London North Eastern Railway (LNER) - London North Eastern Railway History - B

London North Eastern Railway (LNER) - B

London North Eastern Railway History

London North Eastern Railway Background

During November 2017, the then Secretary of State for Transport, Chris Grayling, announced the early termination of the InterCity East Coast franchise in 2020, three years ahead of schedule, this action had followed persistent losses incurred by Virgin Trains East Coast (VTEC), the operator of the route. VTEC had been contracted to pay more than £2 billion in franchise premiums to the British government across the final four years of its contract.

In February 2018, the end date of the VTEC franchise was brought forward to mid-2018, the Department for Transport (DfT) had decided to either negotiate with VTEC for it to continue running the franchise on a temporary non-profit basis while a new franchise competition was conducted, or to arrange for VTEC be taken over by the DfT's operator of last resort.

On 16 May 2018, it was announced that the latter option was now being pursued and as such, LNER would take over operations from VTEC on 24 June 2018. The DfT also announced that LNER would be the long-term brand applied to the InterCity East Coast franchise.

During a speech in May 2018, the Secretary of State for Transport stated that Great Northern services could potentially be integrated into the operation when the Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern franchise expires in 2021 as part of the overall strategy for the East Coast franchise.

The setting up of LNER is the second occasion that a government-appointed operator of last resort has taken control of the InterCity East Coast franchise, between 2009 and 2015, the franchise had been operated by East Coast. It had taken over operations from National Express East Coast after that operator had defaulted on franchise payments to the government, and thus had its franchise taken away. East Coast had been the prior operator to VTEC being selected to take over the franchise.

London North Eastern Railway Overview

London North Eastern Railway Franchise(s): InterCity East Coast

24 June 2018 – present

London North Eastern Railway Main Region(s):

East of England

East Midlands

Greater London

North East England

Scotland

Yorkshire and the Humber

London North Eastern Railway Fleet Size:

12 Class 91 locomotives for 8 InterCity 225 sets

23 Class 800 Azuma sets

42 Class 801 Azuma sets

London North Eastern Railway Stations Called At: 55

London North Eastern Railway Stations Operated: 11

London North Eastern Railway Parent Company: DfT OLR Holdings for Department for Transport

London North Eastern Railway Reporting Mark: GR

London North Eastern Railway Predecessor: Virgin Trains East Coast

London North Eastern Railway Map

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