1.
FirstGroup
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FirstGroup is a British transport group, registered and operating in the United Kingdom. The company also operates services in Ireland, Canada and the United States. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE250 Index, FirstGroup originated from the deregulation of bus services in the United Kingdom in 1986, whereby private companies purchased nationalised and municipal bus operators. In September 1986 the Somerset based services of the Bristol Omnibus Company that were rebranded in 1985 as Badgerline were purchased in a management buyout, as Badgerline Group, it expanded through acquisition purchasing other formerly nationalised bus companies in England and Wales. In January 1989 Grampian Regional Transport, the bus operator in Aberdeen owned by Grampian Regional Council, was privatised in a management buyout led by its general manager Moir Lockhead. As GRT Bus Group, it expanded through acquisition purchasing six former nationalised bus companies in England and Scotland, in April 1995 FirstBus was formed through the merger of the Badgerline and GRT Bus Groups, with fleets in England, Wales and Scotland. Aberdeen was selected as the headquarters, at the time of the merger, FirstBus had 5,600 buses,4,000 of which came from Badgerline. Badgerlines Trevor Smallwood became chairman of FirstBus, while GRT head Moir Lockhead became deputy chairman, FirstBus continued the policy of growth by acquisition acquiring former council owned operations and companies formerly owned by English, Welsh and Scottish nationalised operators. FirstBus went on to larger urban metropolitan operators by taking advantage of the privatisation of the PTE bus operations. FirstBus acquired GM Buses North in Manchester and Strathclyde Buses in Glasgow in 1996, Mainline in South Yorkshire and CentreWest in London in 1997, and Capital Citybus in London in 1998. The company was renamed FirstGroup in December 1997 after the company moved into railways in February 1996 with the privatisation of British Rail, through a 24. In March 1998 FirstGroup purchased the 75. 5% shares in Great Western Holdings it did not already own and rebranded the franchises First Great Western and First North Western. In September 1998 FirstGroup made its first overseas foray when New World First Bus commenced operating bus services in Hong Kong formerly operated by China Motor Bus, FirstGroup had a 26% shareholding in the joint venture. In May 2000 FirstGroup sold its shares to joint venture partner New World Development, in September 1999 FirstGroup purchased Ryder Public Transport Services, a provider of school bus transportation in the United States. In May 2000 FirstGroup began operating the London Tramlink concession under contract to Transport for London, in August 2003 FirstGroup purchased GB Railways which owned Anglia Railways and GB Railfreight and held 80% of the shares in Hull Trains. Having not been shortlisted for the Greater Anglia franchise, this gave FirstGroup another chance to bid, however it was unsuccessful and the franchise was awarded to National Express from April 2004 including the services operated by First Great Eastern. In November 2003 FirstGroup purchased a 90% shareholding in Irish coach operator Aircoach, in February 2004 FirstGroups joint venture with Keolis commenced operating the First TransPennine Express rail franchise, FirstGroup having a 55% shareholding. In April 2004 FirstGroup commenced operating the First Great Western Link franchise, in December 2004 the remainder of First North Western passed to Northern Rail, some services having already been transferred to Arriva Trains Wales and FirstTranspennine Express
2.
