Trenitalia c2c Limited,Companies House extract company no 7897267
Trenitalia c2c Limited formerly NXET Trains Limited trading as c2c, is an English train operating company owned by Trenitalia that operates the Essex Thameside railway franchise. It manages 25 stations and its trains call at 28. c2c provides commuter services from its London terminus

Fenchurch Street Fenchurch Street is a street in London linking Aldgate at its eastern end with Lombard Street and Gracechurch Street in the west. It is a well-known thoroughfare in the City of London financial district and is the site of many corporate offi ...

and from Liverpool Street to east London and parts of

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

along the London, Tilbury and Southend line. The company began operating as LTS Rail in May 1996 under the ownership of Prism Rail, which had been awarded the London, Tilbury & Southend railway franchise as part of the privatisation of British Rail. LTS Rail rebranded as c2c in May 2000 and Prism Rail was bought by

National Express National Express Group is a British multinational public transport company headquartered in Birmingham, England. It operates bus, coach, train and tram services in the United Kingdom, Ireland (National Express operates Eurolines in conjunction ...

in July that year. National Express sold c2c to the Italian operator Trenitalia in February 2017.

History

The London, Tilbury & Southend franchise was due to start in February 1996, but after the discovery of ticketing and settlement irregularities within hours of the scheduled handover with the preferred bidder, Enterprise Rail, it was re-tendered. In May 1996, the franchise was awarded to Prism Rail by the Director of Passenger Rail Franchising for 15 years. It began operating as ''LTS Rail'' on 26 May 1996. In May 2000, the business was rebranded as c2c. In July 2000, c2c was included in the sale of Prism Rail to

. The franchise was originally due to conclude on 26 May 2011. In December 2010, the

Department for Transport The Department for Transport (DfT) is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for the English transport network and a limited number of transport matters in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland that have not been devolved. The ...

(DfT) granted National Express an extension until 26 May 2013 to allow DfT time to conduct a review of the franchising process. In March 2013 the Secretary of State for Transport announced the franchise would again be extended until 13 September 2014. A further delay saw this extended until 8 November 2014. On 9 November 2014, National Express was awarded a new 15-year franchise, having successfully tendered against Abellio,

FirstGroup FirstGroup plc is a British multi-national transport group, based in Aberdeen, Scotland.MTR Corporation. The new franchise retains the c2c brand, albeit operated through a new legal entity, NXET Trains Limited in lieu of c2c Limited. In 2003, National Express operated nine UK rail franchises. By February 2012, c2c was its only remaining franchise. In February 2017 National Express sold c2c to Trenitalia. c2c was one of several train operators impacted by the 2022 United Kingdom railway strike, which was the first national rail strike in the UK for three decades. Its workers were amongst those who participated in

industrial action Industrial action (British English) or job action (American English) is a temporary show of dissatisfaction by employees—especially a strike or slowdown or working to rule—to protest against bad working conditions or low pay and to increa ...

due to a dispute over pay and working conditions.

Branding and marketing

The c2c name could be conceived to represent ''city to coast'' or ''capital to coast'', reflecting the nature of the route, or ''commitment to customers''. The c2c website stated: National Express also referred to the c2c route as City to Coast. c2c used the slogan ''way2go'', but later used the ''Making travel simpler'' slogan also used by other National Express companies.

Services

c2c operates services on the London, Tilbury and Southend line from London Fenchurch Street to the northern Thames Gateway area of southern

, including

Grays Grays or Greys may refer to: Places * Grays Bay, Nunavut, Canada * Grays, Essex, a town in Essex, England ** Grays railway station ** Grays School * Grays, Kent, a hamlet in Kent, England * Rotherfield Greys or Greys, a village in Oxfordshire, En ...

, Leigh-on-Sea and

Southend-on-Sea Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in southeastern Essex, England. It lies on the north ...

. The main route from Fenchurch Street to Shoeburyness is , with a fastest timetabled journey time of 58 minutes giving an average speed of 40.7 mph, although the route can be done in 47 minutes, an average speed of 50 mph. The line has a speed limit of , although the Class 357 ''Electrostar'' trains are capable of . All stations on the c2c route are managed by the company except West Ham and Stratford, which are managed by

London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The U ...

, and Liverpool Street, which is managed by

Network Rail Network Rail Limited is the owner (via its subsidiary Network Rail Infrastructure Limited, which was known as Railtrack plc before 2002) and infrastructure manager of most of the railway network in Great Britain. Network Rail is an "arm's leng ...

