East Coast (train Operating Company)
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

East Coast, the trading name of the East Coast Main Line Company, was a British
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 the privatisation of the network under the Railways ...
running the
InterCity East Coast InterCity East Coast is a railway franchise for passenger trains on the East Coast Main Line in the United Kingdom from London King's Cross to Hull, Leeds, Bradford, Harrogate, Newcastle, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness and Aberdeen. It was fo ...
franchise on the
East Coast Main Line The East Coast Main Line (ECML) is a electrified railway between its northern terminus at and southern terminus at . The key towns and cities of , , , , and are on the line. The line is a key transport artery on the eastern side of Grea ...
between
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
,
Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...
, North East England, and Scotland. East Coast ran long-distance inter-city services from its Central London terminus at on two primary routes; the first to
Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...
and the second to
Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...
via
Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...
with other services reaching into
Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...
and Northern and Central Scotland. It commenced operations on 14 November 2009 and ceased on 28 February 2015. East Coast was a subsidiary of
Directly Operated Railways Directly Operated Railways Ltd. (DOR) was a holding company set up by the Department for Transport in the United Kingdom in July 2009 to operate rail franchises should it become necessary to bring them into public ownership. From November 2015, ...
, formed by the
Department for Transport The Department for Transport (DfT) is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for the English transport network and a limited number of transport ...
as an
operator of last resort An operator of last resort is a business in the United Kingdom that operates a Passenger rail franchising in Great Britain, railway franchise on behalf of the government when a train operating company (TOC) is no longer able to do so, and it is n ...
when
National Express Mobico Group, formerly National Express Group, is a British multinational public transport company with headquarters in Birmingham, England. Domestically it currently operates bus and coach services under brands including National Express. Th ...
refused to provide further financial support to its
National Express East Coast National Express East Coast (NXEC) was a train operating company in the United Kingdom, owned by National Express, that operated the InterCity East Coast franchise on the East Coast Main Line between London, Yorkshire, North East England ...
(NXEC) subsidiary and consequently lost its franchise. The franchise was re-nationalised on 14 November 2009, with the day-to-day operations continuing normally on the whole. Within one year, East Coast's rolling stock begun to be re-liveried in a new silver scheme intentionally styled so that future operators of the franchise could easily apply their own branding following their takeover of operations. During May 2011, East Coast launched the "Eureka" programme, which involved numerous service changes, including an overhauled timetable and complimentary
catering Catering is the business of providing food services at a remote site or a site such as a hotel, hospital, pub, aircraft, cruise ship, park, festival, filming location or film studio. History of catering The earliest account of major service ...
for First Class passengers. On the whole, service levels remained relatively steady and unchanged throughout East Coast's tenure. From the onset of East Coast's operations, the Department for Transport had publicly stated its long term intention for the franchise was for it to be retendered and thus return to a private franchisee; this was originally set to occur by December 2013. However, during March 2013, the
Secretary of State for Transport The secretary of state for transport, also referred to as the transport secretary, is a Secretary of State (United Kingdom), secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with overall responsibility for the policies of the Departm ...
announced that this transfer had been postponed to February 2015 instead. In January 2014,
FirstGroup FirstGroup plc is a British multi-national transport group, based in Aberdeen, Scotland.Keolis Keolis is a French transportation company that operates public transport systems all over the world. It manages bus, rapid transit, tram, coach networks, rental bikes, car parks, water taxi, cable car, trolleybus, and funicular services. B ...
/
Eurostar Eurostar is an international high-speed rail service in Western Europe, connecting Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. The service is operated by the Eurostar Group which was formed from the merger of Eurostar, ...
and
Stagecoach A stagecoach (also: stage coach, stage, road coach, ) is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by ...
/
Virgin Virginity is a social construct that denotes the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. As it is not an objective term with an operational definition, social definitions of what constitutes virginity, or the lack thereof ...
were announced as the shortlisted bidders for the new franchise. The franchise passed to
Virgin Trains East Coast Virgin Trains East Coast (VTEC) (legal name East Coast Main Line Company Limited) was a train operating company in the United Kingdom that operated the InterCity East Coast franchise on the East Coast Main Line between London, Yorkshire, the No ...
on 1 March 2015.


