Network SouthCentral (NSC) was a shadow franchise that existed from 4 February 1994 to 13 October 1996, when

Connex South Central Connex South Central was a train operating company in the United Kingdom owned by Connex that operated the South Central franchise from 26 May 1996 until 25 August 2001. History On 26 May 1996, Connex commenced operating the Network SouthCent ...

took over the running of the franchise. The franchise is now part of the

Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern (TSGN) is a management contract for the provision of passenger services on the Thameslink and Great Northern routes to , , , , , , London Moorgate, Sutton, Wimbledon and Brighton, as well as the whole ...

franchise operated by

Govia Thameslink Railway Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) is a train operating company that operates the Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern (TSGN) rail franchise in England. Within the franchise, GTR runs the Thameslink, Great Northern, Southern and Gatwick Expr ...

under the Southern brand. As with all shadow franchises, Network SouthCentral was a wholly owned subsidiary of the

British Railways Board British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

Origins

In the lead up to the

privatisation of British Rail The privatisation of British Rail was the process by which ownership and operation of the railways of Great Britain passed from government control into private hands. Begun in 1994, it had been completed by 1997. The deregulation of the indust ...

Network SouthEast Network SouthEast (NSE) was one of the three passenger sectors of British Rail created in 1982. NSE mainly operated commuter rail trains within Greater London and inter-urban services in densely populated South East England, although the net ...

was divided into a series of shadow franchises. Network SouthCentral was formed in February 1994.

Geographical Area

Network SouthCentral covered most of Sussex and parts of

East Surrey East Surrey is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2019 by Claire Coutinho, a Conservative. The seat covers an affluent area in the English county of Surrey. Since its creation in 1918, East Surrey has ...

. The core of NSC's operations was the

Brighton Main Line The Brighton Main Line (also known as the South Central Main Line) is a major railway line in the United Kingdom that links Brighton, on the south coast of England, with central London. In London the line has two branches, out of and station ...

, with most other NSC mainline services utilising some part of this alignment. The rough boundaries of the NSC operations were from

Hastings Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...

in the east to

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

in the west, although services operated by the company did extend further on both sides to

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

along the West Coastway line in the west, and as the sole operator of the

Marshlink line The Marshlink line is a railway line in South East England. It runs from Ashford, Kent via Romney Marsh, Rye and the Ore Tunnel to Hastings where it connects to the East Coastway line towards Eastbourne. Services are provided by Southern. Th ...

from Hastings to Ashford via Rye. In London, the company served two major mainline terminals;

London Victoria Victoria station, also known as London Victoria, is a central London railway terminus and connected London Underground station in Victoria, in the City of Westminster, managed by Network Rail. Named after the nearby Victoria Street (not the Q ...

and Charing Cross. NSC's suburban services concentrated on the area directly to the south of these two stations, with routes serving most of south London, including

Clapham Junction Clapham Junction is an urban locality around Clapham Junction railway station in London, England. Despite its name, it is not located in Clapham, but forms the commercial centre of Battersea. Clapham Junction was a scene of disturbances during ...

, Peckham, Tattenham Corner,

East Croydon East Croydon is a railway station and tram stop in Croydon, Greater London, England, and is located in Travelcard Zone 5. At from , it is one of the busiest non-terminal stations in London, and in the United Kingdom as a whole. It is one of t ...

Caterham Caterham () is a town in the Tandridge District of Surrey, England. The town is administratively divided into two: Caterham on the Hill, and Caterham Valley, which includes the main town centre in the middle of a dry valley but rises to equal ...

Sutton Sutton (''south settlement'' or ''south town'' in Old English) may refer to: Places United Kingdom England In alphabetical order by county: * Sutton, Bedfordshire * Sutton, Berkshire, a location * Sutton-in-the-Isle, Ely, Cambridgeshire * ...

and

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...

. The main former Network SouthEast "sub-sectors" that came under the jurisdiction of NSC were the Sussex Coast,

Oxted Oxted is a town and civil parish in the Tandridge district of Surrey, England, at the foot of the North Downs. It is south south-east of Croydon in Greater London, west of Sevenoaks in Kent, and north of East Grinstead in West Sussex. Oxted ...

, South London and Marshlink lines.

Stock

During the short time in which NSC existed as an active train operating company, the company ordered no new rolling stock, nor received any new trains that had been ordered, though not delivered, before Network SouthEast handed over operations to NSC. However, the company operated the following types of locomotive,

EMU The emu () (''Dromaius novaehollandiae'') is the second-tallest living bird after its ratite relative the ostrich. It is endemic to Australia where it is the largest native bird and the only extant member of the genus '' Dromaius''. The emu ...

and

DEMU A diesel multiple unit or DMU is a multiple-unit train powered by on-board diesel engines. A DMU requires no separate locomotive, as the engines are incorporated into one or more of the carriages. Diesel-powered single-unit railcars are also ...

Livery

NSC branding was standard Network SouthEast lettering and design, but with the word "SouthCentral" in dark blue replacing the word "SouthEast" on leaflets, platforms and stock. The Network SouthEast "

rhombus In plane Euclidean geometry, a rhombus (plural rhombi or rhombuses) is a quadrilateral whose four sides all have the same length. Another name is equilateral quadrilateral, since equilateral means that all of its sides are equal in length. The ...

" red, blue and grey logo remained part of NSC's corporate image. Not all stock received NSC branding—the chief units to receive such treatment were NSC's express units—the Class 319s, 421s and 422s in the main being treated. As under NSE, the main corporate colour of Network SouthCentral was red, which was applied to all manner of things from rubbish bins to lamp-posts.

The Cowden rail accident

The only major accident that occurred on the NSC network was the Cowden rail crash when, on 15 October 1994, the driver of a Class 205 failed to see a red signal (this was believed to have been caused by fog), and drove the unit on to a single track section of the

Uckfield Uckfield () is a town in the Wealden District of East Sussex in South East England. The town is on the River Uck, one of the tributaries of the River Ouse, on the southern edge of the Weald. Etymology 'Uckfield', first recorded in writing as ...

line, where it collided with a train travelling in the opposite direction. Five people, including the erroneous driver were killed, and thirteen more were severely injured.

Buyout

On 13 October 1996, the franchise was privatised with

taking over. The first unit to lose its NSC/NSE colours was 456024, which officially launched the new franchise."A new brand and livery for Connex's Network SouthCentral fleet" ''Rail Magazine'' issue 289 9 October 1996 page 11

References

{{Reflist Post-privatisation British railway companies Railway companies established in 1994 Railway companies disestablished in 1996 Railway operators in London 1994 establishments in England 1996 disestablishments in England