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Anglia Railways

 
Wikipedia: Anglia Railways
Anglia Railways
Anglia Railways logo.png
DBSO 9701 at Colchester.JPG
Franchise(s): InterCity Great Eastern
5 January 1997 - 31 March 2004
Main route(s): Great Eastern Main Line
Other route(s): Norwich-Sheringham
Norwich-Great Yarmouth / Lowestoft
Norwich-Ely / Cambridge
Ipswich-Ely / Cambridge
Ely-Peterborough
Ipswich-Lowestoft
Ipswich-Felixstowe
Manningtree-Harwich (Boat Trains)
London Crosslink
Fleet size: Unknown
Stations called at: 64
Parent company: GB Railways

Anglia Railways was a British train operating company, owned by GB Railways, which between 5 January 1997 and 31 March 2004 operated mainline trains out of London Liverpool Street station and a number of local rail services in East Anglia.

GB Railways won the franchise because it offered to operate the franchise for the lowest subsidy. It also made a commitment to increase mainline services, which until then operated hourly between London and Norwich, to half hourly. The half hourly service to Norwich was introduced in 2000. GB Railways ordered a fleet of Class 170 trains, although the services were operated initially using leased Class 317 trains because the manufacturer delivered the new trains late. Use of diesel multiple unit train also allowed the company to introduce direct services to London from towns off the electrified main line, including Sheringham, Lowestoft and Great Yarmouth. It also introduced an experimental service outside of the territory inherited with the franchise. The service was called "London Crosslink" and ran from the Great Eastern Main Line via the North London Line to Basingstoke. This service ran from 30 May 2000 to 28 September 2002. Anglia Railways also introduced a highly successful direct service between Norwich and Cambridge using a two-car Class 170 diesel multiple unit. This service continues to run today.

Anglia Railways' Crown Point Depot. A Class 150 and steam locomotive can be seen.

On 1 April 2004 its franchise was transferred to Train Operating Company London Eastern Railway Ltd, which is a subsidiary of the National Express Group. Its services were initially branded 'one' and have since been rebranded as National Express East Anglia.

The decision to transfer the franchise to National Express was controversial, since Anglia was twice awarded "Train Operator of the Year"[1] and also "European Train Operator of Year 2000" [2]. Anglia Railways was very popular with passengers, its parent company GB Railways, was purchased by First Group, operator of First Great Eastern, who had won the "Train Operator of the Year" award once as well. National Express on the other hand had a reputation for poor service (Central Trains).

Fleet

Class Image Type Top speed Number Built
mph km/h
Class 47 Anglia 47 Norwich.JPG Diesel locomotive 100 160 Hired from Cotswold Rail 1963-1968
Class 86 86227 'Golden Jubilee' at Ipswich.JPG Electric locomotive 100 160 15 1960s
Class 150 Sprinter 150245 at Cambridge.JPG Diesel multiple unit 75 120 10 1985 - 1987
Class 153 Super Sprinter 153335 'Michael Palin' at Cambridge.JPG Diesel multiple unit 75 120 7 1987 - 1988
Class 170 Turbostar 170205 at Ely.JPG Diesel multiple unit 100 160 12 1999 - 2002
Mark 2 coach Greatyarmouth34.jpg Passenger Rolling stock 100 160 115 1964 - 1975
Rail-dbso-amoswolfe.jpg DBSO Control Car 100 160 13 1979

References

  1. ^ Rail Professional, Ltd.. "HSBC Rail Awards 2003 Review". http://www.railpro.co.uk/issues/apr2004.html. Retrieved 2006-11-06. 
  2. ^ Cambridge Network. "Top award for rail operator". http://www.cambridgenetwork.co.uk/pooled/articles/BF_NEWSART/view.asp?Q=BF_NEWSART_8538. Retrieved 2006-12-03. 


Preceded by
InterCity
As part of British Rail
Operator of Anglia franchise
1997 - 2004
Succeeded by
National Express East Anglia
Greater Anglia franchise



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