History


Background

The original
InterCity East Coast InterCity East Coast is a railway franchise for passenger trains on the East Coast Main Line in the United Kingdom from London King's Cross to Hull, Leeds, Bradford, Harrogate, Newcastle, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness and Aberdeen. It was fo ...
franchise was awarded to the
Bermuda Bermuda is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. The closest land outside the territory is in the American state of North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. Bermuda is an ...
-based transport and container leasing company Sea Containers, which operated it from April 1996 until April 2005 via its subsidiary
Great North Eastern Railway Great North Eastern Railway, often referred to as GNER, was a train operating company in the United Kingdom, owned by Sea Containers, that operated the InterCity East Coast franchise on the East Coast Main Line between London, Yorkshire, No ...
(GNER). While Sea Containers successfully bid for the award of a new seven-year franchise by the
Department for Transport The Department for Transport (DfT) is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for the English transport network and a limited number of transport ...
(DfT) commencing in May 2005; the award was subject to criticism that, amid aggressive bidding between the different companies competing for the franchise, GNER had committed itself to fulfilling an overly generous arrangement that may not be financially realistic, and was accused as having overbid to secure the franchise. During the original franchise, the company had been receiving
subsidies A subsidy, subvention or government incentive is a type of government expenditure for individuals and households, as well as businesses with the aim of stabilizing the economy. It ensures that individuals and households are viable by having acce ...
from the British government to support its operations; however, the terms of the second franchise reversed this to have the operator making payments to the government, specifically a £1.3-billion premium which was due to the DfT over a ten-year period. Within two years, the company's financial difficulties had become a public concern. In October 2006, Sea Containers filed for
bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the deb ...
protection under the US Chapter 11 process, During December 2006, the DfT announced its intention to strip Sea Containers of its franchise, although GNER continued to operate it via an interim fixed fee management contract while another competitive tender was organised. In February 2007, the DfT announced that
Arriva Arriva Ltd. is a British multinational public transport company headquartered in Sunderland, England. The company was originally established on 24 October 1938 as T Cowie Ltd. Initially focused on the sale of motorcycles, it relaunched shortl ...
,
First First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...
,
National Express Mobico Group, formerly National Express Group, is a British multinational public transport company with headquarters in Birmingham, England. Domestically it currently operates bus and coach services under brands including National Express. Th ...
and
Virgin Rail Group Virgin Rail Group (WCT Group since 2021) is a British rail transport company that was formed by the Virgin Group to bid for rail franchises in the United Kingdom during the privatisation of British Rail in the late 1990s. United Kingdom ope ...
had been shortlisted to lodge bids for the new franchise. In August 2007, the DfT awarded the Intercity East Coast franchise to National Express, leading to the creation of National Express East Coast (NXEC) shortly thereafter. Under the terms of its franchise agreement, National Express committed to paying a £1.4-billion premium to the DfT over a time span of seven years and four months. However, numerous rail analysts at the time promptly voiced concerns that the company had paid too much for the franchise, and had effectively repeated GNER's mistake in order to secure the franchise. According to railway industry periodical ''Rail'', NXEC quickly garnered a reputation for cost-cutting and a decline in service levels, particularly in terms of the onboard catering. By 2009, NXEC was under increasing financial pressure due to various factors, including compounding rises in fuel prices and the poor economic climate of the time, commonly known as the
Great Recession The Great Recession was a period of market decline in economies around the world that occurred from late 2007 to mid-2009.
. During April 2009, National Express confirmed that it was pursuing talks with the government over possible financial assistance with the franchise, either through a reduction in the premium due or some other form of assistance.


Formation

In July 2009, it was announced that National Express was intending to default on the franchise, having failed to renegotiate the contractual terms of operation; National Express stating that it would not be providing any further financial support necessary to ensure NXEC remained solvent. This meant NXEC would run out of cash by the end of 2009. As a consequence of this decision, the DfT announced it would establish a publicly owned company to take over the franchise from National Express. The failure of the NXEC franchise sparked widespread calls amongst industry officials and members of the public for the InterCity East Coast franchise to be permanently placed into public ownership, or even the complete scrapping of the entire franchise system. In response, the Secretary of State for Transport Lord Adonis reiterated the findings of a 2008 National Audit Office (NAO) report which had concluded that the rail franchising system delivered good value for money and steadily improving services. On 13 November 2009, NXEC relinquished its operation of the franchise, at which point the DfT took over through its newly formed
subsidiary A subsidiary, subsidiary company, or daughter company is a company (law), company completely or partially owned or controlled by another company, called the parent company or holding company, which has legal and financial control over the subsidia ...
, East Coast.


