First Great Eastern

Class 360 Desiro at Ipswich station in January 2004
Overview
Franchise(s)	Great Eastern 5 January 1997 – 31 March 2004
Main region(s)	East London East of England
Fleet size	144
Stations called at	61
National Rail abbreviation	GE
Parent company	FirstGroup

First Great Eastern was a train operating company in England owned by FirstGroup, that operated the Great Eastern franchise from January 1997 until March 2004.

First Great Eastern operated all stops and limited stops services on the Great Eastern Main Line from London Liverpool Street to Southend Victoria, Southminster, Braintree, Colchester Town, Clacton-on-Sea, Walton-on-the-Naze, Harwich Town and Ipswich. It also ran services on the Romford to Upminster Line and Gainsborough Line from Marks Tey to Sudbury.

First Great Eastern inherited a fleet of Class 312, Class 315 and Class 321s from British Rail. A Class 153 was hired from Anglia Railways for the Marks Tey to Sudbury service due to it not being electrified, a Class 150 being used on weekdays and a Class 153 on weekends. Prior to this arrangement, a Class 121 Bubble Car was hired from Silverlink.