Connex South Eastern

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Connex South Eastern
Connexsoutheastern.jpg
465020 at Waterloo East.jpg
Class 465 Networker at London Waterloo East in 2003
Overview
Franchise(s)South Eastern
13 October 1996 – 8 November 2003
Main region(s)Greater London, Kent
Other region(s)East Sussex, West Sussex, Surrey
Fleet sizeapproximately 350
Stations called at178
Parent companyConnex
Reporting markCX
PredecessorNetwork SouthEast
SuccessorSouth Eastern Trains
Other
Websiteconnex.co.uk at the Wayback Machine (archived 2001-04-05)

Connex South Eastern[1] was a train operating company in the United Kingdom owned by Connex that operated the South Eastern franchise from October 1996 until November 2003.

History[]

On 13 October 1996 Connex commenced operating the South Eastern franchise having beaten bids from a Management/FirstBus consortium, GB Railways and Stagecoach.[2][3][4]

In December 2002, after the franchise ran into financial trouble, the Strategic Rail Authority agreed to bail it out with a £58 million injection, with the end date brought forward from 2011 until 2006.[5] However continuing poor financial management resulted in the Strategic Rail Authority deciding to strip Connex of the franchise in June 2003.[6][7][8][9] Connex South Eastern continued to operate the franchise until 8 November 2003 with the services transferring to the Strategic Rail Authority's South Eastern Trains subsidiary the following day.[10][11]

Services[]

Connex South Eastern ran passenger services from London Blackfriars, London Bridge, London Cannon Street, London Charing Cross and London Victoria to Hayes, Bromley North, Ramsgate, Dover Priory, Folkestone Harbour and Ore and various destinations within including Orpington, Sevenoaks, Dartford, Tunbridge Wells, Ashford and Canterbury West.

It also ran services between Sittingbourne and Sheerness; Paddock Wood, Maidstone West and Strood; and Maidstone West, Redhill and Three Bridges.

Rolling stock[]

Connex South Eastern inherited a large fleet of slam door EMUs from Network SouthEast.

Class Image Number Power Carriages Notes
365 365502 at London Victoria.jpg 16 EMU 4
375 375609 at London Victoria.jpg 112 EMU 3 or 4
411 1602 at Dover Priory.jpg 112 EMU 4 9 units transferred to South West Trains
421 1879 at London Charing Cross.jpg 25 EMU 4
423 3445 at Waterloo East.jpg 73 EMU 4
465 465020 at Waterloo East.jpg 148 EMU 4
466 New Connex EMU`.png 43 EMU 2
508 Class 508 train at Coulsdon South station - geograph.org.uk - 410845.jpg 12 EMU 3 Transferred from Merseyrail

In 1998 Connex South Eastern leased twelve Class 508s from Angel Trains that were surplus to Merseyrail Electrics to replace some Class 411s.[12][13][14][15][16]

Connex South Eastern ordered 10 three-carriage and 102 four-carriage Class 375s, and 36 five-carriage Class 376s in a couple of batches with the first entering service in April 2001.[17][18][19]

Depots[]

Connex South Eastern's fleet was maintained at Ashford, Ramsgate, Slade Green and Gillingham depots.

References[]

  1. ^ Companies House extract company no 3006571 Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine Connex South Eastern Limited
  2. ^ "Chiltern and SE bidders shortlisted" Rail Privatisation News issue 29 2 May 1996 page 4
  3. ^ "CGEA takes second franchise" Rail Privatisation News issue 37 22 August 1996 page 1
  4. ^ "South Eastern Trains sold to the French" The Railway Magazine issue 1146 October 1996 page 7
  5. ^ "SRA U-turn gives £58m to Connex" Rail Magazine issue 451 25 December 2002 page 6
  6. ^ "Train firm loses franchise". BBC News. 27 June 2003. Archived from the original on 30 July 2017. Retrieved 29 September 2018.
  7. ^ "Basher Bowker pulls the plug on Connex". The Telegraph. 29 June 2003. Archived from the original on 30 September 2018. Retrieved 29 September 2018.
  8. ^ "Connex shock at SE dismissal" Rail Magazine issue 465 9 July 2003 page 6
  9. ^ "Connex sacked from South-east franchise" The Railway Magazine issue 1229 September 2003 page 10
  10. ^ SRA Confirms Transfer from Connex to South Eastern Trains Strategic Rail Authority 8 November 2003
  11. ^ Rail authority takes on franchise Archived 19 September 2016 at the Wayback Machine BBC News 8 November 2003
  12. ^ Class 508 Archived 27 November 2015 at the Wayback Machine Kent Rail
  13. ^ Class 508 - The Final Months Archived 27 July 2014 at the Wayback Machine Southern Electric Group
  14. ^ "Class 508s return south after eight years away" Rail Magazine issue 311 13 August 1997 page 11
  15. ^ "Connex 508s go to work on Isle of Sheppey line" Rail Magazine issue 338 26 August 1998 page 15
  16. ^ "Class 508/2s launched on Connex South East" The Railway Magazine issue 1170 October 1998 page 65
  17. ^ Class 375 Electrostar Kent Rail
  18. ^ "Connex Rail places £90 million order for 30 new EMUs from Adtranz" Rail Magazine issue 308 2 July 1997 page 7
  19. ^ "Connex Electrostars make passenger debut" Rail Magazine issue 407 18 April 2001 page 17

External links[]

Preceded by
Network SouthEast
As part of British Rail 		Operator of South Eastern franchise
1996 – 2003 		Succeeded by
South Eastern Trains
Retrieved from ""