Changes

According to ''Rail'', East Coast's management strategy was typically adverse to initiating changes and that relatively little had changed across the organisation's operations during its eight years of running the franchise. Karen Boswell, the managing director of East Coast, disputed this observation and pointed to substantial investment in terms of both staff and assets since assuming control of the franchise in 2009, and also observed that the operation was financially sound and that East Coast had become one of Britain's most profitable train operating companies by 2015. During May 2011, East Coast introduced a major new timetable known as "Eureka"; changes included an extra three million seats per year, a decrease in general journey times and the adoption of a more regular service pattern. Within a few years of these changes, both train performance and punctuality figures had noticeably improved. Beyond the timetable changes, the Eureka programme was accompanied by various service changes, such as a nearly £10 million investment in staff training and to modernise its
catering Catering is the business of providing food services at a remote site or a site such as a hotel, hospital, pub, aircraft, cruise ship, park, festival, filming location or film studio. History of catering The earliest account of major service ...
carriages, facilitating the introduction of complimentary catering for all First Class travellers.Business Traveller https://www.businesstraveller.com/news/2010/11/15/east-coast-to-offer-free-meals-in-first-class/ Prior to October 2010, East Coast offered free
Wi-Fi Wi-Fi () is a family of wireless network protocols based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for Wireless LAN, local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by ...
to passengers in both First and Standard Class coaches. From 5 October 2010, the operator introduced a charge of £4.99 per hour or £9.99 for 24 hours for only Standard Class passengers; a 15-minute free allowance was still provided. In 2011, East Coast announced an investment of £600,000 for upgrading Wi-Fi equipment across its fleet, these new uplinks used a combination of
satellite A satellite or an artificial satellite is an object, typically a spacecraft, placed into orbit around a celestial body. They have a variety of uses, including communication relay, weather forecasting, navigation ( GPS), broadcasting, scient ...
s and lineside 3G/
HSPA HSPA may refer to: * High Speed Packet Access, a mobile broadband technology * Hawaiian Sugar Planters' Association Education * High School Proficiency Assessment * Humphrey School of Public Affairs, an American public policy school * Hunter Sch ...
masts. On 28 February 2015, the final operating day of East Coast, Virgin branding and public relations material begun to be deployed at various stations. Furthermore, East Coast's website,
Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...
and
Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...
pages were updated overnight to reflect Virgin's branding. That same day, multiple coordinated anti-privatisation protests were held in several cities, including Edinburgh, Doncaster and London, which were organised by the
National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers The National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (commonly known as the RMT) is a British trade union covering the transport sector. Its current President is George Welch and its current General Secretary is Eddie Dempsey. The RMT ...
(RMT). On 1 March 2015,
Virgin Trains East Coast Virgin Trains East Coast (VTEC) (legal name East Coast Main Line Company Limited) was a train operating company in the United Kingdom that operated the InterCity East Coast franchise on the East Coast Main Line between London, Yorkshire, the No ...
assumed operations.


Principal services


London – Leeds

This was the busiest East Coast service – half-hourly, with one train per hour serving
Peterborough Peterborough ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in the City of Peterborough district in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire, England. The city is north of London, on the River Nene. A ...
, Doncaster, Wakefield Westgate and Leeds, while the other served
Stevenage Stevenage ( ) is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, about north of London. Stevenage is east of junctions 7 and 8 of the A1(M), between Letchworth Garden City to the north and Welwyn Garden City to the south. In 1946, Stevenage w ...
,
Grantham Grantham () is a market town and civil parish in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England, situated on the banks of the River Witham and bounded to the west by the A1 road (Great Britain), A1 road. It lies south of Lincoln, England ...
, Doncaster, Wakefield Westgate and Leeds. At weekends, they called at Stevenage every two hours while Peterborough, Grantham, Newark, Doncaster and Wakefield were served hourly.Timetable
East Coast 14 December 2014