Anglia Railways
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Anglia Railways was a train operating company in England owned by GB Railways and later FirstGroup, that operated the Anglia franchise from January 1997 until March 2004. The InterCity Anglia franchise was awarded by the Director of Passenger Rail Franchising to GB Railways with the franchise commencing on 5 January 1997, in June 1998, Anglia Railways unveiled a turquoise and white livery. Prior to 1997 the trains were run by British Rail sectors of InterCity, Regional Railways, after March 2004 the trains were run by National Express East Anglia. Anglia Railways operated InterCity services on the Great Eastern Main Line from London Liverpool Street to Harwich International, a franchise commitment was to increase the hourly London Liverpool Street and Norwich services to half-hourly. The half-hourly service was introduced in 2000 with some extended to Sheringham, Great Yarmouth and it operated from 22 May 2000 until ceasing on 28 September 2002 due to poor loadings. A more successful new service with Rail Partnership Funding was introduced on 29 September 2002 from Norwich to Cambridge, Anglia Railways inherited a fleet of Class 86s, Mark 2 carriages, Driving Brake Standard Opens, Class 150s and Class 153s from British Rail. On 10 June 1998, it unveiled its turquoise and white livery, in June 1998, preserved British Rail Class 2011001 commenced an eleven-month lease operating services from Norwich to Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft. To meet a franchise commitment to two services per hour between London Liverpool Street and Norwich, eight three-carriage Class 170s were delivered in 1999/2000. A further four two-carriage Class 170s were delivered in 2002, due to the new stock running late, West Anglia Great Northern Class 317s and Class 322s were used for a time. The two-carriage examples were used on the new Norwich to Cambridge services. Anglia hired a Class 47 from Cotswold Rail from June 2002 as a rescue locomotive, in July 2002, Anglia hired a Class 90 from Freightliner for a few months with a view to replacing the Class 86s. In October 2003, Anglia began operating three Class 90s from English Welsh & Scottish until the end of the franchise, Anglia Railways fleet was maintained at Norwich Crown Point depot. In 2002, as part of a reorganisation by the Strategic Rail Authority. Having missed out on pre-qualifying for the Greater Anglia franchise, FirstGroup purchased GB Railways in August 2003, in December 2003, the Strategic Rail Authority awarded the Greater Anglia franchise to National Express with the services operated by Anglia Railways transferring to One on 1 April 2004. Media related to Anglia Railways at Wikimedia Commons Company website
3.
Hull Trains
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Hull Trains is an open access operator in England owned by FirstGroup. It operates long-distance services between Hull/Beverley and London Kings Cross and it has a track-access agreement until December 2029. In 1999, there was one through train per day each way between Hull and London Kings Cross, GNERs Hull Executive. In May 1999, former British Rail managers Mike Jones and John Nelson through their Renaissance Trains business, a joint venture was formed with GB Railways taking an 80% shareholding and Jones and Nelson each holding 10%. In December 1999, a track access agreement was granted by the Office of Rail Regulation with operations commencing on 25 September 2000. In September 2002, the agreement was extended for ten years. In August 2003, GB Railways shareholding was included in the sale of the business to FirstGroup, in June 2008, Hull Trains was rebranded as First Hull Trains, adopting FirstGroups corporate blue, pink and white colours. In January 2009, the rights were extended until December 2014. It was later extended until December 2019, in August 2014, FirstGroup purchased the remaining 20% shareholding. In 2015, it resumed trading as Hull Trains, Hull Trains operates up to six daily return services between Hull and London Kings Cross on weekdays and a daily service between Beverley and Kings Cross. On weekends there are five daily services between Hull and Kings Cross only, Hull Trains commenced running three services per day on 25 September 2000. In December 2002 a fourth daily service commenced, in May 2004 a fifth, in May 2005 a sixth, on 4 February 2015, one service per weekday was extended from Hull to Beverley in each direction. In December 2015, one service was extended to Beverley on weekends, in January 2009, the Office of Rail Regulation released its decisions on the ECML route planning and rejected First Harrogate Trains application. Hull Trains began operations with 3-car Class 170 Turbostars hired from sister GB Railways company Anglia Railways, there was at least one occasion of an Anglia Railways Class 86 and Mark 2 set operating as far as Doncaster. When the Strategic Rail Authority changed its policy on allowing train operating company assets to be hired out and it ordered four 3-car Class 170 Turbostars, the first entering service in March 2004. The Class 170 Turbostars entered service in March 2004 and it was planned that after being replaced, they would then be used on new services, but these services were never introduced, so the Class 170 trains were transferred to First ScotRail. The Class 222 Pioneers entered service from May 2005, in January 2007, a Class 222 Pioneer was damaged when it was dropped off a maintenance jack, it would ultimately take two years to repair. In April 2008, two Class 180 Adelantes were leased to replace the set and allow a maintenance backlog that accrued on the Class 222 Pioneers to be cleared
4.
