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'c2c' is a train operating company that provides train services, on a franchise basis, on the London, Tilbury & Southend line from Fenchurch Street in the City of London to East London and the entire length of the northern Thames Gateway area including Basildon, Chafford Hundred (for Lakeside), Tilbury and Southend. Before 2002 it traded under the name 'LTS Rail'.

Contents

Management

Ticketing

Services

Liverpool Street

Performance

Incident of 2 April 2007

Rolling Stock

Current fleet

Past fleet

References

External links

Management

c2c is a National Express Group company. The franchise began in May 1996 and expires in 2011. It was initially awarded to Prism Rail and was marketed as LTS Rail. ^[1] Prism Rail was purchased by National Express in September 2000 and the franchise was rebranded as c2c in 2002. The name could be conceived to represent ''city to coast'', reflecting the nature of the route, however from the outset the operator has said it does not officially stand for anything in particular.^[2] All stations on the route are managed by c2c with the exception of Fenchurch Street which is managed by Network Rail and West Ham which is managed by London Underground.
The current route director is Kevin Frazer.

Ticketing

Unlike most other rail operators in the London area, c2c allow Oyster card (including pay as you go) to be purchased at and used between Fenchurch Street, Limehouse, West Ham, Barking and Upminster. Travelcards charged to Oyster (but not pay as you go) can also be used at Dagenham Dock and Rainham. In January 2007, c2c announced its intention to extend Oyster pay as you go to these stations and, in 2008, to Purfleet, Ockendon, Chafford Hundred and Grays.^[3]

Services

The typical off peak service consists of eight trains per hour (tph) arriving and departing Fenchurch Street:

★ 4tph to Shoeburyness via Basildon

★
★ ''of which 2tph do not stop at Limehouse, West Horndon or Pitsea''

★ 2tph to Grays via Rainham

★ 2tph to Southend Central via Ockendon
On Sundays the not-stopping service does not run and the Grays via Rainham service is reduced to a 1tph shuttle from Barking.
The London Underground District Line also serves Upminster, Barking, West Ham and Tower Hill (for Fenchurch Street). Tickets are fully interchangeable between the two operators. The District Line runs alongside the c2c tracks from Bow to Upminster with c2c services providing the fast, and the District Line the stopping, service. Cross-platform interchange is provided at Barking between the two services.
Peak services calling at West Ham are restricted by a limitation of the signalling system.c2c - ''New timetable for c2c begins 11 December'' A new peak timetable introduced on 11 December 2006, with the stated intention of improving services for Thurrock and London Riverside sections of the Thames Gateway, was withdrawn on 8 January 2007^[4] after a successful campaign by passengers.^[5]

Liverpool Street

Liverpool Street is used as an alternative London terminus in times of engineering work, and regular late evening c2c services have previously operated from there. As of May 2007, two shuttle services operate each weekday evening between Liverpool Street and Barking calling only at Stratford, with all through services starting and terminating at Fenchurch Street.^[6]

Performance

In 2005, c2c was named the most punctual rail service in Britain, with 95.3% punctuality ^[7]. Although performance now has not increased above 95.3%, it has remained consistent and proved its worth - being the only TOC to increase its PPM (Public Performance Measure) in peak services and overall for the last quarter of the financial year 2006/7. It acheived 93.8% punctuality overall^[8], gaining top spot as best London and the South East operator, with figures well in excess of the sector level.
In 2005 c2c was awarded the "Golden Spanner Award" at the Annual National Rail Awards. This was presented to its East Ham Depot team for its work in maintaining the fleet of Electrostar trains. In 2006 c2c held on to this award, making it the winner for 2 years running.

Incident of 2 April 2007

c2c has received criticism from Transport for London due to an incident on 2 April 2007. A power failure, caused by a piece of plastic wrapped around the overhead power cables, caused trains in the West Ham area to become stranded. Some passengers forced open the doors on a c2c train and walked along the track. As a safety precaution, London Underground cut the power to the adjacent District Line, causing serious delays to their service.^[9]

Rolling Stock

Current fleet

Class	Image	Type	Top speed		Number	Routes operated	Built
			mph	km/h
Class 357 ''Electrostar''		electric multiple unit	100	160	74	London, Tilbury & Southend line	1999 - 2002

The fleet features regenerative breaking.^[10]

Past fleet

Class	Image	Type	Built	Withdrawn	Notes
Class 302		electric multiple unit	1958-1960	1998
Class 310		electric multiple unit	1966	2001
Class 312		electric multiple unit	1975 - 1978	2004
Class 317		electric multiple unit	1981 - 1982	2001

References

1. National Audit Office - Office of Passenger Rail Franchising (OPRAF): ''The award of the first three passenger rail franchises''
2. c2c - ''What does c2c stand for?''
3. c2c - ''c2c storms ahead with introduction of Oyster''
4. c2c - ''Morning and evening weekday peak schedules to return to previous patterns as c2c restores old timetable''
5. Southend Echo - ''Old c2c timetable back on Monday''
6. c2c - ''Changes to late evening and Liverpool Street services''. May 2007.
7. BBC News - ''More than 85% of trains on time''
8. [1] - ''ORR performance statistics''
9. thelondonpaper - ''Fenchurch St commuters risk lives''. 3 April 2007.
10. c2c - ''c2c takes the lead in energy saving train travel''. 3 June 2007.

External links

★ Official Web site

★ Rebranding of c2c in 2002 PDF

★ Unofficial c2c site

★ Thurrock Rail Users Group - Campaign group for Thurrock c2c rail users

★ c2c User - unofficial help for passengers