. The typical off-peak service per hour Monday–Saturday consists of 8 trains arriving and departing Fenchurch Street: fenchurch street station

In the rush hour there are additional services, with a few services to/from London starting/terminating at Laindon, Pitsea and Leigh-on-Sea. In the morning, one peak-time service does not call at West Ham and Limehouse and one calls at West Ham, missing Limehouse. Other than this, all trains call at West Ham and Limehouse. In the evening, all trains call at Limehouse and very few miss out West Ham. This was changed in the new December 2015 timetable. On Sundays, the non-stopping service to Shoeburyness does not run. Additionally some early-morning and late-evening weekday services to/from Shoeburyness and Grays terminate at Barking via Rainham. As c2c is mainly a London commuter railway and the typical c2c journey is between 40 and 80 minutes, c2c does not offer first-class seating. Its Class 357s have standard high-density 3+2 seating to meet high demand at peak times; however, 17 trains were converted into a "metro" style with 2+2 seating and grab handles. London Underground's

District line The District line is a London Underground line running from in the east and Edgware Road in the west to in west London, where it splits into multiple branches. One branch runs to in south-west London and a short branch, with a limited serv ...

connects with c2c indirectly at

Tower Hill Tower Hill is the area surrounding the Tower of London in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is infamous for the public execution of high status prisoners from the late 14th to the mid 18th century. The execution site on the higher gro ...

(for Fenchurch Street) and directly at

West Ham West Ham is an area in East London, located east of Charing Cross in the west of the modern London Borough of Newham. The area, which lies immediately to the north of the River Thames and east of the River Lea, was originally an ancient ...

, Barking and Upminster. Tickets are fully interchangeable between the two operators. There are also interchanges at

Limehouse Limehouse is a district in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in East London. It is east of Charing Cross, on the northern bank of the River Thames. Its proximity to the river has given it a strong maritime character, which it retains throug ...

and West Ham with

Docklands Light Railway The Docklands Light Railway (DLR) is an automated light metro system serving the redeveloped Docklands area of London, England and provides a direct connection between London's two major financial districts, Canary Wharf and the City of L ...

and at Barking and Upminster with

London Overground London Overground (also known simply as the Overground) is a suburban rail network serving London and its environs. Established in 2007 to take over Silverlink Metro routes, (via archive.org). it now serves a large part of Greater London as w ...

. c2c operates as an express service of the London Underground between West Ham and Upminster, calling at Barking. Some peak services do not call at West Ham due to signalling limitations. A peak timetable introduced on 11 December 2006, with the aim of improving services for the

Thurrock Thurrock () is a unitary authority area with borough status and unparished area in the ceremonial county of Essex, England. It is part of the London commuter belt and an area of regeneration within the Thames Gateway redevelopment zone. The ...

and London Riverside sections of the Thames Gateway, was withdrawn on 8 January 2007 after a campaign by passengers as a result of delays and cancellations that affected other lines on the network. In January 2005 it was announced that an on-train television service would be tried out, and one unit had television installed. In June 2006 the ''360 On-Board Television'' service ran into financial difficulties when c2c's partner in the project, TNCI (UK), ceased trading, and the service was withdrawn. c2c indicated it would restart the roll-out should a suitable partner be found. In June 2006 it was announced that portable

X-ray X-rays (or rarely, ''X-radiation'') are a form of high-energy electromagnetic radiation. In many languages, it is referred to as Röntgen radiation, after the German scientist Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen, who discovered it in 1895 and named it ' ...

machines and metal detectors would be randomly placed at stations and carried by officers on trains during summer 2006 to catch people carrying weapons, in a joint operation with

Essex Police Essex Police is a territorial police force responsible for policing the county of Essex, in the East of England. Essex Police is responsible for a population of over 1.8 million people and an area of . The chief constable is Ben-Julian Harri ...

and

British Transport Police , nativename = , abbreviation = BTP , patch = , patchcaption = , logo = British Transport Police Logo.svg , logocaption = Logo of the British Transport Police , badge = , badgecaption = , f ...

, following trials at

stations. In October 2007 c2c announced that the first coach of each unit would be made a ''Quiet Zone'', where passengers are asked not to use their mobile phones or play music out loud. The ''Quiet Zone'' was introduced in early 2008 and is indicated by magenta vinyl stickers on the doors of the coach. On 1 April 2017, c2c introduced a new on-board WiFi service free to all customers. Also, it has an on-board entertainment service called Vista. c2c has partnered with Now TV to provide free television shows available to stream for c2c passengers.

London terminus

As of December 2015 c2c runs two services an hour at weekends that have been diverted into London Liverpool Street instead of Fenchurch Street to/from Shoeburyness, primarily to serve

Westfield Stratford City Westfield Stratford City is a shopping centre in Stratford, east London, which opened on 13 September 2011. With a total retail floor area of , it is the largest urban shopping centre in the UK by land area and the 4th-largest shopping cen ...

. These call at Stratford, Barking, then all stations to Shoeburyness via Basildon; additional early-morning and late-evening weekend services terminate at Southend Central and Grays. Also, when engineering work blocks access to Fenchurch Street, all services are diverted into Liverpool Street. This route runs over part of the

Gospel Oak to Barking line; however, trains pass through Woodgrange Park station without stopping.

Future services

Beam Park Station, a new station, will eventually become part of the c2c Network, between Dagenham Dock and Rainham.

Ticketing

Tickets for trains between Fenchurch Street and Upminster are inter-available with

services between Tower Hill and Upminster, at Transport for London fares. All other journeys are priced by c2c.