GB Railfreight
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GB Railfreight is a rail freight company in the United Kingdom. It is owned by EQT Partners through its holding company Hector Rail Group. GB Railfreight was founded in 1999 by GB Railways, unlike competitors DB Schenker and Freightliner, the company was not formed from parts of the privatised British Rail freight sectors. In April 2000, after winning a contract to operate infrastructure trains for Railtrack. An operators licence was granted in July 2000, operations commenced on 1 April 2001. In February 2002, GBRf commenced operating its first Intermodal container contract from the Port of Felixstowe for MSC Mendite, also in 2002, GBRf began its first bulk freight contract for British Gypsum. In August 2003, GB Railways was purchased by FirstGroup and GB Railfreight was rebranded First GBRf, in April 2004, GB Railfreight commenced operating a five year contract for Network Rail with four Gatwick Express Class 73 locomotives. In May 2005, First GBRf began operating Royal Mail services using Class 325s and this was later extended until 2010. Also in 2005, GBRf commenced operating London Underground infrastructure trains for Metronet, in March 2007, First GBRf commenced operating coal trains for Drax Group and EDF Energy. In June 2007, the business was renamed First GBRf, in 2009, First GBRf was granted a passenger licence allowing it to operate charter services. Between December 2009 and July 2010, First GBRf operated passenger services under contract to First Great Western, the services from Cardiff Central to Taunton operated with hired Virgin Trains Class 57/3s hauling Mark 2 carriages. In May 2010, FirstGroup put the business up for sale, Eurotunnel, Freightliner and SNCF were reported as being interested in the company. The company was purchased by Europorte, a subsidiary of Eurotunnel, following the acquisition by Europorte, the company reverted to its original name and a revised version of the original livery. In February 2011, GBRf commenced operation of traffic at Cardiff Tidal/Tremorfa Works. In 2012, GBRf commenced a contract to operate the 43 mile rail network at Sahavirirya Steel Industries Lackenby steelworks. In April 2015, GB Railfreight commenced a contract to haul the Caledonian Sleeper, Class 92s haul it from London Euston to Edinburgh Waverley/Glasgow Central with rebuilt Class 73/9s to haul it from Edinburgh to Aberdeen, Inverness and Fort William. Until the latter are completed Class 67s continue to operate the latter services, GB Railfreight have also won a contract to haul Class 800/801s. This will involve GBRf providing crews for the testing of the trains as well as hauling the sets, in October 2016, Eurotunnel announced it was in negotiations to sell the business to EQT Infrastructure II
5.
British Rail Class 86
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The British Rail Class 86 was the standard electric locomotive built during the 1960s. One hundred of these locomotives were built from 1965 to 1966 by either English Electric at Vulcan Foundry, Newton-le-Willows, or British Rail at their Doncaster works. The class was built to haul trains on the newly electrified West Coast Main Line, from London Euston, to Birmingham, Crewe, Manchester Piccadilly, Liverpool and later Preston. They helped to replace steam locomotives, which were withdrawn by BR in 1968. Under the earlier BR classification system, the type was given the designation AL6, in 1968, this was changed to Class 86, when BR introduced the TOPS classification system. The AL6 featured design elements pioneered on the classes, such as the general construction of the bodies and bogies. However some design features were unique, such as front ends. Another difference was the lack of a second pantograph, the cooling fans on the AL6 were also specially designed to produce less noise than the earlier locos. The Class was officially introduced into service in August 1965, the entire fleet was delivered into service within 24 months of that date. In the early years the locomotives became notorious for track damage, being fitted with traction motors. This additional unsprung mass was causing damage at high speeds, in 1969 number E3173, was fitted experimentally with the large helical flexicoil springs which can be seen on present day versions, giving it the nickname Zebedee. Trials carried out under the direction of the British Rail Research Division proved successful, within a short time a further batch was modified to the new specification, 86040-86048 were renumbered 86253-86261. These locomotives are capable of 110 mph running, throughout the 1970s, the class saw use on both express passenger and freight services. In 1974, demand for electric locomotives grew due to the extension of electrification north from Preston to Carlisle, from 1978 onwards, BR started to name some of their Class 86 fleet, many of them after cities or counties along the lines that they worked. In the early 1980s, electrification from London Liverpool Street to Cambridge, in addition, many of the freightliner trains to Felixstowe were also hauled as far as Ipswich by Class 86 locomotives working in multiple. By the end of the 1980s, the need for a standard fleet saw all remaining Class 86/0 and Class 86/3 locomotives fitted with improved suspension and these locomotives were now inter-operable with Class 86/2, and thus gave greater operational flexibility. A later development saw Class 86/2 and 86/4 locomotives fitted with TDM to enable them to operate passenger trains. The 86/4s were already fitted with an older multiple-working system and this was phased out after TDM was fitted across the fleet
6.
