67-512: Greater Anglia (legal name Transport UK East Anglia Limited ) 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 inter-city 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
134-712: 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
201-569: A 40% stake in the business to Mitsui . The sale was completed in March 2017. Reportedly, Greater Anglia has incorporated numerous planning and operational practices of the Japanese railways, such as the use of digital twin simulation software for analysing performance and developing its timetables, since the acquisition. In 2021, following the COVID-19 emergency measures, Greater Anglia was given
268-571: 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
335-508: A direct award contract, replacing its franchise agreement, expiring on 20 September 2026. In February 2023, Transport UK Group concluded a management buyout of Abellio's United Kingdom business, which included its share in Greater Anglia. In August 2017, amidst a background of ongoing rail strikes on a national level, Greater Anglia conductors voted in favour of going on strike in a dispute over planned ticket office closures and
402-511: 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,
469-696: 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
536-504: A result of the dispute. In December 2003, the Strategic Rail Authority awarded the Greater Anglia franchise to National Express , which began operations on 1 April 2004, initially under the brand-name One . The franchise was to run until March 2011, with provision for a three-year extension if performance targets were met. In November 2009, the Department for Transport (DfT) announced that National Express would not be granted
603-653: 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
670-508: Is being undertaken as a multiagency effort, involving not only infrastructure changes carried out by Network Rail and various civil engineering companies, but also the procurement of new rolling stock and other efforts. It was recognised early on that, for the intercity services to be meaningfully sped up, slower regional trains could not feasibly be overtaken or avoided on the mostly twin-track line, so that services overall would need to be accelerated. There has also been an aspiration to increase
737-710: 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 –
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#1732780278566804-472: 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
871-602: The East of England . Abellio began operating the franchise, then known as the Greater Anglia franchise, replacing the National Express franchise on 4 February 2012. Initially, it traded under the same name until it rebranded as Abellio Greater Anglia in December 2013. Shortly after taking over operations, the company initiated a series of projects to improve service levels, including the procurement of new trains and
938-714: The Great Eastern Main Line and the Stansted Express as well as 38 three- and four-carriage Class 755 units for taking over all local diesel services from the previous outdated rolling stock. By July 2020, all Class 755 trains had entered passenger service. The first unit of the new order to enter service was from the Class 755 fleet, of which the first entered service on 29 July 2019 on the Norwich to Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft route. The next of
1005-761: 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
1072-899: 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
1139-736: 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
1206-582: The Romford to Upminster service, were transferred to London Overground Rail Operations . On the same day, the Liverpool Street to Shenfield stopping services were also transferred to the TfL Rail concession managed by MTR . In June 2015, an Abellio (60%) / Stagecoach (40%) joint venture, FirstGroup and National Express were shortlisted to bid for the franchise. In December 2015, it
1273-572: 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
1340-791: 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,
1407-405: 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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#17327802785661474-565: 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
1541-648: The Class 720s and to allow the Class 360s to be released, three Class 321/9s and five Class 322s , last used by Northern Trains , were leased from July 2020. The first unit bound for EMR, 360120, moved to Cricklewood depot on 10 November 2020, with all having transferred by February 2021. Due to high leasing costs, the fleet of 30 Class 379 Electrostar EMUs was withdrawn and sent to storage in February 2022. On 1 August 2022, Greater Anglia confirmed that all West Anglia services were now operated by Class 720 Aventra units. Greater Anglia withdrew its Class 321 fleet at
1608-659: 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
1675-420: The Greater Anglia franchise. In August 2016, it was announced that 1,043 new carriages would be purchased, which would allow for all of the ageing stock to be replaced. This was especially necessary given that a number of coaches were not compliant with accessibility requirements beyond 2020 and they would not be able to meet Abellio's new targets for lower journey times without extensive modification. One part of
1742-587: 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
1809-473: The RMT continued into 2018, with further strikes threatened during the summer that affected around 40 per cent of the operator's services. On 19 July 2018, the RMT announced members had voted 9 to 1 to accept a deal that would keep guards on trains, and halted the expansion of driver only operation. Greater Anglia is one of several train operators impacted by the 2022–2024 United Kingdom railway strikes , which are
1876-582: 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
