London North Eastern Railway

London North Eastern Railway

InterCity 125 at Leeds in 2018
Overview
Franchise(s)	InterCity East Coast 24 June 2018 – present
Main region(s)	Greater London East of England East Midlands Yorkshire and the Humber North East England Scotland
Fleet size	14 InterCity 125 sets 30 InterCity 225 sets
Stations called at	53
Stations operated	12
National Rail abbreviation	GR
Parent company	HM Government (Department for Transport)
Website	www.lner.co.uk

London North Eastern Railway routes
Inverness Carrbridge Aviemore Kingussie Newtonmore Blair Atholl Pitlochry Dunkeld Perth Gleneagles Dunblane Stirling Falkirk Grahamston Aberdeen Stonehaven Montrose Arbroath Dundee Leuchars Kirkcaldy Inverkeithing Glasgow Central Motherwell Haymarket Edinburgh Waverley Dunbar Berwick-upon-Tweed Alnmouth Morpeth Sunderland Newcastle Durham Darlington Northallerton York Leeds Skipton Keighley Bradford Shipley Harrogate Horsforth Leeds Wakefield Westgate Hull Brough Selby Doncaster Retford Lincoln Central Newark North Gate Grantham Peterborough Stevenage London King's Cross

London North Eastern Railway^[1] (LNER) is a British train operating company that operates the InterCity East Coast franchise. LNER operates long-distance inter-city services on the East Coast Main Line, which runs from London Kings Cross to North East England and Scotland. It manages 11 stations and its trains call at 53.

The company is owned by the Department for Transport (DfT). LNER took over the InterCity East Coast franchise in June 2018, after the previous privately owned operator Virgin Trains East Coast returned it to the government following sustained financial difficulties. The DfT intend for the company to provide services until a new public-private partnership can be established in 2020.

History

In November 2017, the Secretary of State for Transport, Chris Grayling, announced the early termination of the InterCity East Coast franchise in 2020, three years ahead of schedule, following losses on the route by operator Virgin Trains East Coast (VTEC), who had been due to pay more than £2 billion in franchise premiums to the government over the last four years of its contract.^[2][3]

This was brought forward in February 2018 to mid-2018. The Department for Transport (DfT) decided to either negotiate a deal with VTEC to continue to run the franchise on a temporary non-profit basis while a new franchise competition was conducted, or to arrange for VTEC be taken over by the DfT's operator of last resort.^[4][5][6] On 16 May 2018 it was announced that the latter had been decided and that LNER would take over from VTEC on 24 June 2018.^[7][8] The DfT also announced that LNER would be the long-term brand applied to the InterCity East Coast franchise.^[9] As part of the overall strategy for the East Coast franchise, the Secretary of State for Transport stated that Great Northern services could potentially be integrated into the operation when the Thameslink Southern & Great Northern franchise expires in 2021.^[10]

LNER is the second time that a government appointed operator of last resort has taken control of the InterCity East Coast franchise; between 2009 and 2015 the franchise was operated by East Coast following National Express East Coast defaulting.^[11][12]

Rolling stock

LNER inherited a fleet of InterCity 125 and InterCity 225s from Virgin Trains East Coast. Since September 2016, Virgin Trains East Coast had hired three Class 90s from DB Cargo for use on services to Newark, York and Leeds. LNER has inherited these locomotives and is expected to retain them for the foreseeable future to cover for the current shortage of Class 91 locomotives.

Current fleet

Trainset	Class	Image	Type	Top speed		Number	Notes
				mph	km/h
InterCity 125	Class 43		Diesel locomotive	125	200	32
	Mark 3 carriage		Passenger carriage	125	200	130	14x9 carriage sets + 4 spare
InterCity 225	Class 90		Electric locomotive	110	177	6	A short term hire-in from DB Cargo to cover for a shortfall in Class 91s. Usually 1 or 2 supplied from a pool of 6.
	Class 91		Electric locomotive	140	225	31
	Mark 4 carriage		Passenger carriage	140	225	302
	Driving Van Trailer		Driving Van Trailer	140	225	31

Future fleet

The current fleet is scheduled to be replaced by Class 800/Class 801 high-speed trains from December 2018. These will operate in 9-carriage and 5-carriage sets.^[13][14]

Trainset	Class	Image	Type	Top speed		Number of Units/Sets	Carriages	Routes
				mph	km/h
Hitachi Super Express	Class 800 Azuma		Bi-Mode Multiple Unit	140	225	10	5	All
						13	9
	Class 801 Azuma		EMU	140	225	12	5	All electrified routes
						30	9

Depots

London North Eastern Railway has four main depots:

• Bounds Green TMD, London - for heavy duty maintenance of IC225 sets
• Neville Hill TMD, Leeds – managed by East Midlands Trains and Northern
• Heaton TMD, Newcastle – managed by Northern
• Craigentinny TMD, Edinburgh – for repaints and heavy duty maintenance of IC125/HST sets

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to London North Eastern Railway.

• Official website