Southeastern (train operating company)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Image:South eastern logo.jpg | |
|---|---|
| Image:British Rail Class 375 "Electrostar".jpg | |
| Franchise(s): | Integrated Kent Franchise 2006-01-04 - 2014-03-31 |
| Main region(s): | Greater London |
| Other region(s): | Kent, East Sussex |
| Fleet size: | approx. 400 |
| Stations called at: | 182 |
| National Rail abbreviation: | SE |
| Parent company: | Govia (Go-Ahead Group / Keolis) |
| Web site: | www.southeasternrailway.co.uk/ |
Southeastern is a train operating company in the United Kingdom. It began operations in south-east England on 1 April 2006, replacing the former publicly-owned operator South Eastern Trains and serves the commuter routes to south-east London, Kent, and parts of East Sussex. The London termini of its services are Charing Cross, Blackfriars, Cannon Street, and Victoria. Southeastern operate on 773 miles (1237 km) of track, with 182 stations. 82% of its train services run into London.
It is owned by Govia, which is itself jointly owned by Go-Ahead Group and Keolis, who also operate the neighbouring Southern operating company which overlaps with Southeastern in some areas. The company’s formal name, under which it mounted its bid for the franchise, is London and South Eastern Railway. Although it continued to use the logo and livery of its predecessor for its first year of operations, a new company logo was adopted early in 2007 and stations, beginning with Waterloo East, have begun to be re-painted under the new corporate colour scheme. In August 2007, a Class 508 train was painted in a new trial livery, although the company has stated that the exact design is yet to be finalised.[1]
Contents |
[edit] History of the franchise
Since the privatisaton of British Rail, the franchise to run trains in this area has changed hands three times. The first company to win the franchise on 14th October 1996 was Connex, who operated it under the name Connex South Eastern. The company gained bad publicity, and their franchise was cut short on 9th November 2003. Train services were then taken over by South Eastern Trains, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Strategic Rail Authority/Department for Transport, until an alternative bidder could be found.
[edit] Current routes
[edit] Main lines
From London termini (Victoria, London Bridge, Waterloo East, Charing Cross, Blackfriars, and Cannon Street) unless otherwise stated;
- North Kent Line: services via Dartford to Gillingham
- Chatham Main Line - services to the Kent Coast via Bromley South and Chatham, dividing at Faversham to Ramsgate and Dover
- Swanley to Ashford (via Maidstone East) Line
- South Eastern Main Line - services the Kent Coast via Ashford and Sevenoaks
- Ashford to Ramsgate (via Canterbury West) line
- Kent Coast Line: Ashford to Ramsgate (via Folkestone and Dover)
- Hastings Line (Hastings via Tunbridge Wells)
- London Bridge to Tunbridge Wells (via Redhill and East Croydon) — uses part of the Brighton Main Line
[edit] Suburban lines
The suburban services run to:
- Sevenoaks: two services — one via Grove Park to Charing Cross, and one via Swanley and Bromley South to Blackfriars (Catford Loop Line).
- Hayes line to Charing Cross
- Orpington
- via Lewisham to Charing Cross (South Eastern Main Line)
- via Bromley South to Victoria (Chatham Main Line)
- Dartford via: North Kent Line, the Bexleyheath Line, and the Dartford Loop Line to Charing Cross.
- Bromley North Line
[edit] Rural lines
- Medway Valley Line, some services extend to Tunbridge Wells, and occasionally to Gatwick Airport and Three Bridges
- Sheerness Line
- Horsham to Tunbridge Wells (via Gatwick and Redhill) — uses part of the Brighton Main Line and Redhill to Tonbridge Line (to be transferred to Southern during 2009).
[edit] Future expansion
[edit] CTRL-DS and Olympic Javelin
Following the completion of High Speed 1, Southeastern will operate high-speed domestic services on it, including the Olympic Javelin service that is to run during London's 2012 Summer Olympics.
A fleet of twenty-nine six-carriage Shinkansen-derived high-speed ‘A-trains’ have already been ordered from Hitachi for this route.[2] This is Hitachi’s first train sale in Britain. They will be known as Class 395 when in service.
High-speed services are expected to begin in December 2009, but the first four trains are to be delivered in 2007 for testing and driver training.[3]
The new company have made a point of advertising part-owner SNCF’s experience operating and integrated high-speed train services on the French TGV network.
The first train will be named after Dame Kelly Holmes, a British gold-medal athlete, with further trains to be named after British personalities associated with speed.
The colour scheme for the high speed trains will be dark blue - using the same corporate colour as their logo.
