Essex Thameside, known as c2c and owned by National Express, operate rail services between Shoeburyness, Southend, Basildon, Tilbury, Barking and London Fenchurch Street. c2c regularly score highly in passenger satisfaction surveys and are top of the punctuality table virtually every time. c2c have operated the Essex Thameside franchise since 1996. Before 1996 the line was known as the London, Tilbury and Southend Railway (LTS). c2c is now the only rail franchise in the UK operated by National Express.
When the franchise began in 1996, c2c inherited an aging fleet of rolling stock. The company inherited a fleet of Class 302, Class 310 and Class 312's from British Rail.When the franchise began, c2c hired 17 Class 317's from 1996 until 1999 from WAGN (West Anglia Great Northern) to replace the Class 302's. The fleet was very old and the majority of the fleet was slam door. As a result one of the franchise commitments was to replace the whole fleet. To achieve this, c2c ordered a fleet of Class 357 Electrostars.
The Class 357's started to arrive from 1999 and were the very first of the Bombardier Electrostar family in the UK. They arrived in 2 batches in the form of the Class 357/0 and the Class 357/2. The first batch started to arrive from 1999 in LTS Rail (London, Tilbury and Southend Railway) livery of white with dark green doors and skirt. They wore this livery because at this point the franchise was run by Prism Rail who were later bought by National Express.
The second batch, the Class 357/2's started to arrive and enter service from 2001/2002. This batch differed slightly because they had pink handrails as opposed to green ones on the original batch. At this point the re-branding into c2c livery was taking place. The c2c brand featured mainly purple and pink. The Class 357's had a blue vinyl wrap applied with pink c2c logos.
In 2009 a start was made on repainting the Class 357's into their current National Express livery of white with dark blue doors. c2c ran a farewell tour using the very last c2c blue liveried train which visited virtually every part of the c2c network. The white livery now also features the National Express logo but still also retains the pink c2c logo as well.
As a result of huge growth, a fleet of 17 new trains is to be introduced in 2019 and the existing Electrostars are to receive a refurbishment. On Monday 27th July 2015, c2c unveiled its first newly refurbished Class 357 Electrostar. This unit was 357223 but has been reclassified and is now 357323 The refurbishment includes upgraded lighting, new flooring, repainted handrails and recovered seats. One fifth of the Class 357 fleet will also be converted to have 2+2 seating instead of 3+2 seating to cater for short distance journeys into London and create a metro style interior.
Essex Thameside, known as c2c and owned by National Express, operate rail services between Shoeburyness, Southend, Basildon, Tilbury, Barking and London Fenchurch Street. c2c regularly score highly in passenger satisfaction surveys and are top of the punctuality table virtually every time. c2c have operated the Essex Thameside franchise since 1996. Before 1996 the line was known as the London, Tilbury and Southend Railway (LTS). c2c is now the only rail franchise in the UK operated by National Express.
When the franchise began in 1996, c2c inherited an aging fleet of rolling stock. The company inherited a fleet of Class 302, Class 310 and Class 312's from British Rail.When the franchise began, c2c hired 17 Class 317's from 1996 until 1999 from WAGN (West Anglia Great Northern) to replace the Class 302's. The fleet was very old and the majority of the fleet was slam door. As a result one of the franchise commitments was to replace the whole fleet. To achieve this, c2c ordered a fleet of Class 357 Electrostars.
The Class 357's started to arrive from 1999 and were the very first of the Bombardier Electrostar family in the UK. They arrived in 2 batches in the form of the Class 357/0 and the Class 357/2. The first batch started to arrive from 1999 in LTS Rail (London, Tilbury and Southend Railway) livery of white with dark green doors and skirt. They wore this livery because at this point the franchise was run by Prism Rail who were later bought by National Express.
The second batch, the Class 357/2's started to arrive and enter service from 2001/2002. This batch differed slightly because they had pink handrails as opposed to green ones on the original batch. At this point the re-branding into c2c livery was taking place. The c2c brand featured mainly purple and pink. The Class 357's had a blue vinyl wrap applied with pink c2c logos.
