company wholly owned by the Strategic Rail Authority , which would operate the franchise until it could be tendered again. New franchise holders Arriva Trains Wales and Merseyrail began operating. FirstGroup purchased GB Railways which owned the Anglia Railways and Hull Trains businesses. A policy where the majority of services (both long-distance and commuter) from each London terminal would all be operated by
228-422: A four-coach Class 365 Electric multiple unit , had derailed while passing over a set of points just south of Potters Bar railway station at 97 mph (156 km/h); these points had unintentionally moved while still underneath the third coach. In the aftermath of the accident, WAGN services were heavily disrupted and delayed, leading to a special timetable being implemented for a time. During April 2004,
285-586: A franchise commitment to operate two services per hour between London Liverpool Street and Norwich, eight three-car Class 170 Turbostar units were delivered in 1999/2000. These units were used on new services from Liverpool Street to Sheringham , Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft; they were also used on London Crosslink services and, from September 2000, were hired to GB Railways ' Hull Trains subsidiary to work services between London King's Cross and Hull . Due to late delivery of these units, Class 317s and Class 322s were hired from West Anglia Great Northern for
342-511: A national network owner. Franchises were initially let by the Office of Passenger Rail Franchising (OPRAF). This was in turn replaced by the Strategic Rail Authority , which has since been abolished. For England, franchising is now the responsibility of the Department for Transport in the majority of cases. In Scotland, it is the responsibility of Transport Scotland . In Wales, since 2017,
399-696: A national timetable and online journey planner facility, and the operation of the various Railcard discount schemes. Eurostar is also a member of the RDG, though it is not itself a TOC. For historical and geographical reasons the railway network of the United Kingdom is split into two independent systems: one in Great Britain (including the Isle of Wight ), and one in Northern Ireland, which
456-458: A seven year concession to operate the franchise, which was the company's fourth awarding of a passenger train franchise at that time. On 5 January 1997, West Anglia Great Northern commenced operations, taking over service from British Rail, including their rolling stock . During the late 1990s, West Anglia Great Northern submitted an application to operate extended services on an open access basis between Peterborough and Doncaster ; however,
513-572: A time. A further four two-car Class 170s were delivered in 2002 and were used principally on the new Norwich to Cambridge services. Anglia hired a Class 47 from Cotswold Rail , from June 2002, as a rescue locomotive and to haul Mark 2 sets on summer Saturday services to Great Yarmouth. In July 2002, Anglia hired a Class 90 from Freightliner for a few months with a view to replacing the Class 86s. In October 2003, Anglia began operating three Class 90s from English, Welsh & Scottish Railway until
570-544: A two-year extension on the West Anglia Great Northern franchise; thereafter, the Great Northern services were retained with the company commonly referring to itself as WAGN rather than West Anglia Great Northern. On 10 May 2002, a major rail accident involving a northbound WAGN service occurred at Potters Bar , resulting the deaths of seven people and the injury of a further 76. The train,
627-653: A wholly owned subsidiary of Transport for London , operates trains nearly all on its own network serving mostly its own stations: It is not a Train Operating Company by the definition here.) The Rail Delivery Group (RDG) (formerly the Association of Train Operating Companies) provides a commonality for the TOCs and provides some centralised co-ordination. Its activities include the provision of
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#1732771880166684-655: Is closely linked to the railway system of the Republic of Ireland. In Great Britain, passenger train services are operated by a number of companies, referred to as Train Operating Companies or TOCs, normally on the basis of regional franchises awarded by the DfT Rail Group. Until 2005 this role was performed by the Strategic Rail Authority . The infrastructure of the railways in England, Scotland, and Wales – including tracks and signalling –
741-472: Is owned and operated not by the train companies but by Network Rail , which took over responsibility from Railtrack in 2002. Most passenger trains are owned by a small number of rolling stock companies (ROSCO) and are leased to the individual TOCs. However, a handful of TOCs own and maintain some of their own rolling stock. Train operating companies also operate most of the network's stations , in their role as station facility owners (SFO), in which they lease
