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Recently
a train company which operates the Essex Thameside franchise 'National Express c2c' has announced
longer trains and a new timetable for their services.
From
National Express c2c
New
Carriages and May Timetable
Today we have very
good news: we have reached agreement with the Department for Transport on a
deal for 24 brand-new additional
carriages for c2c and they will be entering
service this year – three years
sooner than previously planned.
These 24 new carriages will enable us to run 13,000 extra seats at peak times every week. They are being built at Britain’s largest train factory in Derby, and you will start seeing
them in service from October as they
roll off the production line. All 24
extra carriages will be in service by the end of the year.
The new trains, which
will be subject to the final signing of
contracts, will increase the total size of our fleet to 320 carriages. They are absolutely vital to meet the
surge of demand we have seen from increasing
numbers of passengers who want to travel.
The level of growth in
the past six months has been unprecedented,
with around 8% more passengers now travelling into London during the morning
peak. This compares to recent growth levels of 5% over an entire year. Most of these new passengers are travelling
from our stations in Essex, around 2,000
extra people each peak. You will have seen the result of this in busier car
parks and ticket offices. So the best solution to help more people get to where
they want to go to is to provide extra
carriages.
As the carriages first arrive, we will use
them to lengthen the busiest peak
services across the route. Once all
24 new carriages are in service, we will make changes to the timetable in
December that take full advantage of the extra capacity and flexibility
that these trains provide us with. We will make sure the benefits of this extra
capacity are felt across the entire c2c
route.
In the meantime, we
are also making alterations to the current timetable from Sunday 15 May. You can read a full list of the alterations here.
Some evening services are being combined, to provide longer trains and reduce
the number of four-carriage services at peak times. We are changing the
stopping pattern of a number of other services, to relieve the existing
overcrowding on some trains. While this will reduce the total number of
peak-time services at Barking for example, there is still a significant
increase in the total number of peak services at the station over the past six
months.
The
new carriages we have announced today will be leased for three years, until
2019. From 2019,
they will be replaced by the existing
plans we have for 68 new carriages on the route. We have now started the
formal procurement process for the first trains in this new fleet, and we hope
to appoint a manufacturer this summer.
This is the most significant increase in capacity on
c2c for over a decade. Thank you to you all for bearing with us while we
have been working so hard on getting these new trains. We really have heard
loud and clear that a number of peak-time services are very busy, and now we
have the right solution for these issues that you have raised.
Julian Drury
Managing Director, c2c
The
c2c is a train operating company which is owned by National Express and the
routes they operate on are the London, Tilbury and Southend Railway (LTSR).
The
main line goes from London Fenchurch Street to Shoeburyness near Southend. The
section between West Ham to Upminster follows the District Line which enables
passengers to travel to Upminster. This section also stops at Barking station.
The fast trains tend to benefit the passengers because it cuts their journey
time. For example, to get from Upminster to Fenchurch Street station takes 26
minutes, but if they take the District Line it will take them nearly 45 minutes
to reach Tower Hill station.
National
Express c2c operates the routes with Class 357 Electrostar trains which were built
between 1999 and 2002; they were manufactured by ADtranz Derby which is now
owned by Bombardier Transportation.
It's
interesting how the railway company had demanded to have more carriages added
due to complaints of overcrowding and short trains.
Regardless of how much the fares rise each year, the usage still goes up.
Here
is a quick London bus news update from LOTS (London Omnibus Traction Society).
The
following TfL contracts have been awarded:
Tranche
543
290 re-awarded to Abellio
West London with 2011 Euro V single deck,
PVR 7. Start date 1 October 2016
H20 re-awarded to Abellio
West London with new Euro VI diesel
single deck. PVR 6, start date 19 November 2016
U7 re-awarded to Abellio
West London with 2011 Euro V diesel
single deck, PVR 5. Start date 19 November 2016
U9
re-awarded to
Abellio West London with new Euro VI
diesel single deck, PVR 3. Start date 31 December 2016
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Image attribution
By Au Morandarte from Chiswick/Romford, London, England - DSC02021Uploaded by Ultra7, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=30845978