 | |
| Industry | Transport |
|---|---|
| Founded | July 1995 |
| Defunct | 19 September 2000 |
| Fate | Takeover |
| Successor | National Express |
| Products | Rail transport |
Prism Rail [1] was a British passenger rail company formed in July 1995 to bid for rail franchises in the United Kingdom during the privatisation of British Rail. It expressed interest in eighteen franchises, was shortlisted for twelve and was ultimately awarded four, LTS Rail, Valley Lines, Wales & West, and West Anglia Great Northern. [2]
Prism Rail was established by a number of individuals from the private bus industry with the intention of securing one or more of the passenger rail franchises that were being created by the privatisation of British Rail. [3] [4] In order to finance its bid for its first franchise, the company secured external backing, initially from a small number of institutional investors and subsequently via an the company's listing on the Alternative Investment Market in May 1996. [4] During January 1997, Prism Rail was forced to abandon a £30 million bonus share scheme intended for its management after several of the company's investors expressed their dissatisfaction, with some claiming it to have been excessively generous. [5]
In May 1996, it was announced that the Director of Passenger Rail Franchising had awarded the London, Tilbury and Southend franchise franchise to Prism Rail for a period of 15 years; operations of LTS Rail commenced later that same month. [6] The terms of franchise included its potential to be curtailed to only seven years if the operator did not fulfil bid commitments to replace the existing rolling stock with new trains. [7] Accordingly, during 1997, Prism Rail placed an order valued at £92 million with the multinational rolling stock manufacturer Adtranz for the production of 44 Class 357 "Electrostar" EMUs. [8]
In its bid for the West Anglia Great Northern (WAGN) franchise, Prism Rail promised that it would make a premium payment of £24.8 million to the franchising office in 2004. [9] During December 1996, it was announced that that the company had been awarded a seven year concession to operate the WAGN franchise; it was the fourth awarding of a passenger train franchise to Prism Rail by that time. [10] [11] By 1999, according to statistics compiled by the Office of Passenger Rail Franchising, West Anglia Great Northern was amongst the best performing franchises, being one of only seven franchises to obtain a B grade, for which its average punctuality had to be above 90 per cent while its average reliability figures had to be exceed 99 per cent. [12] In July 2000, the company had agreed to invest £20.5m into the network, and had reported that the Great Northern portion of the franchise' operations were running at a profit. [13]
In July 2000, Prism Rail was purchased by the British transport specialist National Express. [13] [14] The integration of the two companies was formally completed on 19 September 2000. [15]
On 2 July 2000, LTS Rail was rebranded as c2c. [16] [17] In March 2001, National Express combined the management and support functions of c2c, Silverlink, WAGN, and Stansted Express in a single organisation called London Lines. [18]
During October 2001, the company's two franchises in Wales, Valley Lines and Wales & West, were reorganised, after which the new Wales & Borders franchise assumed responsibility for the majority of services in Wales as shown on its map. [19] On 1 August 2003, in spite of National Express's bid to retain it, the Strategic Rail Authority awarded the new franchise to Arriva UK Trains. [20] [21]
Mobico Group, formerly National Express Group, is a British multinational public transport company with headquarters in Birmingham, England. Domestically it currently operates bus and coach services under brands including National Express. The company also operates transport services including trains abroad: in the Republic of Ireland, United States, Canada, Spain, Portugal, Malta, Germany, Bahrain, and Morocco, and long-distance coach services across Europe.
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.
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Wales & West was a train operating company in the United Kingdom that operated the South Wales & West franchise from 1996 until 2001.
West Anglia Great Northern, commonly shortened to WAGN, was a train operating company in England. It operated the West Anglia Great Northern franchise between January 1997 and March 2004, as well as the Great Northern franchise between April 2004 and March 2006. It was initially owned by Prism Rail, and was subsequently acquired by the British transport conglomerate National Express.
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A train operating company (TOC) is the term used on the railway system of Great Britain for a railway undertaking operating passenger trains under the collective National Rail brand. TOCs have existed since the privatisation of the network under the Railways Act 1993.
The British Rail Class 357Electrostar are alternating current (AC) electric multiple unit passenger trains (EMUs) built by Adtranz at its Derby Litchurch Lane Works, England, in two batches from 1999 to 2002 at a cost of approximately £292 million.
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The British Rail Class 365 Networker Express was a class of dual-voltage electric multiple unit passenger train built by ABB at Holgate Road Carriage Works in 1994 and 1995.
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Brimsdown railway station is on the Lea Valley line that forms part of the West Anglia Main Line, serving the neighbourhood of Brimsdown in the London Borough of Enfield, north London. It is 10 miles 61 chains (17.3 km) down the line from Liverpool Street and is situated between Ponders End and Enfield Lock. Its three-letter station code is BMD and it is in Travelcard zone 5.
Cheshunt is a National Rail and London Overground station in Cheshunt, Hertfordshire, England. On the National Rail network it is on the West Anglia Main Line, 14 miles 1 chain (22.6 km) from London Liverpool Street and situated between Waltham Cross and Broxbourne. On the London Overground network it is one of three northern termini of the Lea Valley lines.
Passenger rail franchising in Great Britain is the system of contracting the operation of the passenger services on the railways of Great Britain to private companies, which has been in effect since 1996 and was greatly altered in 2020, with rail franchising being effectively abolished in May 2021.
Valley Lines was the trading name of the Cardiff Railway Company, a train operating company owned by Prism Rail and later National Express, that ran local services around Cardiff from October 1996 until October 2001.
GB Railways was the parent company of a number of train operating companies, running the Anglia Railways franchise from January 1997 and launching Hull Trains and GB Railfreight. GB Railways was also involved in the management of the Estonian rail company Edelaraudtee and had an investment in Great Southern Rail in Australia.
Abellio is a Dutch public transport company that operates bus and rail services in Germany, and formerly also in Czech Republic, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. It is wholly owned by the Dutch national railway company, Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS).
Essex Thameside is a railway contract, and former franchise, for the provision of passenger services on the London, Tilbury and Southend line in east London and south Essex. It was formed on 26 May 1996, following the privatisation of British Rail and the franchise was originally called London, Tilbury and Southend. The only train operating company on the line to date has been c2c. Following a number of temporary extensions caused by problems with the rail franchising system, c2c was awarded a new 15-year franchise which commenced on 9 November 2014.
The East Anglia franchise is a railway franchise for passenger trains on the Great Eastern Main Line and West Anglia Main Lines in England. It commenced operating in April 2004 when the Anglia and Great Eastern franchises, together with the West Anglia part of the West Anglia Great Northern franchise, were combined to form the Greater Anglia franchise.
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