National Express East Coast (NXEC) was a

train operating company A train operating company (TOC) is a business operating passenger trains on the railway system of Great Britain under the collective National Rail brand. TOCs have existed since the privatisation of the network under the Railways Act 1993. T ...

in the United Kingdom, owned by

National Express National Express Group is a British multinational public transport company headquartered in Birmingham, England. It operates bus, coach, train and tram services in the United Kingdom, Ireland (National Express operates Eurolines in conjunction ...

, that operated the

InterCity East Coast 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 wa ...

franchise on the

East Coast Main Line The East Coast Main Line (ECML) is a electrified railway between London and Edinburgh via Peterborough, Doncaster, York, Darlington, Durham and Newcastle. The line is a key transport artery on the eastern side of Great Britain running b ...

between London, Yorkshire, North East England and Scotland from December 2007 until November 2009. During December 2006, the previous franchisee

Sea Containers Sea Containers was a Bermudan registered company which operated two main business areas: transport and container leasing. It filed for bankruptcy on 16 October 2006. In 2009 its maritime container interests were transferred to a new company SeaC ...

, operating via its subsidiary Great North Eastern Railway (GNER), was stripped of the franchise after failing to meet overly-generous payments. During August 2007, National Express was awarded the franchise via a competitive tender; its bid was criticised for having offered similarly onerous payments to GNER. Within months of commencing operation in December 2007, NXEC became known for its cost-cutting measures and a noted drop in service level. The company became unable to meet its payment obligations, having forecast greater ridership than actually experienced while fuel costs had risen considerably. By early 2009, National Express was in talks with the government over possible financial assistance with the franchise. Months later, in light of National Express' plan to default on the franchise, the

Department for Transport The Department for Transport (DfT) is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for the English transport network and a limited number of transport matters in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland that have not been devolved. The ...

announced that the franchise would be re-nationalised. Hence, operations passed to the publicly-owned East Coast on 14 November 2009.

History

Background

The original

franchise was awarded to the

Bermuda ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = National song , song = "Hail to Bermuda" , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , mapsize2 = , map_caption2 = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = , es ...

-based transport and container leasing company

, which operated it from April 1996 until April 2005 via its subsidiary Great North Eastern Railway (GNER). Within only a few years, the future franchising arrangements of the East Coast route had already begun to be evaluated. During March 2000, the Shadow

Strategic Rail Authority The Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) was a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom set up under the Transport Act 2000 to provide strategic direction for the railway industry. Its motto was 'Britain's railway, properly delivered'. I ...

announced that two companies, Sea Containers and

Virgin Rail Group Virgin Rail Group was formed by the Virgin Group to bid for rail franchises in the United Kingdom during the privatisation of British Rail in the late 1990s. United Kingdom operations Origins Virgin bid for a number of franchises, inclu ...

, had been shortlisted to bid for the next franchise. During January 2002, the Strategic Rail Authority announced that the refranchising process had been scrapped, with an interim extension to GNER's contract being given as a stopgap measure. During October 2004, the Strategic Rail Authority issued the Invitation to Tender for the InterCity East Coast franchise to the four shortlisted bidders,

Danish State Railways DSB, an abbreviation of ''Danske Statsbaner'' (, ''Danish State Railways''), is the largest Danish train operating company, and the largest in Scandinavia. While DSB is responsible for passenger train operation on most of the Danish railways, go ...

/ English Welsh & Scottish, First, GNER and

. Sea Containers emerged as the victor, being awarded a new seven-year franchise by the

, commencing in May 2005, along with an option for a three-year extension dependent on performance targets being met. However, the awarding was subject to criticism that, amid aggressive bidding between the competing companies, GNER had committed itself to fulfilling an overly generous arrangement that may not be financially realistic, and was accused as having overbid to secure the franchise. During the original franchise, the company had been receiving

subsidies A subsidy or government incentive is a form of financial aid or support extended to an economic sector (business, or individual) generally with the aim of promoting economic and social policy. Although commonly extended from the government, the ter ...

from the British government to support its operations; however, the terms of the second franchise reversed this to have the operator making payments to the government, specifically a £1.3-billion premium which was due to the Department for Transport over a ten-year period. Within two years, the company's financial difficulties had become a public concern, particularly those of its parent company. In July 2006, rumours began circulating that Sea Containers would be prepared to sell its GNER franchise in an effort to stave off resorting to

Chapter 11 Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code (Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, wheth ...

proceedings to secure itself from its creditors. In October 2006, Sea Containers filed for

bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debto ...

protection under the US Chapter 11 process, During December 2006, the

announced its intention to strip Sea Containers of its franchise, although continued to GNER operate the franchise on a fixed fee management contract in the interim while another competitive tender was organised.