Oyster card The Oyster card is a payment method for public transport in London (and certain areas around it) in England, United Kingdom. A standard Oyster card is a blue credit-card-sized stored-value contactless smart card. It is promoted by Transport ...

pay-as-you-go Pay as you go or PAYG may refer to: Finance * Pay-as-you-go tax, or pay-as-you-earn tax * Pay-as-you-go pension plan * PAYGO, the practice in the US of financing expenditures with current funds rather than borrowing * PAUG, a structured financial ...

has been available since 2004 at stations between Fenchurch Street/Liverpool Street and Upminster. It was extended to Rainham in 2008 and beyond Travelcard Zone 6 to Grays in January 2010. Oyster cards may be purchased or topped up at some c2c stations that are not also London Underground stations, including Chafford Hundred, Grays, and Purfleet. On 23 September 2019, c2c announced that it would be removing the First to Last staffing at some stations and reducing ticket-office opening hours.

Ticket machines

c2c ticket machines in the Oyster PAYG area have been upgraded so they can read Oyster cards. In September 2019 it was also announced that c2c had invested more than £10million into a new self service ticketing system with a user-friendly self-service interface developed with Voodoo Park. The interface is completely web-based and can be remotely repaired. The ticket machines installed in 2019 are from the Italian company Sigma Spa.

Rolling stock

c2c inherited a fleet of Class 302, Class 310 and Class 312s from

Network SouthEast Network SouthEast (NSE) was one of the three passenger sectors of British Rail created in 1982. NSE mainly operated commuter rail trains within Greater London and inter-urban services in densely populated South East England, although the networ ...

. To replace the Class 302s, seventeen Class 317s were hired from West Anglia Great Northern from 1996 until 1999 as Class 357s entered service. A franchise commitment was the replacement of the entire fleet, resulting in c2c ordering a fleet of Class 357 ''Electrostars''. In 2003, c2c became the first train operating company to replace its entire fleet with new trains. In March 2007, after extensive trials, c2c began fitting regenerative braking to its fleet, becoming the first UK train operator to do so. On 3 June 2007, the eve of World Environment Day, one train was given an all-over green vinyl sticker livery with the slogan "All c2c trains are greener now – find out more at – www.c2c-online.co.uk – c2c – the greener way to go" to highlight the completion of the scheme, which the company says has enabled energy savings of up to 20%. In October 2007, c2c announced that it had switched to renewably-generated electricity in all its stations, maintenance facilities and offices in a contract with E.ON UK, said to be the largest of its kind in the transport sector. With a few Class 357s being out of service at the same time, from late 2006 two Class 321s were hired from Silverlink for three months for weekday peak-hour use between Fenchurch Street and Laindon, and Pitsea via Rainham, to cover for the unavailable units. The Class 321s were used with guards as they were incompatible with the positioning of c2c's Driver Only Operation mirrors. In June 2009, Bombardier began repainting the Class 357 units. The vinyl wraps carrying the original purplish blue and

magenta Magenta () is a color that is variously defined as pinkish- purplish- red, reddish-purplish-pink or mauvish- crimson. On color wheels of the RGB (additive) and CMY (subtractive) color models, it is located exactly midway between red and bl ...

c2c livery were removed and the units reliveried in white with dark blue doors. In late 2015 c2c adapted 20% of carriages into a "metro" style. These carriages have 2 seats either side of the aisle (2+2) compared to 3+2 seating. This increased the passenger capacity of these carriages, at the expense of seating capacity, by converting the space of the aisle seat on the "3" side into (more efficient) standing space. This addressed the issue of the high volumes of passengers using c2c to travel to/from and , which, with Upminster, are served by the parallel London Underground service. In the evening peak, these passengers can displace those eastbound passengers who use more easterly and less well-served stations. In early 2016, c2c announced that it would lease additional trains to relieve overcrowding. This led to its leasing six Class 387s for three years from Porterbrook to increase capacity on the busiest services. The first entered service in November 2016.Essex Thameside EMU tender launched as Class 387s enter service
'' International Railway Journal'' 16 November 2016 As part of its new franchise, c2c has committed to leasing new trains to cope with rising passenger numbers, which were boosted especially by the opening of the

station at West Ham in 2011 and the rise of Canary Wharf as a financial centre.

Current fleet

Future fleet

In December 2017, c2c announced an order with Porterbrook for six ten-car Class 720/6 ''Aventra'' electric multiple units. The new units are scheduled for delivery between mid and late 2021, meaning they will all be in service three years earlier than the initial planned phased introduction period. The first 720/6 was delivered to C2C on 19 April 2022, and the fleet is due to enter service in 2022. The order was later changed to 12 5-car units. These new units were planned to replace the allocation of six four-car units, which c2c was operating on a short-term lease.

Former Fleet

Below is a table of former units operated by c2c.

Criticism

In late 2015, c2c introduced a new timetable to reflect long-term changes in passenger numbers at stations on the line. c2c was criticised for putting the interests of "one-stop hoppers" (passengers travelling between Barking and West Ham) above those who travel further on the line.

Depot

c2c's fleet is maintained at East Ham Depot, although there is also a depot at Shoeburyness.

References

External links

* {{Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane National Express companies Railway companies established in 1996 Railway operators in London Train operating companies in the United Kingdom Transport in Thurrock 1996 establishments in England