1943-466: 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
2010-452: 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
2077-511: The contract went to Bombardier with nearly £1 billion to build 111 Bombardier Aventra electric multiple units and the other part of the purchase went to Stadler to build 58 FLIRT electric multiple units, all of which would enter service between August 2019 and September 2020. Bombardier's order included all 111 Class 720 units for taking over local and commuter services out of Liverpool Street . Stadler's order included 20 twelve-carriage Class 745 units to operate inter-city services on
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2144-518: 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
2211-431: The end of April 2023. Former train types operated by Greater Anglia include: [REDACTED] Greater Anglia's fleet is maintained at Clacton-on-Sea , Ilford and Crown Point depots. 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
2278-543: The first national rail strikes in the UK for three decades. Its workers are amongst those who are participating in industrial action due to a dispute over pay and working conditions. A number of improvements were planned during the first franchise period (2012–2016) which included: The following improvements have been planned as part of the Abellio bid for the East Anglia franchise (2016–2025): As of June 2024,
2345-495: The following services operate during the off-peak period, Monday to Friday: Greater Anglia operates the Stansted Express sub-branded airport rail link between Stansted Airport and London Liverpool Street . As of June 2024, Stansted Express' off-peak services Monday to Friday are: Punctuality statistics released by Network Rail for service report period 7 of 2013–2014 (15 September – 13 October 2013) were 94.0% PPM ( Public Performance Measure ), down 1.0 percentage point on
2412-514: 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
2479-401: 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
2546-505: The general lack of improvements in prior years; according to industry periodical Rail , it was the second least subsidised passenger operator by 2015. Greater Anglia inherited a fleet of Class 90 , Mark 3 carriages and Driving Van Trailers ; Class 153 , Class 156 and Class 170 diesel multiple units ; and Class 315 , Class 317 , Class 321 , Class 360 and Class 379 electric multiple units from National Express East Anglia . Due to its short initial franchise term, Greater Anglia
2613-634: The initial franchise period due to the short timescale involved. The creation of the Great Eastern Rail Taskforce in 2013 was seen as a major step towards this. In 2015, Chloe Smith , Norwich North MP and co-chairman of the taskforce, noted that the scheme was as much a political effort as it was an engineering one. By the 2010s, the region's rail infrastructure was relatively worn-out and prone to unreliability. Modernisation efforts would therefore focus not only on improving absolute speeds but on reducing failure rates as well. This work
2680-483: The launch of the Norwich in 90 programme to reduce travel times between several major locations on its network. In May 2015, Greater Anglia's suburban rail services were transferred to London Overground and the precursor to Crossrail , TfL Rail . The franchise was retendered as the East Anglia franchise and was awarded to Abellio in August 2016. The company resumed trading as Greater Anglia on 16 October 2016 when
2747-614: 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 ,
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2814-436: The new franchise commenced. In January 2017, Abellio announced that subject to gaining Department for Transport approval, it had agreed to sell a 40% stake in the business to Mitsui. Since the completion of the sale in March 2017, Greater Anglia has incorporated several Japanese planning tools and practices. Trade unions have objected to some of the changes made by the company, leading to industrial action in 2017 and 2018 as
2881-514: The number of trains between Norwich and London to three per hour, although capacity constraints such as the single-track section in the vicinity of the Trowse Swing Bridge would need to be overcome to facilitate this. Some services have been transferred from Greater Anglia's management to other rail operators. On 31 May 2015, the Liverpool Street to Enfield Town , Cheshunt (via Seven Sisters ) and Chingford services, as well as
2948-755: The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic , in order to allow the first unit to enter service within the next few months. In June 2020, the units were authorised to enter passenger service and, after further testing and crew training, the first two units finally entered service on 26 November 2020 as a pairing on the Shenfield to Southend Line . Class 360s began moving to Kings Heath TMD in Northampton in June 2020 for modifications by Siemens to make them capable of 110 mph speeds, in preparation for their transfer to East Midlands Railway (EMR). Due to delays in commissioning
3015-504: The order was the Class 745/0 fleet, of which the first entered service on 8 January 2020 on the Great Eastern Main Line operating services between Norwich and Liverpool Street. Following the introduction of these units, the Class 90 hauled sets were all withdrawn from service, with the last set running its last journeys on 24 March 2020. In March 2020, testing of the new Class 720 fleet finally began and continued despite
3082-578: 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
3149-555: The planned introduction of more widespread driver-only operation on the Greater Anglia network. On numerous occasions since October 2017, industrial action has been taken by portions of the company's employees, and the principal matter of dispute has seen no effective resolution. The National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) has accused Greater Anglia of conducting alleged strike-breaking tactics and claimed that its use of stand-in conductors led to passengers' safety being jeopardised. The dispute between Greater Anglia and