Tender and award

In February 2007, the Department for Transport announced that

Arriva Arriva plc is a British multinational public transport company headquartered in Sunderland, England.First,

and

had been shortlisted to lodge bids for the new franchise. In August 2007, the Department for Transport awarded the Intercity East Coast franchise to National Express, leading to the creation of National Express East Coast (NXEC) shortly thereafter. Under the terms of its franchise agreement, National Express committed to paying a £1.4-billion premium to the Department of Transport over a time span of seven years and four months. However, numerous rail analysts at the time promptly voiced concerns that the company had paid too much for the franchise, and had effectively repeated GNER's mistake in order to secure the franchise. According to industry periodical ''Rail'', even the Department of Transport had classified National Express' bid as having "medium risk", although this would not be made public until years later. Professor Felix Schmid of the University of Birmingham's Centre for Railway Research and Education, has claimed that National Express had gambled that it would receive a significant amount of revenue via compensatory payments for delays attributable to the East Coast's infrastructure owner,

Network Rail Network Rail Limited is the owner (via its subsidiary Network Rail Infrastructure Limited, which was known as Railtrack plc before 2002) and infrastructure manager of most of the railway network in Great Britain. Network Rail is an "arm's len ...

. Furthermore, National Express had allegedly spent a reported £23 million in its attempts to retain or win new franchises around this period, and had been stripped of several, including

Midland Mainline Midland Mainline was a train operating company in the United Kingdom owned by National Express that operated the Midland Main Line franchise from April 1996 until November 2007. Midland Mainline ran fast and semi-fast passenger services from ...

Gatwick Express Gatwick Express is a high-frequency rail passenger service between , Gatwick Airport, and in South East England. It is the brand name used by the Govia Thameslink Railway train operating company on the Gatwick Express route of the Thameslink, ...

and

Silverlink Silverlink was a train operating company in the United Kingdom owned by National Express that operated the North London Railways franchise from March 1997 until November 2007. At the end of 2007 Silverlink Metro services were taken over by Lond ...

, which may have motivated the company's management team to be more generous to emerge with something from its efforts. National Express's bid had included the stated ambition to increase capacity on its services, specifically to add up to 25 extra services each weekday from December 2010 along with a direct London-Lincoln train that would be operated at two-hourly intervals. However, there was no mention of any new trains for achieving this capacity increase; instead, a number of recently withdrawn

British Rail Mark 3 The British Rail Mark 3 is a type of passenger carriage developed in response to growing competition from airlines and the car in the 1970s. A variant of the Mark 3 became the rolling stock for the High Speed Train (HST). Originally conceive ...

coaches that had been previously operated by

Virgin West Coast Virgin Trains (legal name West Coast Trains Limited) was a train operating company in the United Kingdom owned by Virgin Rail Group, a joint venture between Virgin Group and Stagecoach, which operated the InterCity West Coast franchise from 9 ...

would be transferred over to NXEC's control. Other promised improvement included the introduction of free

Wi-Fi Wi-Fi () is a family of wireless network protocols, based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by radio waves ...

for passengers travelling in standard class, the provision of an additional 2,000 car parking spaces in close proximity to a number of its major stations, and a general reduction in journey times.

Operations

On 9 December 2007, NXEC commenced operations. Prior to this, the company's management had decided that, rather than incorporate (wholly or in part) the existing GNER branding, a fresh brand would to be adopted, including a distinct new livery intended to embody modernity; this would be rolled out over a two-year period. According to ''Rail'', the franchise, NXEC quickly garnered a reputation for cost-cutting and a decline in service levels, particularly in terms of the onboard catering. By 2009, NXEC was under increasing financial pressure due to various factors, including compounding rises in fuel prices and the poor economic climate of the time, commonly known as the

Great Recession The Great Recession was a period of marked general decline, i.e. a recession, observed in national economies globally that occurred from late 2007 into 2009. The scale and timing of the recession varied from country to country (see map). At ...

. In contrast to the company's projected revenue increases during its franchise, NXEC's actual operating income (generated primarily from ticket sales) had decreased by 1 percent during the first half of 2009. Seeking to generate additional revenue to meet this shortfall, NXEC introduced a charge of £2.50 per journey leg for seat reservations. The introduction of these fees was largely met with dissatisfaction from the travelling public. During April 2009, National Express confirmed that the company was still pursuing talks with the government over possible financial assistance with the franchise, either through a reduction in the premium due or some other form of assistance. This quickly led to speculation that the franchise was increasingly likely to be terminated entirely.