798-463: The Class 313 and Class 317 electric multiple units. By 1999, WAGN was amongst the best performing franchises according to statistics compiled by the Office of Passenger Rail Franchising . However, proposed open access services between Peterborough and Doncaster by WAGN were rejected by the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) due to a lack of capacity. During July 2000, Prism Rail, along with WAGN,
855-824: The Greater Anglia franchise on 5 February 2012. In September 2012, FirstGroup was awarded the right to operate the West Coast franchise which provoked a backlash from incumbent Virgin Trains West Coast. As a result of the Department for Transport having provided incorrect information during the bid process, the offer was withdrawn in October 2012 and £40 million of bid costs refunded. In September 2014, Govia Thameslink Railway took over services formerly operated by First Capital Connect as part of
912-555: The InterCity East Coast franchise. West Anglia Great Northern 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
969-899: The Metro buses in Belfast and Ulsterbus coaches around the country. NIR is not a TOC under the terms of the Railways Act 1993 , which only applies to Great Britain. The cross-border service Enterprise (Belfast–Dublin) is jointly operated with Iarnród Éireann , the publicly owned national railway company of the Republic of Ireland. Upon privatisation in 1994, the three passenger-operating sectors of British Rail ( InterCity , Network SouthEast and Regional Railways ) were divided, and their existing operations were let as 25 franchises: The privatisation process began when BR's passenger sectors were divided into 25 train operating units which were gradually incorporated as publicly owned subsidiaries of
1026-736: The North East Regional franchise and the North West Regional franchise . In 2004, these were altered into the TransPennine franchise, for intercity services, and the Northern franchise, for local services that were awarded to First TransPennine Express and Northern Rail respectively. Some North West services were transferred to the Arriva Trains Wales franchise. In the same year, Thames Trains
1083-572: The Thameslink, Southern & Great Northern franchise and branded them as Thameslink and Great Northern. Services operated by Southern , another Govia subsidiary, were merged into the new franchise in the following year. Hull Trains became a 100% subsidiary of FirstGroup when the 80% shareholder bought out its partners. In March 2015, a Stagecoach and Virgin joint venture trading as Virgin Trains East Coast commenced operating
1140-791: The passenger transport executive or other civic body responsible for administering public transport. One of these bodies, the Merseyside Passenger Transport Executive (Merseytravel) is responsible for one of three National Rail franchises not awarded by central government, namely the Merseyrail franchise, while certain National Rail services in North London came under the control of TfL in November 2007 as London Overground. Two other franchises,
1197-405: The privatisation of the network under the Railways Act 1993 . There are two types of TOC: most hold franchises let by the Department for Transport (DfT) through a tendering system, to operate services on certain routes for a specified duration, while a small number of open-access operators hold licences to provide supplementary services on chosen routes. These operators can run services for
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#17327718801661254-417: The privatisation of British Rail , several individuals from the bus industry decided to found their own company, Prism Rail , to bid for some of the newly created rail franchises. In its bid for the West Anglia Great Northern franchise, Prism promised that it would make a premium payment of £24.8 million to the franchising office in 2004. During December 1996, it was announced that that Prism had been awarded
1311-565: The British Railways Board. They acted as shadow franchises prior to being put to tender: The opening of the Channel Tunnel saw operations by Eurostar begin from London Waterloo to Paris and Brussels . The franchising process was implemented, with various private companies taking over the shadow franchises. Three were awarded to management buyouts . The Great Western Holdings ' management also were awarded
1368-489: The British transport conglomerate National Express . The West Anglia Great Northern franchise was created as part of the privatisation of British Rail , the recently founded company Prism Rail successfully bid for it, being awarded a seven year concession for its operation during December 1996. It took over operations from British Rail on 5 January 1997. The company set about overhauling its inherited rolling stock, such as
1425-659: The East Coast franchise. In April 2008, Wrexham & Shropshire began operating open access services between Wrexham and London Marylebone . In June 2008, the Gatwick Express franchise was integrated with the South Central franchise operated by Southern . The government announced that National Express East Coast would have its franchise to operate intercity services along the ECML terminated, and that