London – Newcastle

East Coast operated a half-hourly service between King's Cross and
Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...
(one fast, one semi-fast) throughout the day, departing from London on the hour and the half-hour. The top-of-the-hour trains were part of the London to Scotland services which ran as limited-stop expresses between London and Newcastle (as seen below). The half-hour train called at
Peterborough Peterborough ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in the City of Peterborough district in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire, England. The city is north of London, on the River Nene. A ...
, Newark,
Doncaster Doncaster ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, Yorkshire, River Don, it is the administrative centre of the City of Doncaster metropolitan borough, and is the second largest se ...
, ,
Northallerton Northallerton ( ) is a market town and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the River Wiske in the Vale of Mowbray and had a population of 16,832 in 2011. Northallerton is an administrative centre for York and North Yorkshire ...
, , Durham and terminated at Newcastle, although there was an extension of this service to Edinburgh every two hours. At weekends, all daytime services to Newcastle continued through to Edinburgh, with some going non-stop. Late evening services terminated at Newcastle.


London – Edinburgh

This was East Coast's flagship route, serving the whole length of the
East Coast Main Line The East Coast Main Line (ECML) is a electrified railway between its northern terminus at and southern terminus at . The key towns and cities of , , , , and are on the line. The line is a key transport artery on the eastern side of Grea ...
; an hourly service from London to Edinburgh Waverley, calling at York, Darlington, Newcastle, and Edinburgh. Some of these trains also called at
Peterborough Peterborough ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in the City of Peterborough district in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire, England. The city is north of London, on the River Nene. A ...
. Occasionally there was a half-hourly service to Edinburgh with some Newcastle trains extended at peak hours. At weekends all services on the half-hour continued to Edinburgh from Newcastle. During the day, services to London King's Cross from Edinburgh ran every 30 minutes, one fast and one semi-fast. All trains called at Newcastle and most at Berwick upon Tweed, Darlington and York. In May 2011 East Coast re-introduced the historic '' Flying Scotsman'' service. This was an early-morning service to London King's Cross with a journey time of four hours, departing Edinburgh Waverley at 05:40, calling only at Newcastle at 07:03 and arriving at London at 09:40.


London – Newark/York

An hourly service ran between King's Cross and Newark, calling at all intermediate stations. This was extended to every two hours, serving
Retford Retford (), also known as East Retford, is a market town in the Bassetlaw District in Nottinghamshire, England. It lies on the River Idle and the Chesterfield Canal. Retford is located east of Sheffield, west of Lincoln, Lincolnshire, Linco ...
and
Doncaster Doncaster ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, Yorkshire, River Don, it is the administrative centre of the City of Doncaster metropolitan borough, and is the second largest se ...
and at peak times was extended to Newcastle. These services operated only on weekdays. Additional services also start/terminated at Doncaster or Peterborough at peak times.


Limited service


London–Glasgow

There was only one direct through train per day in each direction between King's Cross and Glasgow Central departing Glasgow at 06:50 and departing King's Cross at 15.30 as an extension of a London to Newcastle service also calling at Edinburgh. There were no East Coast service to Glasgow on Saturdays.


London–Aberdeen

These trains were extensions to the hourly London-to-Edinburgh service. There were three trains per day each way between King's Cross and , departing at 10:00 ('' The Northern Lights''), 14:00 and 16:00 (weekdays only), the journey time being just over seven hours. There was also one service per day in each direction between
Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...
and Aberdeen. These services were operated by
InterCity 125 The InterCity 125 (originally Inter-City 125) or High Speed Train (HST) is a diesel-powered High-speed rail, high-speed passenger train built by British Rail Engineering Limited between 1975 and 1982. A total of 95 sets were produced, each com ...
sets, as the
Edinburgh to Aberdeen line Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...
and York to Leeds section via
Garforth Garforth () is a town in the metropolitan borough of the City of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It sits in the Garforth and Swillington ward of Leeds City Council and the Leeds East parliamentary constituency. As of 2011, the population ...
were not electrified. This route crossed the historic Forth, Tay and Montrose bridges.