Demise

In July 2009, it was announced that National Express had plans to default on the franchise, having failed to renegotiate the contractual terms of operation; National Express stating that it would not be providing any further financial support necessary to ensure NXEC remained solvent. This meant NXEC would run out of cash by the end of 2009. As a consequence of this decision, the Department for Transport announced it would establish a publicly owned company to take over the franchise from National Express. During prior negotiations, the company had reportedly offered to pay over £100 million to be released from its commitment to operate the franchise. Transport Secretary

Lord Adonis Andrew Adonis, Baron Adonis, (born Andreas Adonis; 22 February 1963) is a British Labour Party politician and journalist who served in HM Government for five years in the Blair ministry and the Brown ministry. He served as Secretary of State ...

had rejected this proposal on a matter of principle, stating: "The government is not prepared to renegotiate rail franchises, because I'm simply not prepared to bail out companies that are unable to meet their commitments". In defaulting on the franchise, under the franchising system, National Express only directly incurred losses of £72 million by forfeiting bonds. The franchise failure sparked public and industry calls for the permanent public ownership of the InterCity East Coast franchise, or even the complete scrapping of the entire franchise system. In response, Lord Adonis reiterated the findings of a 2008 National Audit Office report, which had concluded that the rail franchising system delivered good value for money and steadily improving services. National Express East Coast continued to operate the franchise until 23:59 on 13 November 2009, when the

took over through its East Coast subsidiary.

Services

NXEC's principal routes were from

London King's Cross King's Cross railway station, also known as London King's Cross, is a passenger railway terminus in the London Borough of Camden, on the edge of Central London. It is in the London station group, one of the busiest stations in the United Kin ...

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popul ...

and

Edinburgh Waverley Edinburgh Waverley railway station (also known simply as Waverley; gd, Waverley Dhùn Èideann) is the principal railway station serving Edinburgh, Scotland. It is the second busiest station in Scotland, after Glasgow Central. It is the north ...

. In off-peak times, there were three or four trains per hour to and from King's Cross. The following details apply to weekday operations.

Principal routes

London–Leeds

The service between King's Cross and Leeds was generally half-hourly, with all trains serving Wakefield Westgate, most trains serving Peterborough and Doncaster and some serving Stevenage, Grantham, Newark and Retford.

London–Newcastle–Edinburgh

A half-hourly service between King's Cross and Newcastle operated for most of the day, departing from London on the hour and on the half-hour. The 'top of the hour' departures continued through to Edinburgh Waverley (with the 10:00 departure keeping the traditional name '' Flying Scotsman''), with a two-hourly extension to Glasgow Central. These trains generally ran as limited-stop expresses between London and Newcastle, all trains called at York, and most at Peterborough and Darlington, though afternoon and evening departures from King's Cross ran non-stop to Doncaster or York. The trains leaving King's Cross on the half-hour generally terminated at Newcastle and served Stevenage, Grantham, Newark, Retford, Northallerton, Doncaster and Durham as well as Peterborough, York, and Darlington.

Other routes

London/Leeds–Aberdeen

There were four trains per day serving Aberdeen departing Leeds at 07:10 and King's Cross at 10:30 ('' The Northern Lights''), 14:00 and 16:00 and Aberdeen at 07:52, 09:52 (The Northern Lights) and 14:50 for King's Cross and 18:16 for Edinburgh with a journey time from King's Cross of just over seven hours. These services were operated by HSTs, as the Edinburgh–Aberdeen line was not electrified.

London–Inverness

The ''

Highland Chieftain The ''Highland Chieftain'' is a named British passenger train operated by London North Eastern Railway. It operates daily in each direction between London King's Cross and Inverness Inverness (; from the gd, Inbhir Nis , meaning "Mout ...

'' ran between Inverness and King's Cross with a journey time of just over eight hours, departing Inverness at 07:55 and King's Cross at 12:00. This service was operated by a HST, as the Edinburgh – Dunblane and Dunblane – Inverness lines were not electrified.

London–Hull

The ''

Hull Executive The ''Hull Executive'' was a named English passenger train operated by East Coast and its predecessors. It ran daily in each direction between London King's Cross and Hull via the East Coast and Selby Lines. It was operated by diesel-powere ...