1482-593: The Hertford North loop line. West Anglia Great Northern inherited a fleet of Class 313s , Class 315s , Class 317s , Class 322s and Class 365s from British Rail . Between 1997 and 1999, two of the five Class 322 electric multiple units were loaned to First North Western , after which all five units were transferred to ScotRail during 2001. The first trains to undergo overhaul work were twenty-four Class 317/2 multiple units; these were adapted to be more suitable for long-distance use, changes included
1539-587: The North West Regional Railways franchise. The remainder were divided between a handful of major transport operators: In Northern Ireland, NIR stopped using its own branding on the Enterprise service between Belfast and Dublin when it purchased new rolling stock in conjunction with IÉ, instead launching Enterprise as a separate brand name. Great Western Holdings , which operated Great Western Trains and North West Trains, became
1596-582: The Scottish national franchise, currently operated by ScotRail , and the Welsh domestic franchise, operated by Transport for Wales , are awarded by the devolved governments of the two constituent nations. The Rail Delivery Group is the coordinating body of the train operating companies in Great Britain and owns the National Rail brand, which uses the former British Rail double-arrow logo and organises
1653-551: The Strategic Rail Authority awarded the Greater Anglia franchise to National Express with the services operated by Anglia Railways transferring to One on 1 April 2004. Train operating company In the railway system of Great Britain , a train operating company ( TOC ) is a railway undertaking operating passenger trains under the collective National Rail brand. TOCs have existed since
1710-466: The buildings and associated land from Network Rail. Network Rail manages some major railway stations and several stations are operated by London Underground or other companies. Most passenger TOCs in Great Britain are privately owned. The majority of these hold franchises to operate rail services on specific parts of the railway and come under the auspices of the National Rail brand. In addition, companies are able to bid for "paths" (specific parts of
1767-452: The common ticketing structure. Many of the train operating companies are in fact parts of larger companies which operate multiple franchises. The railway network in Northern Ireland is managed differently from the rest of the UK. The sole company in Northern Ireland that operates trains is NI Railways , who are a subsidiary of Translink , the publicly owned transport corporation, which also runs
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1824-412: The deaths of seven people and the injury of a further 76; services were heavily disrupted and special measures were implemented in response. In December 2005, the Department for Transport (DfT) awarded the recently created Thameslink franchise to rival company FirstGroup , thus the services operated by WAGN were transferred to the new operator First Capital Connect on 1 April 2006. During 1995, amid
1881-518: The duration of the licence validity. The franchised operators have changed considerably since privatisation: previous franchises have been divided, merged, re-let to new operators, or renamed. Some privately-operated franchises have been taken over by a government-owned operator of last resort , due either to failing expectations or to events on the rail system as a whole. The term is also sometimes used to describe companies operating passenger or freight rail services over tracks owned by another company or
1938-601: The end of the franchise. Anglia Railways' fleet was maintained at Crown Point TMD in Norwich. In 2002, as part of a franchise reorganisation by the Strategic Rail Authority , it was announced that the Anglia Railways franchise would be merged into the Greater Anglia franchise . Having missed out on pre-qualifying for the Greater Anglia franchise, FirstGroup purchased GB Railways in August 2003. In December 2003,
1995-514: The franchise would pass into the hands of public-sector company, Directly Operated Railways , which acted as the parent for East Coast . Grand Central open-access services from London to Bradford began on 23 May 2010. DB Regio's operations in the UK were integrated into those of Arriva following the acquisition of the latter by Deutsche Bahn in the previous year. Owing to continuing losses, Wrexham & Shropshire ceased operating on 28 January 2011. Abellio Greater Anglia began operating
2052-401: The franchising system, beginning its services from London Paddington to Heathrow with operating rights until 2023. The shareholdings of M40 Trains were restructured with John Laing owning 84% of the company with the remaining 16% held by former BR managers. MTL which operated Merseyrail Electrics and Northern Spirit and Prism Rail that operated c2c (renamed from LTS Rail earlier in