Liverpool Street station
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The station opened in 1874 as a replacement for Bishopsgate station as the Great Eastern Railways main London terminus. By 1895 it had the largest number of platforms on any railway station in London. During the First World War, an air raid on the station in 1917 led to 162 deaths, in the build-up to the Second World War, the station served as the entry point for thousands of child refugees arriving in London as part of the Kindertransport rescue mission. Liverpool Street was built as a station with provision for the Underground. A tube station opened in 1875 for the Metropolitan Railway, and the station today is served by the Central, Circle, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan lines, Liverpool Street is the third-busiest railway station in the United Kingdom after Waterloo and Victoria, both also in London. It is managed directly by Network Rail, a few daily express trains to Harwich International provide a connection with the Dutchflyer ferry to Hook of Holland. Stansted Express trains provide a link to Stansted Airport and Southend Victoria-bound services stop at Southend Airport, most passenger services on the Great Eastern Main Line are operated by Greater Anglia. Since 2015, the Shenfield metro service has been controlled by TfL Rail, a small number of late-evening and weekend services operated by c2c run via Barking. The station is split into two halves, the west side for the Lea Valley Lines services and the east side for services via Stratford. The typical off-peak weekday service pattern from Liverpool Street is, Liverpool Street station was built as the new London terminus of the Great Eastern Railway which served Norwich, the GER had been formed from the merger of several railway companies, inheriting Bishopsgate as its London terminus. Consequently, the GER planned a more central station, the station was planned to be around 630 by 200 ft in area, with its main façade onto Liverpool Street and an additional entrance on Bishopsgate-Street. The line and station construction were authorised by the Great Eastern Railway Act 1864, the station was built on a 10 acres site previously occupied by the Bethlem Royal Hospital, adjacent to Broad Street station, west of Bishopsgate and facing onto Liverpool Street to the south. The development land was purchased, displacing around 3,000 residents of the parish of St Botolph-without-Bishopsgate. To manage the disruption caused by rehousing, the company was required by the 1864 Act to run daily low-cost workmens trains from the station. The station was designed by GER engineer Edward Wilson and built by Lucas Brothers, the overall design was approximately Gothic, built using stock bricks and bath stone dressings. The building incorporated booking offices as well as the offices of the GER, including chairmans, board, committee, secretary. The station was built with a connection to the sub-surface Metropolitan Railway, with the platform sunk below ground level, the Metropolitan Railway used the station as a terminus from 1 February 1875 until 11 July 1875, their own underground station opened on 12 July 1875. Local trains began serving the partially completed station from 2 October 1874, the original City terminus at Bishopsgate closed to passengers and was converted for use as a goods station from 1881
7.