'' ran between Hull and King's Cross, departing Hull at 07:00 and King's Cross at 17:20. This service was operated by a HST as the Temple Hirst Junction – Hull Line was not electrified.

London–Skipton

There was a 06:55 departure from Skipton and Keighley to King's Cross with an 18:03 return. This was an extension of a Leeds – King's Cross service. Though the line was electrified, the service was operated using a HST because the electrical infrastructure on the line was insufficient to support a Class 91 locomotive and the Class 333 EMUs that operate the local services. The Saturday running of the southbound service was the only NXEC southbound service from Leeds not to call at Wakefield Westgate. This service departed from Leeds and headed along the Leeds – Selby Line to join the East Coast Main Line at Hambleton. This was to retain driver route knowledge for diversionary services.

London–Bradford Forster Square

There was a 06:30 service from Bradford Forster Square to King's Cross with a 17:33 return. This was an extension of a Leeds – King's Cross service and was operated by an InterCity 225 set.

London–Harrogate

There was a Monday-Saturday 07:28 departure from Harrogate to King's Cross. However, there was no return journey. This was operated by an InterCity 125.

Named trains

NXEC operated the following named passenger trains: * '' The Hull Executive'' London–Hull / Hull–London * '' The Northern Lights'' London–Aberdeen / Aberdeen–London * '' The Highland Chieftain'' London–Inverness / Inverness–London * '' The Flying Scotsman'' London–Edinburgh Waverley / Glasgow Central–London

Proposed routes

London–Lincoln

A franchise commitment was to introduce a fifth service out of King's Cross each hour, operating to Lincoln and York on alternate hours from December 2010. It was reportedly proposed for NXEC to lease four Class 90 locomotives and additional Mark 3 coaches for use on the Leeds and York services, while HSTs were intended for use on the Lincoln services. These plans were later shelved, while five Class 180s were leased instead. It was anticipated that one early morning train would start from Cleethorpes, serving Grimsby Town and Market Rasen, with one evening service to Lincoln extended to Cleethorpes.

Rolling stock

NXEC inherited from GNER a fleet of

InterCity 125 The InterCity 125 (originally Inter-City 125New trai ...

High Speed Train sets made up of Class 43 power cars and Mark 3 carriages, and InterCity 225 sets made up of Class 91 locomotives and Mark 4 carriages and

Driving Van Trailer A Driving Van Trailer (DVT) is a British purpose-built control car railway vehicle that allows the driver to operate with a locomotive in push-pull formation from the opposite end of a train. A key benefit of operating trains with DVTs is t ...

s. The HSTs were part way through an overhaul program, the power cars being overhauled by

Brush Traction Brush Traction is a manufacturer and maintainer of railway locomotives in Loughborough, England. It is a subsidiary of Wabtec. History Hughes's Locomotive & Tramway Engine Works Henry Hughes had been operating at the Falcon Works since ...

at Loughborough and re-engined with MTU 16V4000 engines, and the carriages being refurbished by

Wabtec Rail Wabtec Corporation (derived from Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corporation) is an American company formed by the merger of the Westinghouse Air Brake Company (WABCO) and MotivePower, MotivePower Industries Corporation in 1999. It is he ...

at Doncaster. This programme was completed in 2009. NXEC offered free

to passengers in both first and standard class. To operate proposed new services from 2010, five Class 180 ''Adelante'' units were leased. These were never operated in revenue-earning service with NXEC, although three were sublet to

Northern Rail Northern Rail, branded as Northern, was an English train operating company owned by Serco-Abellio that operated the Northern Rail franchise from 2004 until 2016. It was the primary passenger train operator in Northern England, and operated th ...

during October 2008. During 2009, a HST that had been on lease while the fleet was refurbished, was returned to

Porterbrook Porterbrook is a British rolling stock company (ROSCO), created as part of the privatisation of British Rail. Together with Angel Trains and Eversholt Rail Group, it is one of the three original ROSCOs. Porterbrook was established in March 19 ...

and sent to

First Great Western Great Western Railway (GWR) is a British train operating company owned by FirstGroup FirstGroup plc is a British multi-national transport group, based in Aberdeen, Scotland.Department for Transport InterCity East Coast franchise

London route to Lincoln proposed in April 2008

Winning the route in August 2007
{{Authority control Companies based in York Defunct train operating companies East Coast Main Line National Express companies Railway companies established in 2007 Railway companies disestablished in 2009 Rail transport in Yorkshire 2007 establishments in the United Kingdom 2009 disestablishments in the United Kingdom