Connex South Eastern

former train operating company in Great Britain

Connex South Eastern[1] was a train operating company in the United Kingdom. It was owned by Connex. It operated the South Eastern Passenger Rail Franchise from October 1996 until November 2003.

Connex South Eastern
465020 at Waterloo East in January 2003
Overview
Franchise(s)South Eastern
13 October 1996 – 8 November 2003
Main region(s)Greater London, Kent
Other region(s)East Sussex, West Sussex, Surrey
Fleet sizeapproximately 350
Stations called at178
National Rail abbreviationCX
Parent companyConnex
Websiteconnex.co.uk at the Wayback Machine (archived 2001-04-05)
The railway lines of Kent, many of which Connex South Eastern ran services on

On 8 November 2003, Its services were stopped because of money problems and using old trains instead of buying new ones.[2]

Services change

Connex South Eastern ran passenger services from London Blackfriars, London Bridge, London Cannon Street, London Charing Cross and London Victoria to Hayes, Bromley North, Ramsgate, Dover Priory, Folkestone Harbour and Ore.

It also ran services between Sittingbourne and Sheerness; Paddock Wood, Maidstone West and Strood; and Maidstone West, Redhill and Three Bridges.

Trains change

Connex South Eastern had taken on a large fleet of slam-door and power-door electric multiple units from Network SouthEast. The slam-door EMUs were Class 411s, Class 421s and Class 423s, built between 1956 and 1974, while the power-door EMUs were Class 365s, Class 465s and Class 466s, built between 1991 and 1995 as part of Network SouthEast's Networker family.

In 1998 Connex South Eastern leased twelve Class 508s from Angel Trains to replace some of the old Class 411s.[3][4][5][6][7]

Connex South Eastern ordered 10 three-carriage and 102 four-carriage Class 375s, and 36 five-carriage Class 376s in a couple of batches with the first entering service in April 2001.[8][9][10]

Between 4 February and 20 March 2002, because of a shortage of trains, a preserved Class 201 Hastings unit was on loan to Connex South Eastern to operate two return journeys on Monday to Fridays between Charing Cross and Hastings.[11]

Class Image Type Number Carriages Built Notes
365 Networker Express   EMU 16 4 1994–1995
375 Electrostar   EMU 112 3 or 4 1999–2005
411   EMU 112 4 1956–1963
421   EMU 25 4 1964–1972
423   EMU 73 4 1967–1974
465 Networker   EMU 147 4 1991–1994
466 Networker   EMU 43 2 1993–1994
508   EMU 12 3 1979–1980 Transferred from Merseyrail

References change

  1. Companies House extract company no 3006571 Connex South Eastern Limited
  2. "Connex loses rail franchise", BBC News Online, London, 24 October 2000.
  3. Class 508 Archived 27 November 2015 at the Wayback Machine Kent Rail
  4. Class 508 - The Final Months Archived 27 July 2014 at the Wayback Machine Southern Electric Group
  5. "Class 508s return south after eight years away" Rail Magazine issue 311 13 August 1997 page 11
  6. "Connex 508s go to work on Isle of Sheppey line" Rail Magazine issue 338 26 August 1998 page 15
  7. "Class 508/2s launched on Connex South East" The Railway Magazine issue 1170 October 1998 page 65
  8. Class 375 Electrostar Kent Rail
  9. "Connex Rail places £90 million order for 30 new EMUs from Adtranz" Rail Magazine issue 308 2 July 1997 page 7
  10. "Connex Electrostars make passenger debut" Rail Magazine issue 407 18 April 2001 page 17
  11. "1001 on Hastings – Charing Cross services". Hastings Diesels Limited. 15 May 2002. Retrieved 16 May 2022.

Other websites change

  Media related to Connex South Eastern at Wikimedia Commons

Preceded by
Network SouthEast
As part of British Rail
Operator of Network SouthEast franchise
1996 - 2003
Succeeded by
South Eastern Trains