Indian Pacific
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The Indian Pacific is an Australian passenger rail service that operates between Sydney, on the Pacific Ocean, and Perth, on the Indian Ocean. It is one of the few truly transcontinental trains in the world, the train first ran in February 1970 after the completion of gauge conversion projects in South and Western Australia. The trains route includes the worlds longest straight stretch of railway track, in October 1997, the Indian Pacific was sold to Great Southern Rail. A one-way trip originally took 75 hours, but with line, the train currently has two classes, branded as Platinum and Gold Service. A motorail service conveys passengers motor vehicles between Adelaide and Perth, with the formation of Australian National in July 1975, it provided locomotives and crews from Broken Hill to Kalgoorlie. Locomotives were changed at Lithgow, Broken Hill, Port Pirie and Kalgoorlie, the Indian Pacific featured in an episode of BBC Televisions Great Railway Journeys of the World series in 1980, presented by Michael Frayn. The train originally operated twice per week, in July 1973, a third service was introduced followed in July 1975 by a fourth, these later two being extensions of existing Trans Australian services. By 1983, the service had reduced to three times weekly. The service was suspended from 2 December 1982 to 25 April 1983 due to a dispute over staffing levels in South Australia. From August 1986, the train commenced operating via Adelaide, in June 1991, the service was cut from three times a week to two. This was reduced to weekly in January 1992 between Sydney and Adelaide with two services a week between Adelaide and Perth, in February 1993, Australian National took over operation of the service throughout after agreement was reached with the State Rail Authority and Westrail in 1992. From January 1994 the service was operated throughout by Australian National CL class locomotives, Australian National restored a second weekly service. As part of the privatisation of Australian National, the Indian Pacific, along with The Ghan, motive power provision was contracted to National Rail. Today the Indian Pacific operates weekly, a second service operated between September and November until 2015. The route leaves Sydney and travels via the Western and Broken Hill lines to Broken Hill and it then crosses into South Australia on the Broken Hill to Crystal Brook line before heading south to Adelaide. Before the conversion of the Crystal Brook to Adelaide line to standard gauge, however, from August 1986, the Indian Pacific was diverted to make an out-and-back trip to Adelaide adding 390 kilometres to the journey. It then heads via the Eastern Goldfields and Eastern lines to its terminus at East Perth, occasionally, when there is trackwork, the Indian Pacific is diverted out of Sydney via the Main South line to Cootamundra and cross-country line to rejoin the Broken Hill line at Parkes. In 1970, the journey took 75 hours, with subsequent infrastructure improvements and reductions to the time needed to change locomotives and crew, the journey now takes 65 hours despite the longer distance
8.
Cook, South Australia
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Cook is a railway station and crossing loop on the standard gauge Trans-Australian Railway from Port Augusta to Kalgoorlie, with no inhabited places around. It is 826 kilometres by rail from Port Augusta, and is connected to the Eyre Highway by a road about 100 kilometres long. The former town was created in 1917 when the railway was built and is named after the sixth Prime Minister of Australia, when the town was active, water was pumped from an underground Artesian aquifer but now, all water is carried in by train. Today, it is said to have a resident population of four, Cook is the only scheduled stop on the Nullarbor Plain for the Indian Pacific passenger train across Australia and has little other than curiosity value for the passengers. The bush hospital is closed, but the town maintains some medical supplies in the event of a train disaster, the hospital advertised itself at the station with the catch cry If youre crook come to Cook. The shop is opened while the Indian Pacific is in town. It has a few houses and fuel tanks for the locomotives, the crossing loop can cross trains up to 1,800 metres long. The former airstrip is known as a place to spot inland dotterel, an interview with a resident revealed that they use both the Western Australian and South Australian time zones, for people from both states, so they do not have to adjust their watches. When the railway was sold, eight houses were taken away
9.
British Rail Class 170
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The Class 170 Turbostar is a British diesel multiple-unit train built by Bombardier Transportation at its Derby Litchurch Lane Works. Introduced after privatisation, these trains have operated regional as well as long-distance services, notable features shared are the aluminium alloy frame and Voith transmission as well as the general body shape, interior design and door fittings. The final drive is sourced from ZF instead of Gmeinder and the supplier changed to MTU. The engine and transmission are under the body, one bogie per coach is powered, all coaches in the set are powered. The units can work in multiple with trains in the 15X series, i. e. Sprinters and they are unable to operate in multiple with units in the 16X series due to different wiring arrangements. Seating arrangements are of both 2+1 and 2+2 formation, and give a seated capacity of between ~100 and ~200 per three-car set. Class 170 units have been categorised into six sub-classes, the specifications remain the same. Because of the different interior fittings the sub-classes differ in weight from one another by a small amount, all the subclasses were built at Derby works either under ADtranz or Bombardier Transportation ownership. Most units are owned by Porterbrook, although units 170 416–424 are owned by Eversholt Rail Group and they are leased to the train operating companies. Abellio ScotRail is the largest operator of the Class 170, with a fleet comprising 55 3-car sets, originally,34 of these had first-class accommodation. They are mainly used on Edinburgh–Glasgow, Inverness–Glasgow/Edinburgh and Aberdeen–Glasgow/Edinburgh services, a further four 3-car sets fitted with mini-buffets were obtained from Hull Trains, but the buffets are out of use. All units are allocated to Edinburgh Haymarket depot, in December 2008, half the standard-class-only units,170 450–5, were fitted with first-class sections. 170456 and 170457 were fitted with first class in December 2011, in April 2015,170 421-424 left ScotRail to go to Southern and be modified to become Class 171s. First TransPennine Express operated nine Class 170s, used on the Manchester to Hull route, from 9 September 2009, two Class 170s are used Sundays to Thursdays on the Cleethorpes–Manchester Airport service. The units were maintained by Bombardier Crofton, the work was carried out by Transys at Clacton-on-Sea. However, in March 2014 it was revealed that the nine Turbostars would move to Chiltern Railways, upon delivery, the Class 170s will be modified to allow them to be used with Chilterns existing Class 168s, and will be reclassified as Class 168/3s. Today, the numbers are 168321-168329. Hull Trains began its London Kings Cross to Hull services using Turbostars, in 2004, it received four of its own 3-car Class 170/3 units, and returned the original units to Anglia
10.