London–Inverness

This was an extension of a London-to-Edinburgh service with a daily service operating between King's Cross and
Inverness Inverness (; ; from the , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness") is a city in the Scottish Highlands, having been granted city status in 2000. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highland ...
, departing at 12:00 with the southbound service departing Inverness at 7:55 (09–40 Sundays), named the ''
Highland Chieftain * Sundays, Southbound only The ''Highland Chieftain'' is a named British passenger train operated by London North Eastern Railway. It operates daily in each direction between London King's Cross and Inverness via the East Coast and Highl ...
''. The journey took just over eight hours and was operated by InterCity 125 sets, as the line between Edinburgh and Inverness was not electrified.


London–Bradford

One train per day in each direction ran between and King's Cross via Leeds. This used an electric InterCity 225 train as the route was fully electrified. This service offered the fastest journey time of 1hr 59m, only stopping at Wakefield Westgate on the way to London.


London–Skipton

There was a morning train from to King's Cross with an early evening return. It was an extension of the London to Leeds service. Though the line to Skipton was electrified throughout, the East Coast service to/from the town was initially operated using a diesel HST because the electrical infrastructure on the Leeds to Skipton line was insufficient to support a Class 91 locomotive in addition to the Class 333 electric multiple units that operated the local services from Leeds to Skipton. However, tests took place on 16 January 2011 for the operation of
InterCity 225 The InterCity 225 is an electric push-pull train, push-pull high speed train in the United Kingdom, comprising a British Rail Class 91, Class 91 electric locomotive, nine British Rail Mark 4, Mark 4 coaches and a Driving Van Trailer (DVT). The ...
s on this service. From the timetable starting 22 May 2011, the evening return train from Kings Cross was worked by an InterCity 225 (Monday – Fridays only). The Saturday run of the outward service was the only East Coast service serving Leeds not to call at Wakefield Westgate: after Leeds, this service took the route via
Micklefield Micklefield is a village and civil parish in the City of Leeds in West Yorkshire, England. It neighbours Garforth, Aberford and Brotherton and is close to the A1(M) motorway. The population as of the 2011 Census was 1,893, increased from 1, ...
and Hambleton Junctions to Doncaster. Although the other trains to/from Skipton used the InterCity 225, the Saturday run of the outward service used the InterCity 125 because the alternative route used was not fully electrified.


London–Lincoln

From May 2011, a direct train ran between King's Cross and
Lincoln Central Lincoln Central may refer to: * Lincoln railway station in England, formerly named Lincoln Central * Lincoln/1st Avenue and Lincoln/Central Avenue stations, in Phoenix, Arizona {{Disambiguation ...
, with one service per day in each direction as an extension of the London – Newark service. This service used a diesel InterCity 125 set as the Nottingham to Lincoln line was not electrified.


London–Hull

The ''
Hull Executive The ''Hull Executive'' was a named English passenger train operated by East Coast and its predecessors. It ran daily in each direction between London King's Cross and Hull via the East Coast and Selby Lines. It was operated by diesel-pow ...
'' ran between King's Cross and
Hull Hull may refer to: Structures * The hull of an armored fighting vehicle, housing the chassis * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a sea-going craft * Submarine hull Ma ...
, with one train per day each way. This service also used InterCity 125 sets, as the Hull line was not electrified. More frequent services between King's Cross and Hull were operated by First Hull Trains.


London–Harrogate

There was a daily morning departure from
Harrogate Harrogate ( ) is a spa town and civil parish in the North Yorkshire District, district and North Yorkshire, county of North Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, the town is a tourist de ...
to King's Cross and an evening return. This service used a diesel InterCity 125 set as the Harrogate Line is not electrified.


Named trains

East Coast operates a number of named passenger trains, including:


