Great North Eastern Railway - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Not to be confused with the 19th century Great North of England Railway
Great North of England Railway
The Great North of England Railway was an early British railway company. Its main line, opened in 1841 was between York and Darlington, and originally it was planned to extend to Newcastle. In 1850 it was absorbed by the North Eastern Railway ....

(GNER).

Great North Eastern Railway (GNER) was a British train operating company, owned by Sea Containers Ltd

Sea Containers Ltd

Sea Containers Ltd. is a Bermuda-registered company which operates two main business areas: transport and container leasing.In March 2006 the company sold its share of Orient-Express Hotels...

. It operated high-speed

High-speed rail

High-speed rail is a type of passenger rail transport that operates significantly faster than the normal speed of rail traffic. Specific definitions by the European Union include for upgraded track and or faster for new track, whilst in the United States, the U.S...

express train services on the East Coast Main Line

East Coast Main Line

The East Coast Main Line is a long electrified high-speed railway link between London, Peterborough, Doncaster, Wakefield, Leeds, York, Darlington, Newcastle and Edinburgh...

from 1996 until 9 December 2007 when the franchise was taken over by National Express East Coast

National Express East Coast

National Express East Coast was a train operating company in the United Kingdom, running high speed passenger services on the East Coast Main Line between London and Scotland, as part of the East Coast passenger franchise...

.

GNER's primary service routes were from London King's Cross to Edinburgh Waverley

Edinburgh Waverley railway station

Edinburgh Waverley railway station is the main railway station in the Scottish capital Edinburgh. Covering an area of over 25 acres in the centre of the city, it is the second-largest main line railway station in the United Kingdom in terms of area, the largest being...

and Leeds

Leeds

Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...

.

From Edinburgh Waverley, selected services continued on to Motherwell & Glasgow

Glasgow

Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...

, Inverness

Inverness

Inverness is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for the Highland council area, and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands of Scotland...

, or Dundee

Dundee

Dundee is the fourth-largest city in Scotland and the 39th most populous settlement in the United Kingdom. It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firth of Tay, which feeds into the North Sea...

& Aberdeen

Aberdeen

Aberdeen is Scotland's third most populous city, one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas and the United Kingdom's 25th most populous city, with an official population estimate of ....

. From Leeds, some trains ran to and from Bradford

Bradford

Bradford lies at the heart of the City of Bradford, a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, in Northern England. It is situated in the foothills of the Pennines, west of Leeds, and northwest of Wakefield. Bradford became a municipal borough in 1847, and received its charter as a city in 1897...

, Skipton

Skipton

Skipton is a market town and civil parish within the Craven district of North Yorkshire, England. It is located along the course of both the Leeds and Liverpool Canal and the River Aire, on the south side of the Yorkshire Dales, northwest of Bradford and west of York...

, and Harrogate

Harrogate

Harrogate is a spa town in North Yorkshire, England. The town is a tourist destination and its visitor attractions include its spa waters, RHS Harlow Carr gardens, and Betty's Tea Rooms. From the town one can explore the nearby Yorkshire Dales national park. Harrogate originated in the 17th...

.

One service per day also ran to and from Hull

Kingston upon Hull

Kingston upon Hull , usually referred to as Hull, is a city and unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It stands on the River Hull at its junction with the Humber estuary, 25 miles inland from the North Sea. Hull has a resident population of...

via Selby

Selby

Selby is a town and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. Situated south of the city of York, along the course of the River Ouse, Selby is the largest and, with a population of 13,012, most populous settlement of the wider Selby local government district.Historically a part of the West Riding...

. Other towns and cities served by GNER trains included Stevenage

Stevenage

Stevenage is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England. It is situated to the east of junctions 7 and 8 of the A1, and is between Letchworth Garden City to the north, and Welwyn Garden City to the south....

, Peterborough

Peterborough

Peterborough is a cathedral city and unitary authority area in the East of England, with an estimated population of in June 2007. For ceremonial purposes it is in the county of Cambridgeshire. Situated north of London, the city stands on the River Nene which flows into the North Sea...

, Grantham

Grantham

Grantham is a market town within the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. It bestrides the East Coast Main Line railway , the historic A1 main north-south road, and the River Witham. Grantham is located approximately south of the city of Lincoln, and approximately east of Nottingham...

, Newark

Newark-on-Trent

Newark-on-Trent is a market town in Nottinghamshire in the East Midlands region of England. It stands on the River Trent, the A1 , and the East Coast Main Line railway. The origins of the town are possibly Roman as it lies on an important Roman road, the Fosse Way...

, Retford

Retford

Retford is a market town in Nottinghamshire in the East Midlands of England, located 31 miles from the city of Nottingham, and 23 miles west of Lincoln, in the district of Bassetlaw. The town is situated in a valley with the River Idle and the Chesterfield Canal running through the centre of the...

, Doncaster

Doncaster

Doncaster is a town in South Yorkshire, England, and the principal settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster. The town is about from Sheffield and is popularly referred to as "Donny"...

, York

York

York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...

, Northallerton

Northallerton

Northallerton is an affluent market town and civil parish in the Hambleton district of North Yorkshire, England. It lies in the Vale of Mowbray and at the northern end of the Vale of York. It has a population of 15,741 according to the 2001 census...