Hull Paragon Interchange
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Hull Paragon Interchange is an integrated rail and bus station in the city centre of Kingston upon Hull, England. As well as trains to the west the station was the terminus of the Y&NMR, from the 1860s the station also became the terminus of the Hull and Holderness and Hull and Hornsea railways. At the beginning of the 20th century the North Eastern Railway expanded the trainshed and station to the designs William Bell, installing the present five arched span platform roof. In 1962 a modernist office block Paragon House was installed above the main entrance, replacing a 1900s iron canopy. A bus station was erected adjacent to the north of the station in the mid 1930s, the new station, named Paragon Interchange opened in September 2007, integrating the citys railway and bus stations under William Bells 1900s trainshed. As of October 2016, the station is operated by TransPennine Express. In 1840 the Hull and Selby Railway opened the first railway line into Hull, terminating at a passenger and goods terminal, Manor House Street station, adjacent to the Humber Dock, near the old town. Subsequently, the Hull and Selby entered into working arrangements with the Manchester and Leeds Railway and then the York, in 1846 the York and North Midland and Manchester and Leeds railways began proceedings to create a new terminal station and connecting branch line in Hull. The York and North Midland,1847 act was subsequently passed, the new station had the advantage of being better situated for travellers, and allowed the old station to be used exclusively for freight traffic.5 miles roughly west of the new station. In addition a new connecting chord was made from the Hull and Selby Line, to the Bridlington branch, the station was located on the western edge of the growing Georgian town, and took its name from Paragon Street. Construction contracts had been signed by early 1847, before the bill had been formally passed, the station opened in 1847 without any notable ceremony. The station and hotel were both in the Italian Renaissance style, with both Doric and Ionic order elements, the fascades show inspiration from the courtyard of the Palazzo Farnese. The train shed contained 5 tracks and 2 platforms, each 30 feet, the station site was nearly 2.5 acres. The hotel was in a style to the station, located at the east end of the station with its main fascade. It was completed in 1849 as a three building,9 bays wide, of area 120 by 130 feet. The centre of the building contained a 650 feet square lightwell with ground glass roof, architect for both buildings was G. T. Andrews, and represent his last major commission. By the time of completion of the station hotel George Hudson, chairman of the York, the Hotels official opening ceremony took place on 6 November 1851. Additional facilities at the station included a locomotive house, on the west end of north side of the main shed, a coal depot to the north-west
11.
