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| Current operator | Southeastern | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Main Region(s) | |||
| Stations called at | 179 | ||
| Stations operated | 174 | ||
| Dates of operation |
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The South Eastern franchise, also known as the Integrated Kent franchise, is a railway franchise for the provision of passenger services between London and Kent in South East England.
The South Eastern franchise was formed as a shadow franchise in 1994 in the leadup to the privatisation of British Rail, taking over the Network SouthEast services out of Blackfriars, Cannon Street, Charing Cross, London Bridge and London Victoria to Kent.
Initially operating as South Eastern, on 13 October 1996 Connex South Eastern commenced operating the 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 (SRA) 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 SRA 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. [10] [11]
On 9 November 2003 South Eastern Trains, a subsidiary company of the SRA, took over the franchise for a planned 18 months. It took on all the leased rolling stock and most of the Connex staff including senior management. In the event, it took over two years to re-let the franchise to a private company.
In December 2003 the SRA announced that Danish State Railways/Stagecoach, FirstGroup, Govia and MTR/Sea Containers had been shortlisted to bid for the replacement Integrated Kent franchise that would also incorporate services on High Speed 1 out of St Pancras. [12] In November 2005 the Department for Transport (DfT) announced that Govia had been awarded the franchise, with the services operated by South Eastern Trains transferred to London & South Eastern Railway Limited, branded as Southeastern, on 1 April 2006. [13] [14] Department for Transport announces integrated Kent franchise Department for Transport 30 January 2006</ref>
The franchise was let for an initial eight years, with a two-year option dependent on performance targets being met. In December 2008, as part of the franchise agreement, operation of services on the Redhill to Tonbridge Line passed to Southern. High Speed 1 services began on 14 December 2009. [15] Having met the performance criteria, in March 2011 the DfT granted Govia a two-year franchise extension until March 2014. [16]
Following the DfT's review after the cancellation of the InterCity West Coast franchise process, extensions were granted to the franchises coming due for renewal, with Southeastern's franchise extended until June 2018. [17] [18] It was further extended a number of times. [19] [20] [21] [22]
In June 2017 the DfT announced that an Abellio/East Japan Railway Company/Mitsui & Co consortium, incumbent Govia, Stagecoach and Trenitalia had been shortlisted for the next franchise, which was once again named the South Eastern franchise. [23] [24] In August 2017, Trenitalia withdrew citing a desire to concentrate its resources on its bid for the West Coast Partnership. [25] In February 2018, it was announced that Alstom would take a 20% shareholding in the Stagecoach company. [26] In April 2019, Stagecoach was disqualified from the bidding because they did not meet pensions rules. [27]
On 7 August 2019, the franchise competition was cancelled and the DfT instead took up a further extension. The franchise was due to cease on 31 March 2020 [28] [22] until a new contract was agreed on 30 March 2020, running for up to two years. [29]
In September 2021, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps announced that Southeastern's contract would end on 16 October 2021, with operations transferred to the DfT OLR Holdings-owned operator of last resort, SE Trains, which is continuing to operate under the Southeastern name. [30] This followed an investigation conducted by the Department for Transport which found that, since October 2014, Southeastern had failed to return over £25 million of taxpayer funding. [31] SE Trains contract runs until 17 October 2027. [1]
Southern is the brand name used by the Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) train operating company on the Southern routes of the Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern franchise in England. It is a subsidiary of Govia, a joint venture between transport groups Go-Ahead and Keolis, and has operated the South Central franchise since August 2001 and the Gatwick Express service since June 2008. When the passenger rail franchise was subsumed into GTR, Southern was split from Gatwick Express and the two became separate brands, alongside the Thameslink and Great Northern brands.
Lewisham is a National Rail and Docklands Light Railway station in Lewisham, south-east London which first opened in 1849. On the National Rail network it is 7 miles 61 chains (12.5 km) measured from London Victoria and is operated by Southeastern.
South Eastern Trains was a publicly owned train operating company that operated the South Eastern Passenger Rail Franchise between November 2003, when it took over from Connex South Eastern, and 1 April 2006, when Southeastern began operating the new Integrated Kent franchise.
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 Go-Ahead Group plc is a passenger transport company based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. The majority of its operations are within the United Kingdom, Ireland, Singapore, Norway, and Germany. Go-Ahead was formerly listed on the London Stock Exchange prior to being purchased by Kinetic Group and Globalvia by 2022.
Elmers End is a railway station and tram terminus in Elmers End, south London, England. It is in the London Borough of Bromley and on the railway it is 11 miles 7 chains (17.8 km) down the line from London Charing Cross.
Hayes railway station is a railway station located in Hayes in the London Borough of Bromley, south east London, England. It is 14 miles 32 chains (23.2 km) from London Charing Cross.
New Beckenham railway station serves Beckenham in the London Borough of Bromley in south-east London, in Travelcard Zone 4. It is 9 miles 44 chains (15.4 km) measured from London Charing Cross.
Clock House railway station is in the London Borough of Bromley in south east London, in Travelcard Zone 4 between Beckenham and Penge. It is 10 miles 23 chains (16.6 km) down the line from London Charing Cross. The station and all trains serving it are operated by Southeastern on the Hayes line.
West Wickham railway station serves West Wickham in the London Borough of Bromley. It is located in Southeast London and is in Travelcard Zone 5. It is 13 miles 19 chains (21.3 km) down the line from London Charing Cross.
Connex South Eastern was a train operating company in the United Kingdom owned by Connex that operated the South Eastern franchise from October 1996 until November 2003.
Govia is a transport company based in the United Kingdom. It was formed in November 1996 as a joint venture between Go-Ahead Group (65%) and Keolis (35%) to bid for rail franchises during the privatisation of British Rail.
London & South Eastern Railway Limited, trading as Southeastern, was a British train operating company owned by Govia that operated passenger rail services in South East England. It was the key operator of commuter and regional services in South East London and Kent, and also served parts of East Sussex.
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.
InterCity East Coast is a railway franchise for passenger trains on the East Coast Main Line in the United Kingdom from London King's Cross to Hull, Leeds, Bradford, Harrogate, Newcastle, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness and Aberdeen. It was formed during the privatisation of British Rail and transferred to the private sector in April 1996.
Greater Western is a railway franchise for the provision of passenger services from London Paddington to the Cotswolds, West of England, South West England and South Wales. The current holder is Great Western Railway.
South Western is a railway franchise for the provision of passenger services from London Waterloo to destinations in Surrey, Hampshire, Somerset, Dorset, Berkshire, Wiltshire and Devon on the South West, Portsmouth Direct and West of England main lines. In 2007, the franchise was combined with the smaller franchise for the Island Line on the Isle of Wight.
The West Coast Partnership (WCP) is a railway franchise in the United Kingdom for passenger trains on the West Coast Main Line (WCML), between London Euston, the West Midlands, Shropshire, North Wales, Liverpool, Manchester, Carlisle, Edinburgh and Glasgow. Founded in December 2019, it is currently operated by First Trenitalia West Coast Rail Limited, comprising two distinct parts, Avanti West Coast which runs the current services on the WCML, and West Coast Partnership Development, which is the 'shadow operator' for future high-speed services.
An operator of last resort is a business in the United Kingdom that operates a railway franchise, on behalf of the government, when a train operating company is no longer able to do so. Since May 2023, there are six such operators in England, Wales and Scotland.
Avanti West Coast is a train operating company in the United Kingdom owned by FirstGroup (70%) and Trenitalia (30%) that operates the West Coast Partnership.
