One (train operating company)
‘one' is the brand name of
London Eastern Railway Ltd, which operates local, suburban and express services from
London Liverpool Street in the
City of London to
East and
North London,
Essex,
Hertfordshire,
Cambridgeshire and
East Anglia, otherwise known as the Greater Anglia network. ‘one' is part of the
National Express Group.
The Greater Anglia network was awarded to a single operator as part of a drive to reduce the number of train companies operating to major termini, in an effort to improve integration between services and reliability. On
April 1,
2004 ‘one' took over all services formerly operated by
Anglia Railways and
First Great Eastern, as well as the ‘West Anglia' services of
WAGN. The company is now the sole passenger operator on most of the
Great Eastern Main Line. In March 2006, 'one' earned the dubious distinction of operating the most overcrowded train in Britain, the 0802 from Cambridge to London Liverpool Street
[Daily Telegraph, 2006]The extensively and expensively marketed name of the new franchise has also been a source of criticism and confusion. In May 2004, the BBC [
1] reported that the company was changing station announcements at Cambridge station by removing the name of the train operating company. Passengers had complained that it was difficult for passengers in the station to differentiate P.A. announcements for the "10:41 train" or the "10:40 One train".
Despite the choice of the brand name ‘one' to emphasize the bringing together and integration of what had been four separate services, the company initially used sub-branding to try to ease the transition from the former companies' well-known names:
*
one Anglia â€" InterCity services to
Colchester,
Ipswich and
Norwich as well as local services in the
Suffolk and
Norfolk. For further information on local lines see the following links.
**
Bittern Line (Norwichâ€"
Cromerâ€"
Sheringham)
**
Breckland Line (Norwich-
Ely (continuing to
Cambridge))
**
East Suffolk Line (Ipswichâ€"
Lowestoft)
**
Ely to Peterborough Line (Ely-
Peterborough)
**
Felixstowe Branch Line (Ipswichâ€"
Felixstowe)
**
Ipswich to Ely Line (Ipswich-Bury St. Edmunds, continuing to Ely/Newmarket-
Cambridge)
**
Wherry Lines (Norwichâ€"
Great Yarmouth /
Lowestoft)
*
one Great Eastern â€" mainline services to
Chelmsford,
Colchester,
Ipswich and
Clacton.
** Mainline ‘metro' service to
Shenfield **
Upminster Branch Line (
Romfordâ€"
Upminster)
**
Shenfield to Southend Line (Shenfield-
Southend Victoria)
**
Crouch Valley Line (Shenfieldâ€"
Wickfordâ€"
Southminster)
**
Braintree Branch Line (
Withamâ€"
Braintree)
**
Sudbury Branch Line (
Marks Teyâ€"
Sudbury)
**
Colchester to Clacton Line (Colchester-Clacton or
Walton-on-the-Naze)
**
Mayflower Line (
Manningtreeâ€"
Harwich)
*
one West Anglia â€" services to
Cambridge,
Enfield,
Hertford East and
Chingford, plus local services from
Liverpool Street to
Stansted Airport. There are also services from Stratford to Stansted Airport.
**
West Anglia Main Line (Londonâ€"
Harlowâ€"Cambridge/Stansted)
**
Lea Valley Lines (Londonâ€"
Seven Sisters /
Tottenham /
Chingford / Enfield)
*
one Stansted Express â€" express services between Liverpool Street and Stansted Airport.
This sub-branding has now been largely discontinued as it was proving to be confusing to passengers, and all services (other than
Stansted Express) are now simply branded ‘one'.
In addition to its domestic services, 'one' is also a partner (along with
Stena Line and
Nederlandse Spoorwegen) in the
Dutchflyer service.
The company operates a fleet of
Class 153,
156 and
170 DMUs for the local lines, with
Class 315,
317,
321 and
360 EMUs for the mainline commuter services, and
Class 90 locomotives for the intercity services, supplemented by
Class 47s leased from
Cotswold Rail.
Some locals have criticised the move to replace the Class 150s with Central Trains' 153s and 156s, saying that the 150s were more comfortable. The Class 170s stick predominantly to longer services, as they have slower acceleration than the Class 150, 153 and 156 stock, meaning they cannot stick to the timetables of the many local lines.
As can be seen below 'one' has been criticised for poor performance, the condition of their rolling stock and for making unpopular timetable changes. However, performance data from Network Rail shows that in the year to
4 February 2006 their performance was slightly better than average (86.5% versus 85.8%)
[Network Rail, 2006].
‘one' made a number of timetabling changes in December 2004, including expanding direct services to London from Lowestoft, Harwich and stations to Peterborough. However this led to some services being cut, such as the Ipswich to Cambridge service, resulting in overcrowding. This was so severe that it meant that the conductor could not get from one end of the train to the other, leading to lost revenue
[Railfuture News, 2005].
 |
one's fleet includes class 317 electric multiple units. |
Further changes to the timetable were implemented in December 2005 in order to "meet requirements laid down by the Department of Transport"
[Hoddesdon & Broxbourne Mercury, 2006],which left some stations without any off-peak service, although a new route has been introduced between
Hertford East and
Stratford. Changes to the Norwich to
Great Yarmouth via
Reedham line reduced access to the
Berney Marshes by means of
Berney Arms railway station. However, these changes introduced an extra 3,000 seats on the West Anglia Route
[one railway, 2005]‘one' has been criticised for the condition of some of its rolling stock. The intercity trains use
locomotive-hauled
Mark 2 or
Mark 3 sets. ‘one' is gradually replacing the Mark 2 sets with Mark 3 sets, which are undergoing refurbishment. The decision to rapidly replace the Class 86s and Mk2s with Class 90s and Mk3s fresh from hard work on the West Coast Mainline has lead to some criticism, since in many cases they were in worse condition than what they replaced, not helped by the run down in maintenance and cleaning by
Virgin Trains before they were withdrawn. 'one' have also recieved criticism for there references to "newer" trains, since the Mk3s are infact only a few years newer than the Mk2s, in some cases being introduced just one year later. The refurbishment programme was, as of
6 March 2006, 50% complete
[one railway, 2006]‘one' has had poor industrial relations since it started operating the franchise, with guards and revenue staff striking over the introduction of new machines, and in December 2005 drivers' union
ASLEF banned rest day working, although this has since been resolved.
*
one railway
