First Capital Connect - First Capital Connect Incidents - B

First Capital Connect - B

First Capital Connect Incidents

• In September 2010, First Capital Connect admitted in an email that, despite being trained in first aid, staff were not allowed to offer medical help to members of the public. An incident was reported by the BBC after a passenger collapsed and FCC's station staff would not help.
• In October 2010, passengers trapped on a failed train near Cambridge gave up waiting, forced the train doors open and walked up the line to the nearby Foxton station.
• On 26 May 2011 at 18:27, passengers were trapped on a failed Class 377 train between St Pancras International (Low Level) and Kentish Town stations, forming the 16:30 Brighton to Bedford service. Another train of the same type was sent to assist the failed train, and was eventually coupled to it at 20:20 but by this time passengers had used the emergency release handles to open the train doors in an attempt to improve ventilation (as the air-conditioning and lighting systems were no longer functioning by this point).
• The train began to move at 21:03 but this movement was immediately stopped because passengers were egressing onto the track from the carriages within the tunnel. The passengers were escorted back on to the train, which was authorised to move forward again at 21:12. Three sets of doors towards the rear of the train were still fully open while it travelled approximately a mile to Kentish Town, where all passengers then left the train.
• First Capital Connect admitted a number of failings in the way in which it handled this incident, including a need to improve communications with passengers.

First Capital Connect Rolling Stock

First Capital Connect inherited a fleet of Class 319 units from the former Thameslink operator. It also inherited a fleet of Class 313, 317 and 365 units from WAGN on the Great Northern routes.

First Capital Connect Fleet at End of Franchise

The rolling stock composition is specified by the franchise agreement.

• Class 03   Diesel Locomotive

Shunting   1957–1961

• Class 313   EMU

Inner suburban Great Northern
(Moorgate - Letchworth Garden City/Hertford North/Welwyn Garden City)
1976–1977

• Class 317/1

Fast & Semi Fast Great Northern
London King's Cross to Peterborough & Cambridge   1981–1982

• Class 317/7

Used to provide cover for Class 365 units undergoing refurbishment. Withdrawn at end of franchise.

• Class 319

Thameslink
(Brighton - Bedford, Sutton - Luton and Kentish Town - Sevenoaks)

1987–1988  1990

• Class 321

Fast & Semi Fast Great Northern
London King's Cross to Peterborough & Cambridge   1989–1990

• Class 365

Fast & Semi Fast Great Northern
London King's Cross to Peterborough & King's Lynn via Cambridge   1994–1995

• Class 377/2 Electrostar

Thameslink
(Brighton - Bedford and peak services: Bedford - Ashford International/Rochester)

• Class 377/2s

sub-leased from Southern.   2003–2004

• Class 377/5 Electrostar

2008–2009

All Thameslink route rolling stock was electrically powered dual-voltage four-car units using 25 kV AC overhead power north of Farringdon and 750 V DC third rail to the south.

In addition to its EMU fleet, FCC owned the last mainline-registered Class 03 diesel shunter, 03179 Clive.

First Capital Connect Additional Rolling Stock

An additional four Class 319s were transferred from Southern in March 2009 to expand capacity on the Thameslink route, giving FCC all 86 319s.

The DfT ordered 23 new dual-voltage Class 377 units for Southern, which entered service in 2010 and were sublet to FCC until the new Thameslink rolling stock is introduced, to further enhance capacity on the Thameslink services.

FCC also gained 13 Class 321s from London Midland: 321401-406 in May 2009, 321407-410 later in 2009, 321418-420 in 2010. These enhanced the capacity on Peterborough / Cambridge - King's Cross services. Three Class 313 units from London Overground moved to the Great Northern route for inner-suburban services, King's Cross/Moorgate - Welwyn Garden City/Hertford North/Letchworth Garden City, once all of London Overground's new Class 378 were delivered.

First Capital Connect Depots

FCC Operated Two Depots:

• Bedford Cauldwell - code BF
• Hornsey - code HE

First Capital Connect Refurbishment

During its tenure, FCC overhauled all of its rolling stock painting their exteriors in the FCC livery and refreshing the interiors. It had an £8 million programme of upgrades for several major stations.

First Capital Connect Overview

First Capital Connect Franchise(s): Thameslink and Great Northern
1 Apr 2006 – 13 Sep 2014
First Capital Connect Main Region(s): East of England, London, South East England
First Capital Connect Stations Operated: 77
First Capital Connect Parent Company: FirstGroup
First Capital Connect Reporting Mark: FC
First Capital Connect Predecessor:
Thameslink, 2 Mar 1997 – 31 Mar 2006
First Capital Connect Successor:
Govia Thameslink Railway, 14th Sep 2014 – present
First Capital Connect Technical Length: 778.9 km (484.0 mi)