c2c (legal name Trenitalia c2c Limited) - c2c Rolling Stock - L

c2c - L

c2c Rolling Stock

c2c Slam-Door Replacement

LTS Rail inherited a fleet of slam-door electric multiple unit Class 302, Class 310 and Class 312 trainsets from Network SouthEast. The original franchise agreement was for 25 sliding door trainsets (consisting of 100 carriages) to be transferred from West Anglia Great Northern (WAGN) and for 44 new trains (consisting of 176 carriages) to be ordered by the company.

LTS Rail ordered 44 Class 357 Electrostar units in 1997, to be leased from Porterbrook. The most elderly Class 302 units were removed from regular service on 4 July 1998, with some sets retained as spares in case of stock shortages. By November 1998, WAGN had released 17 Class 317 units. However, both companies were experiencing an unexpected increase in passenger numbers and WAGN was unable to release more vehicles.

The franchise agreement was renegotiated in November 1998 to replace the entire LTS Rail fleet with new vehicles, allowing for the return of the Class 317s to WAGN and the planned elimination of slam-door stock by March 2002. The first Class 357 train was delivered in 1999.

A second batch of 28 Class 357 units was ordered in December 1999, to be leased from Angel Trains. This satisfied a franchise commitment to increase the fleet by 3 units. Reliability problems with the new trains led to their withdrawal from service at peak times in October 2000.

By way of compensation, two additional units were added to the first order for free by the supplier Adtranz. In 2003, c2c became the first train operating company to have replaced its entire fleet with new accessible trains. The last slam-door Class 312 service ran on 29 March 2003.

In March 2007, after extensive trials, c2c began fitting regenerative braking to its fleet, becoming the first UK train operator to do so. On 3 June 2007, the eve of World Environment Day, one train was given an all-over green vinyl sticker livery with the slogan "All c2c trains are greener now – find out more at – www.c2c-online.co.uk – c2c – the greener way to go" to highlight the completion of the scheme, which the company says has enabled energy savings of up to 20%.

With a few Class 357s being out of service at the same time, from late 2006 two Class 321s were hired from Silverlink for three months for weekday peak-hour use between Fenchurch Street and Laindon, and Pitsea via Rainham, to cover for the unavailable units.

In June 2009, Bombardier began repainting the Class 357 units. The vinyl wraps carrying the original purplish blue and magenta c2c livery were removed and the units reliveried in white with dark blue doors. The last blue liveried train ran on 5 March 2011.

c2c Overview

c2c Franchise(s):

London, Tilbury & Southend: 26 May 1996 – 8 November 2014

Essex Thameside: 9 November 2014 – 18 July 2021

c2c Contract(s): Essex Thameside: 19 July 2021 – 20 July 2025

Main Route(s): Fenchurch Street to Shoeburyness

c2c Other Route(s):

Fenchurch Street to Grays via Rainham

Fenchurch Street to Pitsea via Ockendon

Liverpool Street to Shoeburyness

c2c Fleet Size:

74 Class 357 Electrostar sets

c2c Stations Called At: 28

c2c Stations Operated: 25

c2c Parent Company:

Prism Rail (1996–2000)

National Express (2000–2017)

Trenitalia (2017–present)

c2c Headquarters: Cutlers Court, 115 Houndsditch, London

c2c Reporting Mark: CC

c2c Dates of Operation: 26 May 1996–

c2c Predecessor: Network SouthEast

c2c Technical Length: 125.5 kilometres (78.0 mi)

c2c Route Map Legend

London

Fenchurch Street Liverpool Street

Limehouse Stratford

West Ham

East Ham Depot

Barking

Dagenham Dock Upminster

Rainham Ockendon

Purfleet Chafford Hundred

Lakeside

Grays West Horndon

Tilbury Town

East Tilbury Laindon

Stanford-le-Hope Basildon

Pitsea

Benfleet

Leigh-on-Sea

Chalkwell

Westcliff

Southend Central

Southend East

Thorpe Bay

Shoeburyness

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