British Rail Class 66
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The Class 66 is a type of six-axle diesel electric freight locomotive developed in part from the Class 59, for use on the railways of the UK. Since its introduction the class has been successful and has sold to British. In Continental Europe it is marketed as the EMD Series 66, controlling 93% of UK rail freight, after a public relations exercise involving the input of the general public, the company was named English Welsh & Scottish. EWS inherited a fleet of 1,600 mainly diesel locomotives, to enable it to offer its stated lower pricing to customers, EWS needed to reduce operating costs and raise availability. EMD offered their JT42CWR model, which had the same loading gauge-passing bodyshell as the Class 59. Placing what was termed as the biggest British loco order since steam days, EWS placed an order for 250 units to be built at the EMD plant in London, Ontario, Canada. The EMD710 12-cylinder diesel engine is a development of one used over 20 years, the first locomotive shipped to the UK arrived at Immingham in June 1998, taken to Derby for testing. The second was taken to AARs Pueblo Test Centre for endurance testing, the locomotives then shipped at a rate of 11 per month into the UK via Newport Docks, until the order was completed in December 2001. Each locomotive is specified and guaranteed to 95% availability, aiming for a minimum of 180 days mean time between failures and it is designed to cover 1·6million km between major rebuilds, equivalent to 18 years service, with each major rebuild costed at £200,000. The initial classification was as Class 61, then they were given the Class 66 designation in the British classification system. In 1998 Freightliner placed an order for locomotives and they were followed by GB Railfreight, and then Direct Rail Services. They currently operate on routes between Sweden and Denmark and between Germany, Belgium, The Netherlands and Poland, as a result of its well-known British identity, EMD Europe markets the locomotive as Series 66. After an increase in UK rail traffic post the 2008 Global Economic Crisis, by 2011 EMD were running low on key parts for the design, specifically castings. Due to a reduction in European freight volumes, since mid-2012 a number of EMD Series 66 locomotives have been imported by UK rail freight operators, the first of the class to be built at EMDs Muncie, Indiana plant. On 2 February GBRf ordered a further 13 locomotives and these 21 locomotives will be numbered 66752-66772. Numbers 66752-66756 have been shipped from America and are due to arrive at Newport Docks in July 2014, No.66752 has been named The Hoosier State, a nickname for Indiana. Numbers 66752-66779 were the last Class 66s ordered for service in Great Britain because of increasingly stringent emission regulations,66779 was the last Class 66 to be built ever. Although the Class 66s meet stage 3a of the regulations, they do not stage 3b, stage 3b may have required additional exhaust treatment equipment that could not easily be accommodated within the UK loading gauge
12.
London King's Cross railway station
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Kings Cross railway station, also known as London Kings Cross, is a central London railway terminus on the northern edge of the city. It is one of the busiest railway stations in the United Kingdom, the station was opened in 1852 by the Great Northern Railway in the Kings Cross area to accommodate the East Coast Main Line. It quickly grew to cater for services and was expanded several times in the 19th century. It came under ownership of the London and North Eastern Railway as part of the Big Four grouping in 1923, who introduced famous services such as the Flying Scotsman and Mallard. The station complex was redeveloped in the 1970s, simplifying the layout and providing electric suburban services, in the late 20th century, the area around the station became known for its seedy and downmarket character, and was used as a backdrop for several films as a result. Adjacent to Kings Cross station is St. Pancras International, the London terminus for Eurostar services to continental Europe, beneath both main line stations is Kings Cross St. Pancras on the London Underground, and combined they form one of the countrys largest transport hubs. The Kings Cross fire at the station in 1987 led to improved fire safety standards across the London rail network. The station is located on the London Inner Ring Road at the end of Euston Road, next to the junction with Pentonville Road, Grays Inn Road. To the west, at the side of Pancras Road, is St Pancras railway station. Several London bus routes, including 10,30,59,73,91,205,390,476 pass in front of or at the side of the station, Kings Cross is spelled both with and without an apostrophe. Kings Cross is used in signage at the Network Rail and London Underground stations, on the tube map and it has been used on official maps from Underground companies since 1951 – the apostrophe was used on them only very rarely before then. Kings Cross is used in the National Rail timetable database and other National Rail railway pages, Kings X, Kings + and London KX are abbreviations used in space-limited contexts. The National Rail station code is KGX, the area of Kings Cross was previously a village known as Battle Bridge which was an ancient crossing of the River Fleet, originally known as Broad Ford, later Bradford Bridge. The river flowed along what is now the west side of Pancras Road until it was rerouted underground in 1825, the name Battle Bridge is linked to tradition that this was the site of a major battle between the Romans and the British Iceni tribe led by Boudica. According to folklore, Kings Cross is the site of Boudicas final battle, platforms 9 and 10 have been suggested as possible sites. Boudicas ghost is also reported to haunt passages under the station, Kings Cross station was built in 1851–1852 as the London hub of the Great Northern Railway and terminus of the East Coast main line. It replaced a station next to Maiden Lane that had been quickly constructed with the lines arrival in London in 1850. The station took its name from the area of London, named after a monument to King George IV that was demolished in 1845