Rolling stock

East Coast inherited the rolling stock operated by NXEC, comprising
InterCity 125 The InterCity 125 (originally Inter-City 125) or High Speed Train (HST) is a diesel-powered High-speed rail, high-speed passenger train built by British Rail Engineering Limited between 1975 and 1982. A total of 95 sets were produced, each com ...
High Speed Train sets made up of Class 43 power cars and Mark 3 carriages, and
InterCity 225 The InterCity 225 is an electric push-pull train, push-pull high speed train in the United Kingdom, comprising a British Rail Class 91, Class 91 electric locomotive, nine British Rail Mark 4, Mark 4 coaches and a Driving Van Trailer (DVT). The ...
sets made up of Class 91 electric locomotives and Mark 4 carriages and
Driving Van Trailer A Driving Van Trailer (DVT) is a Great Britain, British purpose-built control car railway vehicle that allows the driver to operate with a locomotive in Push-pull train, push-pull formation from the opposite end of a train. A key benefit of o ...
s. This same rolling stock dated back to the British Rail era, with some of the HSTs approaching 40 years old by the end of East Coast's operation. The original franchise holder, GNER, undertook a major refurbishment of its rolling stock from 2003, which it titled "Project ''
Mallard The mallard () or wild duck (''Anas platyrhynchos'') is a dabbling duck that breeds throughout the temperate and subtropical Americas, Eurasia, and North Africa. It has been introduced to New Zealand, Australia, Peru, Brazil, Uruguay, Arge ...
''". The Mark 4 carriages were upgraded and refurbished between 2003 and 2005, while work on refurbishing the Mark 3 carriages started under GNER in early 2007 and continued under NXEC, with the final set completed in October 2009. The Mallard interiors were used throughout East Coast's tenure; ''Rail'' magazine alleged that, by 2015, some sets were looking particularly worn and in need of another refurbishment or wholesale replacement. Some minor changes were made to the InterCity 225 fleet, perhaps the most noticeable of which was their repainting into East Coast's silver livery. This repaint was started in June 2010, with the first full set (excluding loco) being released on 30 July 2010. A key concept behind the new livery was that a plain base livery would be readily customisable to suit any potential future operator of the franchise.


Unused fleet

East Coast leased five Class 180 ''Adelante'' diesel multiple units from
Angel Trains Angel Trains is a British rolling stock company (ROSCO). Together with Eversholt Rail Group and Porterbrook, it is one of the three original ROSCOs. Angel Trains was established in March 1994 as part of the privatisation of British Rail. In No ...
with the intention of using them on proposed additional services from London King's Cross to Lincoln and Harrogate. In the event, they never operated in revenue-earning service with East Coast, as the proposed services were never introduced and the units did not find favour with East Coast's parent company
Directly Operated Railways Directly Operated Railways Ltd. (DOR) was a holding company set up by the Department for Transport in the United Kingdom in July 2009 to operate rail franchises should it become necessary to bring them into public ownership. From November 2015, ...
. Three of the units were sublet to
Northern Rail Northern Rail, branded as Northern, was an English train operating company owned by Serco-Abellio that operated the Northern Rail franchise from 2004 until 2016. It was the primary passenger train operator in Northern England, and operated the ...
for use on services from Manchester to Preston and Blackpool, before all five were returned to their original operator,
First Great Western First Greater Western, trading as Great Western Railway (GWR), is a British train operating company owned by FirstGroup that provides services in the Greater Western franchise area. It manages 197 stations and its trains call at over 270. GWR ...
, for use on the
Cotswold Line The Cotswold Line is an railway line between and in England. History Early years The line between Oxford and Worcester was built under an 1845 Act of Parliament and opened in 1851 as part of the Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway ...
.


Cancelled fleet

East Coast investigated the use of a single 11-coach
Pendolino Pendolino (from Italian language, Italian "pendulum", and ''-ino,'' a diminutive suffix) is an Italian family of high-speed tilting trains (and non-tilting) used in Italy, Spain, Germany, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Finland, the Czech Republic, ...
from July 2011, but ultimately decided instead to lease an extra HST set from
East Midlands Trains East Midlands Trains (EMT) was a British train operating company owned by the transport group Stagecoach, which operated the East Midlands franchise between November 2007 and August 2019. Following the Department for Transport (DfT) award of ...
from May 2011, bringing the number of HSTs leased to East Coast to 14.


