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.
Train operating company
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A train operating company is a business operating passenger trains on the railway system of Great Britain under the collective National Rail brand. TOCs have existed since the privatisation of the network under the Railways Act 1993 and these operators can run services for the duration of the licence validity. The franchised operators have changed considerably since privatisation, previous franchises have been divided, merged, re-let to new operators, the term is also sometimes used to describe companies operating passenger or freight rail services over tracks that are owned by another company or a national network owner. Franchises were initially let by the Office of Passenger Rail Franchising and this was in turn replaced by the Strategic Rail Authority, which has since been abolished. For England and Wales, franchising is now the responsibility of the Department for Transport in the majority of cases, in Scotland, it is the responsibility of the Scottish Government. The Rail Delivery Group provides a commonality for the TOCs and provides some centralised co-ordination and its activities include the provision of a national timetable and online journey planner facility, and the operation of the various Railcard discount schemes. Eurostar is also a member of RDG, though it is not itself a TOC, until 2005 this role was performed by the Strategic Rail Authority. Most passenger trains are owned by a number of Rolling Stock Companies and are leased to the individual TOCs. However, a handful of TOCs own and maintain some of their own rolling stock, train operating companies also operate most of the networks stations, in their role as station facility owners, in which they lease the buildings and associated land from Network Rail. Network Rail manages some major railway stations and several stations are operated by London Underground or other companies, all passenger TOCs in Great Britain are privately owned. The majority of these franchises to operate rail services on specific parts of the railway. A third, Wrexham & Shropshire, with services between London and Wrexham, no longer exists, in addition, there are operators that fall outside the purview of National Rail, which operate specific services which are recent additions to Britains railways. The main examples are Eurostar, which operates to the continent via the Channel Tunnel, and Heathrow Express, many of the train operating companies are in fact parts of larger companies which operate multiple franchises. The franchising process was implemented, with private companies taking over the shadow franchises. Two shadow franchises, Chiltern Lines and Great Western Trains were purchased by their own management teams, Great Westerns management also bought North West Regional Railways and renamed it North Western Trains. Great Western Holdings, the owner of the operator of inter-city services from London Paddington Great Western Trains was sold to FirstBus. The TOC North Western Trains was also owned by Great Western Holdings, after the takeover FirstBus was renamed FirstGroup and the TOCs renamed First Great Western and First North Western. The completion of the link to Heathrow Airport led to Heathrow Express
6.
Edelaraudtee
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Edelaraudtee is an Estonian railway operator founded in 1997. AS Edelaraudtee operates freight services on lines from Tallinn to Rapla, until 2014, the company operated the domestic inter-city passenger routes currently operated by Elron. Before the transfer of the traffic, the company employed around 500 staff. On 16 March 2012 Edelaraudtee launched new information display solution based on GPS, the developed information project, whose part is that solution, had an objective to provide passengers necessary opportunities to acquire trip information. Edelaraudtee had plans to equip all serviced train stations and stops with QR codes to link passengers with relevant station’s or train stop’s information display in Internet, freight operations are handled by Czech-built ChME3 diesel shunters, while passenger services were provided by around twenty DR1A/B diesel multiple units. Delivery of 18 electric and 20 diesel Stadler FLIRT trains built by Stadler Rail started in 2012, since 2014, all services are operated by Elron using the new trains
7.
Great Southern Rail (Australia)
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Great Southern Rail is an Australian interstate passenger train operator. Formed on November 1,1997, it is a subsidiary of Allegro Funds, included were 186 items of rolling stock, primarily stainless steel carriages and the Adelaide and Alice Springs stations. In October 1999, Serco bought all the shares from its consortium partners, while the former two services are profitable, the operation of The Overland is subsidised by the Victorian and South Australian governments. With completion of the railway from Alice Springs to Darwin, the Ghan now runs from Adelaide to Darwin, while GSR owns the passenger car fleet, Pacific National provides motive power for the services. The Southern Spirit was a luxury cruising train service, launched by Great Southern Rail on 17 June 2008 and it last ran in February 2012. In November 2014, Serco announced its intention to sell the business, in March 2015, it was sold to Allegro Funds
8.
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