3216-404: 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
3283-753: 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 ,
3350-501: 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
3417-699: 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
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#17327802785663484-532: 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,
3551-491: The same period ine the previous year, and the MAA (Moving Annual Average) up to 12 October 2013 also fell slightly to 92.3%. In 2013, Abellio Greater Anglia was named train operator of the year. However, a survey in February 2014 by the consumer group Which? found that customer satisfaction with Abellio Greater Anglia was at last place (out of 20 train operators) with a satisfaction percentage of 40%, and in 2016 Abellio Greater Anglia
3618-588: 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
3685-450: The three-year extension even though it had met the performance criteria, because National Express East Coast had defaulted on the InterCity East Coast franchise. Following a change of government as a result of the 2010 general election , the DfT announced in June 2010 that all refranchising would be put on hold while a process review was conducted. As a result, National Express East Anglia
3752-505: 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
3819-449: Was "working closely" with the government to introduce a fleet upgrade. By October 2016, all the franchise's Mark 3 carriages and Class 156 multiple units had been refitted with controlled emission toilets. On 31 May 2015, the company's fleet of Class 315 trains were cascaded to London Overground and TfL Rail ; in addition, some Class 317 trains were cascaded to London Overground, which took over local services in North and East London from
3886-517: Was announced that Stagecoach had pulled out of the joint bid with Abellio, and that Abellio would continue the bid alone. In August 2016, it was announced that Abellio had successfully retained the franchise until 2025. One commitment of the new franchise period is the purchase of 1,043 new carriages, 660 from Bombardier Transportation 's Derby Litchurch Lane Works with the remainder being built by Stadler Rail . In January 2017, Abellio announced that, subject to gaining DfT approval, it had agreed to sell
3953-524: Was commenced by Greater Anglia shortly after it took over operations was the 'Norwich in 90' campaign, aimed at introducing faster journey times, such as between London and Colchester within 40 minutes, London and Ipswich in 60 minutes, and London and Norwich in 90 minutes. Several organisations, including Norfolk County Council , had been calling for such a scheme to be undertaken since as early as 2009. Abellio had acknowledged such calls in 2012, but could not justify making very substantial investments during
4020-445: Was granted an initial extension until October 2011, followed by another until February 2012. In March 2011, the DfT announced that Abellio , Go-Ahead , and Stagecoach had been shortlisted to bid for the franchise. In October 2011, the new franchise was awarded to Abellio; accordingly, the services previously operated by National Express East Anglia were transferred to Greater Anglia on 5 February 2012. The Greater Anglia franchise
4087-453: Was not planning to introduce any new trains, although this policy changed substantially following the start of its second franchise term in October 2016. In November 2013, an online petition was launched, aimed at stopping Greater Anglia's trains from dumping raw sewage from the train toilets directly onto the tracks. There were also concerns with the 'sewage mist' from passing trains making Network Rail staff ill; Greater Anglia announced it
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#17327802785664154-563: Was originally to run until July 2014; the reason for awarding a short franchise at a time when the government was speaking of its desire for longer franchises was to allow the government to digest the recommendations of the McNulty Rail Value for Money study before letting a long-term franchise. In March 2013, the Secretary of State for Transport announced the franchise would again be extended until 15 October 2016. Greater Anglia
4221-504: Was overdue. During the negotiations for the award of the franchise, Greater Anglia pledged to undertake numerous investments that would improve the various services and facilities offered. On 4 November 2014, the Great Eastern Main Line Taskforce released its investment analysis report, which included a detailed breakdown of several proposed investments in the region's rail network. One major initiative that
4288-432: Was rated the fourth worst UK train operator with a commuter rail services satisfaction rating of 35%. Forecasts issued during the mid-2010s predicted that demand on the GEML into London from Suffolk and Norfolk was expected to grow by 32 per cent, while demand from Essex was to go up by 52 per cent. This prediction was in spite of the relatively low levels of subsidies provided for Greater Anglia's operations, and
4355-400: Was rebranded as Abellio Greater Anglia in December 2013. Prior to Greater Anglia, the last period of substantial investment in the region had been nearly 30 years earlier, specifically the electrification of the line north of Ipswich . At the commencement of the franchise, railway commentator Philip Haigh observed that the region's services had changed little since the BR days, and that change
4422-429: 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
4489-446: 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
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