Current plans call for the company to operate up to ten high-speed trains per hour at peak times, with four trains per hour off-peak.[4] These trains will only run at high speed on the CTRL itself; at some point each will switch over to conventional track and need to run at reduced speeds alongside conventional trains. In the table below, stations falling on the high-speed portion of the trip are boldfaced.
| Peak hours | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Route | Frequency | Stations called | |
| London – Ebbsfleet | 2 tph | London St Pancras, Stratford, Ebbsfleet | |
| London – Rochester | 3 tph | London St Pancras, Stratford, Gravesend, Higham, Strood, Rochester | |
| London – Broadstairs | 3 tph | London St Pancras, Stratford, Ebbsfleet, Chatham, Gillingham, Rainham, Sittingbourne, Faversham, Whitstable, Herne Bay, Birchington on Sea, Margate, Broadstairs | |
| London – Folkestone/Margate | 2 tph | London St Pancras, Ebbsfleet, Ashford International (train divides) | Wye, Canterbury West, Sturry, Minster, Ramsgate, Broadstairs, Margate |
| Sandling, Folkestone West, Folkestone Central | |||
| Off-peak hours | |||
| Route | Frequency | Stations called | |
| London – Sittingbourne | 2 tph | London St Pancras, Stratford, Ebbsfleet, Gravesend, Higham, Strood, Rochester, Chatham, Gillingham, Rainham, Sittingbourne | |
| London – Margate | 1 tph | London St Pancras, Ashford International, Wye, Canterbury West, Sturry, Minster, Ramsgate, Broadstairs, Margate | |
| London – Folkestone | 1 tph | London St Pancras, Ashford International, Sandling, Folkestone West, Folkestone Central | |
However, these plans remain open to adjustment. For example, in July 2006 it was announced that the Shakespeare Tunnels would be upgraded by Network Rail to allow high speed trains to reach Dover Priory.[5] There is currently a campaign for the off-peak services on the Chatham main line to terminate at Faversham rather than Sittingbourne. A decision on this is expected in December 2007.
[edit] "Traditional" network
Due to the opening of the second phase of the CTRL in November 2007, improvments to the services provided are scheduled to begin from December 2007, due to train paths becoming available.[6]
- An additional evening peak train from Charing Cross to Tunbridge Wells;
- An additional evening service from Cannon Street to Faversham with connections to the Thanet coast;
- Improved frequency of services between Beckenham Junction and Victoria and Orpington and Victoria, improving links to Bromley South;
- Contra peak improvements on many Metro routes and on the main line via Tonbridge; and
- Improvements made to Saturday services so they mirror, where possible, the Monday to Friday off peak pattern
[edit] Ticketing
Like its sister franchise Southern, Southeastern is committed to introducing Oyster Pay As You Go (PAYG) on its London routes but is yet to implement.
[edit] Rolling stock
Southeastern operate a fleet of about four hundred trains, all of which are electrical multiple units.
[edit] Current fleet
[edit] Future fleet
| Class | Image | Top speed | Number | Cars per set | Routes operated | Built | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| mph | km/h | ||||||
| Class 395 | Image:Ebbsfleet3707.JPG | 140 | 225 | 29 | 6 | High Speed 1 services | 2006-2009 |
[edit] See also
| UK Railways Portal |
- Olympic Javelin
- South Eastern Trains
- Connex South Eastern
- Network SouthEast
- Southern Region of British Railways
- Southern Railway
- South Eastern and Chatham Railway
- South Eastern Railway
- London, Chatham and Dover Railway
[edit] References
- ^ New look for Southeastern. Southeastern (2007-08-22).
- ^ £250 Million Contract Signed for New High Speed Train Fleet for Kent. Strategic Rail Authority (2005-06-01).[dead link – history]
- ^ The Channel Tunnel Rail Link Countdown to 2009. Govia.
- ^ Southeastern Newsletter Summer 2006
- ^ "Dover gets high-speed CTRL trains", BBC News Online, 2006-07-14.
- ^ Additional services in December 2007 timetable. Southeastern (2007-07-18).
[edit] External links
- Southeastern official web site
- alwaystouchout.com on the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (includes information about the planned domestic services)
| Preceded by South Eastern Trains South Eastern franchise | Operator of Integrated Kent franchise 2006 — present | Incumbent |
| New creation |
Current train operating companies in the United Kingdom | |
|---|---|
| ◄ Defunct • Future ► | |
| National: | Arriva Trains Wales · c2c · Chiltern Railways · CrossCountry · East Midlands Trains · First Capital Connect · First Great Western · First ScotRail · First TransPennine Express · Gatwick Express · Grand Central · Heathrow Connect · Heathrow Express · Hull Trains · London Midland · London Overground · Merseyrail · National Express East Coast · Northern Ireland Railways1 · Northern Rail · 'one'2 · Southeastern · Southern · South West Trains · Virgin Trains |
| International: | |
| Sub-brands: | |
| 1 Operates on the Irish railway network · 2 Becomes National Express East Anglia in February 2008 | |
Companies owned by Govia | |
|---|---|
| Current | London Midland · Southeastern · Southern |
| Defunct | Thameslink |
| Future | Gatwick Express |
ja:サウスイースタン (鉄道)
