National Express East Coast
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| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Franchise(s): |
InterCity East Coast 9 December 2007 – 13 November 2009 (originally 31 March 2015) |
| Main region(s): |
East Midlands, Yorkshire, North East England, Central Scotland, Northern Scotland |
| Other region(s): | London |
| Fleet size: |
31 Class 91 electric locomotives |
| Stations called at: | 53 |
| Stations operated: | 12 |
| National Rail abbreviation: | GR |
| Parent company: | National Express |
31 Class 91 electric locomotives
30 InterCity 225 sets
11 InterCity 125 (HST) sets
National Express East Coast (NXEC) was a train operating company in the United Kingdom owned by National Express that operated the InterCity East Coast franchise from December 2007 until November 2009, when it refused financial support for its franchise. It operated InterCity train services on the East Coast Main Line.
The original InterCity East Coast franchise was awarded to Sea Containers which operated it from April 1996 until April 2005 trading as GNER. Sea Containers was awarded a new seven-year franchise by the Department for Transport from May 2005 with a three-year extension dependent on performance targets being met. GNER committed to pay a £1.3-billion-premium to the Department for Transport over 10 years.
However, due to the financial problems caused by it having overbid as well as financial difficulties encountered by the parent company, in December 2006 the government announced it was stripping the franchise from Sea Containers and would put it up for re-tender, with GNER running the franchise on fixed fee management contract in the interim.
In February 2007 the Department for Transport announced that Arriva, First, National Express and Virgin Rail Group 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. National Express committed to pay a £1.4-billion-premium to the Department of Transport over seven years and four months. At the time rail analysts had speculated that the company had paid too much for the franchise. National Express East Coast commenced operations on 9 December 2007.
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