2109-516: The installation of lower-density seats throughout, an improved first class area, the addition of carpet, and repainting. Dedicated bicycle and wheelchair spaces and improved lighting were also provided, while the exterior received a new white, grey, blue and red livery. West Anglia Great Northern also opted to improve its suburban trains, such as the Class 313 multiple units, which gained new seats with higher backs, provisions for wheelchair users, and minor improvements to fittings such as stanchions in
2166-614: The name Wales & Borders . The remainder of Wales & West's services in the west of England were renamed Wessex Trains . John Laing bought out its partners in M40 Trains. Connex , having already lost the South Central franchise in 2001, was removed as franchisee of the South Eastern franchise in 2003 on the grounds of poor financial management. It was replaced as the franchise holder by South Eastern Trains ,
2223-578: The overall National Rail timetable) to operate their own services, which the franchises do not operate – these operators are classed as open-access operators and are not franchise holders. Currently in Great Britain, there are three open-access operators: Hull Trains , which runs services between London King's Cross and Hull , Grand Central , which operates between King's Cross and Sunderland and between King's Cross and Bradford , and Lumo , which operates between King's Cross and Edinburgh Waverley . In addition, there are operators that fall outside
2280-671: The passenger areas. These emerged from refurbishment at Railcare, Wolverton in a plain white undercoat, before a metallic purple livery was introduced in 2001. Between 1999 and 2000, nine Class 317/1s were refurbished for use on the dedicated Stansted Express service, they were reclassified Class 317/7. These multiple units featured improved interiors and a new metallic blue Stansted Express livery. During 2004, sixteen Class 365s were transferred to WAGN from South Eastern Trains . Before their entry into service, these multiple units had their original DC shoe gear removed and pantographs fitted instead. West Anglia Great Northern's fleet
2337-488: The proposal was rejected by the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) due to a reported lack of capacity on the route. By 1999, according to statistics compiled by the Office of Passenger Rail Franchising , West Anglia Great Northern was amongst the best performing franchises, being one of only seven franchises to obtain a B grade, for which its average punctuality had to be above 90 per cent while its average reliability figures had to be exceed 99 per cent. During July 2000, it
Anglia Railways - Misplaced Pages Continue
2394-404: The purview of National Rail, which operate specific services which are recent additions to Britain's railways. The main examples are Eurostar, which operates to continental Europe via the Channel Tunnel , and Heathrow Express , which runs fast services from London to Heathrow Airport . A number of metropolitan railways on the network are operated by the local franchise holder in conjunction with
2451-446: The railway infrastructure services company Jarvis plc admitting liability for the accident. West Anglia Great Northern operated all-stops and limited stops West Anglia services out of London Liverpool Street to Chingford , Enfield Town , Hertford East , Stansted Airport , and Cambridge , and all-stops and limited stops Great Northern services out of London King's Cross to Cambridge , King's Lynn and Peterborough , including
2508-753: The responsibility for the specification and procurement of the Wales & Borders franchise belongs to Transport for Wales . In two parts of England, local government agencies are responsible: in Merseyside , the Merseyside Passenger Transport Executive lets the Merseyrail franchise, while in London, Transport for London (TfL) oversees the new London Overground and Elizabeth line concessions. ( London Underground ,
2565-501: The routes operated by Silverlink in London, which were combined with the extended East London line in 2011. Services are controlled directly by TfL, with running of the trains themselves contracted to a private company as an operating concession. This is different from an ordinary franchise, as the train operator is not given control of the strategic aspects of the operation, such as pricing, timetabling and rolling stock procurement. In December 2007, National Express East Coast took over
2622-628: The running of the InterCity East Coast franchise from GNER . Grand Central also began operating its services between London and Sunderland as an open access operator. In January 2008, Laing Rail which owned M40 Trains and a 50% shareholding in London Overground Rail Operations was sold to Deutsche Bahn , becoming part of the DB Regio Group. In February 2008, One was re-branded by National Express as National Express East Anglia to bring it into line with
2679-532: The same franchise was partially enacted. In April 2004, One commenced operating the Greater Anglia franchise that combined the Anglia Railways and First Great Eastern franchises with the West Anglia Great Northern services radiating out from Liverpool Street . The remainder continuing to be operated as WAGN . In the North of England, prior to 2004 there were two regional franchises,
