First Great Eastern

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title: "First Great Eastern" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["defunct-train-operating-companies-in-the-united-kingdom", "firstgroup-railway-companies", "railway-companies-established-in-1997", "railway-companies-disestablished-in-2004", "1997-establishments-in-england", "2004-disestablishments-in-england"] description: "Defunct British train operating company" topic_path: "geography/united-kingdom" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Great_Eastern" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Defunct British train operating company ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox rail company"]

Field	Value
logo	First Great Eastern Logo2.gif
logo_size	150
image	360111 at Ipswich.jpg
image_size	300
caption	Class 360 Desiro at in 2004
franchise	Great Eastern
5 January 1997 – 31 March 2004
regions	East London
East of England
fleet	144
stations	61
abbr	GE
parent_company	FirstGroup
successor	One
::

|logo = First Great Eastern Logo2.gif |logo_size = 150 |image = 360111 at Ipswich.jpg |image_size = 300 |caption = Class 360 Desiro at in 2004 |franchise = Great Eastern 5 January 1997 – 31 March 2004 |regions = East London East of England |secregions = |fleet = 144 |stations = 61 |abbr = GE |parent_company = FirstGroup |website = |map = |successor=One}}

First Great Eastern was a train operating company in England owned by FirstGroup that operated the Great Eastern franchise from January 1997 until March 2004.

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d0/First_Great_Eastern_Logo1.gif" caption="Logo used from 1997 to 1999"] ::

Services

First Great Eastern operated all stops and limited stops services on the Great Eastern Main Line from London Liverpool Street to Southend Victoria, Southminster, , Colchester Town, Clacton-on-Sea, Walton-on-the-Naze, Harwich Town and Ipswich. It also ran services on the Romford to Upminster Line and Gainsborough Line from Marks Tey to Sudbury.

Rolling stock

First Great Eastern inherited a fleet of Class 312, Class 315 and Class 321s from British Rail. A Class 153 was hired from Anglia Railways for the Marks Tey to Sudbury service due to it not being electrified, a Class 150 being used on weekdays and a Class 153 on weekends. Prior to this arrangement, a Class 121 Bubble Car was hired from Silverlink.

A franchise commitment was the replacement of the Class 312s. In May 2001, First Great Eastern ordered 21 Class 360 Desiros with the first entering service in August 2003.

::data[format=table title="Fleet at end of franchise"]

Class	Image	Type	Top speed	Number	Routes operated	Built	mph	km/h
121 Bubble Car	[[File:19880827-Paddington-Class121.jpg	118px]]	diesel multiple unit	70	112	Hired from
Silverlink	–	1960
150	[[File:150245 at Cambridge.JPG	100px]]	75	120	Hired from
Anglia Railways	1984–1987
153	[[File:153335 'Michael Palin' at Cambridge.JPG	100px]]	1987–1988
312	[[File:312718 and 312721 at Kirby Cross.JPG	100px]]	electric multiple unit	90	145	24	–
–
– and (peak times only)	1975–1978
315	[[File:Class 315s at London Liverpool Street.jpg	100px]]	75	120	43	– and
–	1980–1981
321	[[File:321334 at Pudding Mill Lane.jpg	100px]]	100	160	77	–, , , , ,
– (Sundays only)	1988–1990
360/1 Desiro	[[File:360111 at Ipswich.jpg	100px]]	21	– and
– (peak times only)	2002–2003
::

Depot

First Great Eastern's fleet was maintained at Ilford depot.

Demise

In 2002, as part of a franchise reorganisation by the Strategic Rail Authority, it was announced that the Great Eastern franchise would be merged into the Greater Anglia franchise. In December 2003, the Strategic Rail Authority awarded the Greater Anglia franchise to National Express, and the services operated by First Great Eastern were transferred to One (later National Express East Anglia) on 1 April 2004.

References

References

1. [http://data.companieshouse.gov.uk/doc/company/03007936 Companies House extract company no 3007936] Great Eastern Railway Limited
2. [https://web.archive.org/web/20030805035944/http://www.ger.co.uk/images/network_large.jpg First Great Eastern route map August 2003]
3. (27 August 1997). "Bubble cars revived, depot opens to solve Great Eastern branch crisis".
4. {{cite magazine. "". (30 August 2003)
5. {{cite magazine. "". (9 January 2002)
6. (22 December 2003). "National Express wins rail franchise". The Daily Telegraph.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::