Locomotive naming

The fleet of Class 91 locomotives inherited by East Coast has carried various
names A name is a term used for identification by an external observer. They can identify a class or category of things, or a single thing, either uniquely, or within a given context. The entity identified by a name is called its referent. A person ...
up until 2008. In 2011, in response to customer requests, East Coast resumed the practice. It began by naming 91109 as ''Sir
Bobby Robson Sir Robert William Robson (18 February 1933 – 31 July 2009) was an English football player and coach. His career included periods playing for and later managing the England national team and being a UEFA Cup-winning manager at Ipswich Town. ...
'', unveiled in a ceremony at Newcastle station on 29 March 2011 by his widow Elsie and
Alan Shearer Alan Shearer (born 13 August 1970) is an English Association football, football pundit and former professional player who played as a striker (association football), striker. Widely regarded as one of the best strikers of all time and one of t ...
, patron of the
Sir Bobby Robson Foundation The Sir Bobby Robson Foundation is a British cancer research Charitable organization, charity which raises money to fund the early detection and treatment of cancer, and clinical trials of anti-cancer drugs. Based in the North East of England, ...
, which the company was also now a supporter of. On 2 June 2012, 91110 was renamed ''
Battle of Britain Memorial Flight The Battle of Britain Memorial Flight (BBMF) is a Royal Air Force Flight (military unit), flight which provides an aerial display group usually comprising an Avro Lancaster heavy bomber and two fighters, a Supermarine Spitfire and a Hawker Hurr ...
'' by
Carol Vorderman Carol Jean Vorderman (born 24 December 1960) is a Welsh broadcaster, media personality, and writer. Her media career began when she joined the Channel 4 game show ''Countdown'', appearing with Richard Whiteley from 1982 until his death in 2005, ...
at the
National Railway Museum The National Railway Museum (NRM) is a museum in York, England, forming part of the Science Museum Group. The museum tells the story of rail transport in Britain and its impact on society. It is the home of the national collection of historical ...
as part of the Railfest 2012 Event. On 16 February 2013, 91107 was renamed ''
Skyfall ''Skyfall'' is a 2012 spy thriller film and the twenty-third in the ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions. The film is the third to star Daniel Craig as fictional MI6 agent James Bond and features Javier Bardem as Raoul Silva, ...
'' and temporarily returned to its original 91007 number to mark the
James Bond The ''James Bond'' franchise focuses on James Bond (literary character), the titular character, a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels ...
film of the same name, which featured trains extensively and became the highest-grossing film of all time in the United Kingdom. On 14 October 2014, 91111 was unveiled to mark the 100th anniversary of
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
. The specially designed East Coast locomotive, named ''For The Fallen'', carries a livery filled with images, stories and tributes to regiments and people who served in them across the East Coast route.


Performance

The public performance measure (PPM) shows the percentage of trains which arrive at their terminating station on time. It combines figures for punctuality and reliability into a single performance measure. The moving annual average PPM for East Coast by the end of its franchise (P12 2014–14) was 88.2%. Unlike the majority of rail franchises, East Coast was a profitable ongoing concern. It paid back in excess of £1 billion to the British government over the course of its franchise.


Loyalty scheme

East Coast inherited the 'escape' loyalty scheme from National Express which was eventually rebranded as East Coast Rewards. The original scheme involved giving benefits to customers who spent over £1,750 in a three-month period on East Coast tickets. Benefits included first class lounge access for the member and a guest, discounts at partner retailers, 20% off online advance ticket booking and a large number of free first class travel tickets. As this scheme had a high barrier to entry East Coast launched a revamped loyalty scheme in 2011 which was points based and included all spend on the East Coast website even if booking travel for other operators. The scheme meant rewards such as free travel were now within reach of a greater number of passengers as only a modest spend was required to earn benefits. The scheme initially launched with online bookings only but was then expanded to cover season tickets and business travel.


TV series

In November 2013,
Sky1 Sky One was a British pay television channel operated and owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). Originally launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, it was Europe's first satellite and non- terrestrial channel. From 31 July 1989 ...
started to broadcast a documentary series "All Aboard East Coast Trains". One of the InterCity 225 sets was painted in a special blue livery which includes faces of employees that feature in the programmes in order to promote the series.


References


External links


Company website

Department for Transport InterCity East Coast franchise
{{UK TOCs, defunct, state=collapsed Defunct companies based in York Defunct public bodies of the United Kingdom Defunct train operating companies in the United Kingdom East Coast Main Line Operators of last resort Railway companies established in 2009 Railway companies disestablished in 2015 2009 establishments in the United Kingdom 2015 disestablishments in the United Kingdom