2736-588: The south-east of England, were replaced as the operator of the Network SouthCentral franchise by Govia , who began operating it under the name South Central . Also in 2001, a new franchise, the Wales & Borders franchise was created by the amalgamation of Valley Lines and the majority of services in Wales and the Borders held by Wales & West . The new franchise was initially operated under
2793-741: The trains were run by British Rail sectors of InterCity , Regional Railways and Network SouthEast . After March 2004, the trains were run by National Express East Anglia . Anglia Railways operated InterCity services on the Great Eastern Main Line from London Liverpool Street to Harwich International and Norwich . It also operated regional services between Ipswich & Felixstowe , Ipswich & Lowestoft , Ipswich & Ely , Harwich International / Ipswich & Cambridge , Ely & Peterborough , Norwich & Ely , Norwich & Sheringham , Norwich & Great Yarmouth and Norwich & Lowestoft . A franchise commitment
2850-521: The various franchises conducted by the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA), it was announced that the franchise would be divided, and that the West Anglia portion would be merged into the Greater Anglia franchise . During December 2003, the SRA awarded the Greater Anglia franchise to National Express, resulting in the transfer of the West Anglia services to One on 1 April 2004. The company was also granted
2907-505: The year), Valley Lines Trains , Wales & West , and West Anglia Great Northern were purchased by Arriva and National Express respectively, resulting in the latter owning nine franchises. The two companies transferred to Arriva were renamed Arriva Trains Merseyside and Arriva Trains Northern. The first open access operator using the National Rail brand, Hull Trains , commenced running its services between King's Cross and Hull . In 2001, Connex , which had operated two franchises in
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#17327718801662964-441: Was acquired by the British transport conglomerate National Express via a £166 million deal. In January 2002, as part of a wider reorganisation of the various franchises conducted by the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA), it was announced that the franchise would be divided, and that the West Anglia portion would be merged into the Greater Anglia franchise . On 10 May 2002, a northbound WAGN service derailed at Potters Bar , resulting
3021-420: Was announced that Prism Rail, and thus West Anglia Great Northern as well, had been acquired by the British transport conglomerate National Express in exchange for £166 million. That same month, the company had agreed to invest £20.5m into the network, and had reported that the Great Northern portion of the franchise' operations were running at a profit. In January 2002, as part of a wider reorganisation of
3078-576: Was introduced on 29 September 2002 from Norwich to Cambridge . This continues to operate. Anglia Railways inherited a fleet of Class 86s , Mark 2 carriages , Driving Brake Standard Opens , Class 150s and Class 153s from British Rail . As part of the franchise, the fleet of Mark 2 carriages had a complete mechanical and interior refurbishment. On 10 June 1998, it unveiled its turquoise and white livery. In June 1998, preserved Class 201 unit 1001 commenced an eleven-month lease operating services from Norwich to Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft . To meet
3135-548: Was superseded by First Great Western Link and ScotRail (National Express) by First ScotRail . A new operator, Heathrow Connect , jointly run by BAA and First Great Western , began operating stopping services between London Paddington and Heathrow Airport complementing the Heathrow Express. Three new integrated franchises began operating in April 2006: Further integrations occurred in 2007. The first of these
3192-632: Was the South Western franchise ; this merged the original South West Trains franchise with the Island Line Trains franchise on the Isle of Wight and began operating in February 2007 under the name South West Trains, with Island Line retained as a separate brand. In November 2007, three new integrated franchises began operating: In addition to these three, a further new operator, London Overground Rail Operations , took control of
3249-653: Was to increase the hourly London Liverpool Street and Norwich services to half-hourly. The half-hourly service was introduced in 2000 with some extended to Sheringham , Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft . With funding from the Strategic Rail Authority 's Rail Partnership Funding, Anglia introduced a new experimental service from the Great Eastern Main Line via the North London Line to Basingstoke branded London Crosslink . It operated from 22 May 2000 until ceasing on 28 September 2002 due to poor loadings. A more successful new service with Rail Partnership Funding
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