The ''Benjamin Britten'' was an international train service linking Amsterdam with London. The train service was named after English composer

Benjamin Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten of Aldeburgh (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, o ...

due to his international status and his association with

East Anglia East Anglia is an area of the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, with parts of Essex sometimes also included. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, ...

, through which the service passes.

History

The ''Benjamin Britten'' was one of the initial services of the 1987

EuroCity EuroCity (EC) is an international Train categories in Europe, train category and brand for European inter-city rail, inter-city trains that cross international borders and meet criteria covering comfort, speed, food service, and cleanliness. E ...

network. It was operated as a

boat train A boat train is a passenger train operating to a port for the specific purpose of making connection with a passenger ship, such as a ferry, ocean liner, or cruise ship. Through ticketing is normally available. __NOTOC__ Notable named boat train ...

, the first part London Liverpool Street –

Harwich Harwich is a town in Essex, England, and one of the Haven ports on the North Sea coast. It is in the Tendring district. Nearby places include Felixstowe to the north-east, Ipswich to the north-west, Colchester to the south-west and Clacton-o ...

by train, the second Harwich –

Hook of Holland Hook of Holland (, ) is a coastal village in the southwestern corner of Holland, hence the name; ''hoek'' means "corner" and was in use before the word ''wikt:kaap#Dutch, kaap'' – "cape". The English translation using Hook is a false cognate of t ...

Sealink Sealink was a ferry company based in Great Britain from 1970 to 1984, operating services to France, Belgium, the Netherlands, the Isle of Man, the Channel Islands, the Isle of Wight and Ireland. Ports served by the company included: Dover, F ...

ferry, and the final part, Hook of Holland – Amsterdam, by train. The journey of from London to Harwich Parkeston Quay railway station took 70 minutes. The eastbound EC ''Benjamin Britten'' and the westbound EC ''Admiraal de Ruijter'' had timed connections with the day boats. The return services had timed connections with the night boats. Each of these trains lost its EuroCity label after one year of service because it did not meet the EuroCity criteria for service quality; sometimes other rolling stock was used and the on-board catering was minimal from the start. However, both trains also remained in the timetable, as

InterCity InterCity (commonly abbreviated ''IC'' on timetables and tickets) is the train categories in Europe, classification applied to certain long-distance passenger train services in Europe. Such trains (in contrast to InterRegio, regional train, r ...

services.

Formation (consist)

The

Nederlandse Spoorwegen (, , NS ) is the principal passenger railway operator in the Netherlands. It is a Dutch state-owned company founded in 1938. The rail infrastructure is maintained by network manager ProRail, which was split off from NS in 2003. Freight operato ...

used three coupled '' Koplopers'' between Amsterdam and Hook of Holland. Spoorwegen 88 p. 37 Ferries of Stoomvaart Maatschappij Zeeland (the ) or

(the MS ''St Nicholas'') provided the shipping.

British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. Originally a trading brand of the Railway Executive of the British Transport Comm ...

used its most modern InterCity coaches hauled by Class 86 locomotives on the Harwich – London portion.

References

Works cited

External links

NVBS ''Op de Rails'' - 2008 - Nr. 2 (Februari)
– includes image of 86 254 with the ''Benjamin Britten'' at Harwich, 15 July 1987 {{EuroCity trains International named passenger trains Named passenger trains of the Netherlands Named passenger trains of British Rail EuroCity Railway services introduced in 1987 1987 establishments in the United Kingdom 1987 establishments in the Netherlands