, Darlington

Darlington

Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, part of the ceremonial county of County Durham, England. It lies on the small River Skerne, a tributary of the River Tees, not far from the main river. It is the main population centre in the borough, with a population of 97,838 as of 2001...

, Durham

Durham

Durham is a city in north east England. It is within the County Durham local government district, and is the county town of the larger ceremonial county...

, Newcastle upon Tyne

Newcastle upon Tyne

Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...

, Morpeth

Morpeth, Northumberland

Morpeth is the county town of Northumberland, England. It is situated on the River Wansbeck which flows east through the town. The town is from the A1, which bypasses it. Since 1981, it has been the administrative centre of the County of Northumberland. In the 2001 census the town had a population...

, Alnmouth

Alnmouth

Alnmouth is a village in Northumberland, England. It is situated just off the main A1068 road , about south-east of Alnwick.Located at the mouth of the River Aln, the village has been an important trading port in Northumberland's past, mainly involved in the export of grain, and smuggling. Due to...

for Alnwick

Alnwick

Alnwick is a small market town in north Northumberland, England. The town's population was just over 8000 at the time of the 2001 census and Alnwick's district population was 31,029....

, Berwick-upon-Tweed

Berwick-upon-Tweed

Berwick-upon-Tweed or simply Berwick is a town in the county of Northumberland and is the northernmost town in England, on the east coast at the mouth of the River Tweed. It is situated 2.5 miles south of the Scottish border....

, Dunbar

Dunbar

Dunbar is a town in East Lothian on the southeast coast of Scotland, approximately 28 miles east of Edinburgh and 28 miles from the English Border at Berwick-upon-Tweed....

, Wakefield

Wakefield

Wakefield is the main settlement and administrative centre of the City of Wakefield, a metropolitan district of West Yorkshire, England. Located by the River Calder on the eastern edge of the Pennines, the urban area is and had a population of 76,886 in 2001....

, Perth

Perth, Scotland

Perth is a town and former city and royal burgh in central Scotland. Located on the banks of the River Tay, it is the administrative centre of Perth and Kinross council area and the historic county town of Perthshire...

, Kirkcaldy

Kirkcaldy

Kirkcaldy is a town and former royal burgh in Fife, on the east coast of Scotland. The town lies on a shallow bay on the northern shore of the Firth of Forth; SSE of Glenrothes, ENE of Dunfermline, WSW of Dundee and NNE of Edinburgh...

, Leuchars

Leuchars

Leuchars is a small town near the north-east coast of Fife in Scotland.The town is nearly to the north of the village of Guardbridge, which lies on the north bank of the River Eden where it widens to the Edenmouth estuary before joining the North Sea at St Andrews Bay. Leuchars is north-east of...

for St Andrews

St Andrews

St Andrews is a university town and former royal burgh on the east coast of Fife in Scotland. The town is named after Saint Andrew the Apostle.St Andrews has a population of 16,680, making this the fifth largest settlement in Fife....

, Arbroath

Arbroath

Arbroath or Aberbrothock is a former royal burgh and the largest town in the council area of Angus in Scotland, and has a population of 22,785...

, and Montrose

Montrose, Angus

Montrose is a coastal resort town and former royal burgh in Angus, Scotland. It is situated 38 miles north of Dundee between the mouths of the North and South Esk rivers...

.

GNER locomotives were serviced at Bounds Green TMD

Bounds Green TMD

Bounds Green TMD is situated in North London. The depot is operated by East Coast. The depot code is BN.-Allocation:*Class 08*Class 91*HSTs may also, be seen, However rarely-References:...

in London, and at Craigentinny

Craigentinny

Craigentinny is a suburb in the east of Edinburgh, Scotland. Its name is a corruption of the Scottish Gaelic Creag an t-Sionnaich meaning "Foxrock" or Creag an teinne meaning "Fire Crag"....

in Edinburgh.

History

GNER was originally awarded a seven-year franchise in April 1996 to run what had been the InterCity East Coast

InterCity (British Rail)

InterCity was introduced by British Rail in 1966 as a brand-name for its long-haul express passenger services ....

division of British Rail

British Rail

British Railways , which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was the operator of most of the rail transport in Great Britain between 1948 and 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the "Big Four" British railway companies and lasted until the gradual privatisation of British Rail, in stages...

. The company was later granted a two-year extension allowing it to operate trains until 2005. When this franchise expired, it won a renewal until 2015, overcoming rival bids from Danish State Railways
Danske Statsbaner
DSB, an abbreviation of Danske Statsbaner , is the largest Danish train operating company, and the largest in Scandinavia. While DSB is responsible for passenger train operation on most of the Danish railways, goods transport and railway maintenance are outside its scope...

, First London, Scottish and North East Railway, and inter city-railways (a consortium of Deutsche Bahn

Deutsche Bahn

Deutsche Bahn AG is the German national railway company, a private joint stock company . Headquartered in Berlin, it came into existence in 1994 as the successor to the former state railways of Germany, the Deutsche Bundesbahn of West Germany and the Deutsche Reichsbahn of East Germany...

, Stagecoach Group

Stagecoach Group

Stagecoach Group plc is an international transport group operating buses, trains, trams, express coaches and ferries. The group was founded in 1980 by the current chairman, Sir Brian Souter, his sister, Ann Gloag, and her former husband Robin...

, and Virgin Group

Virgin Group

Virgin Group Limited is a British branded venture capital conglomerate organisation founded by business tycoon Richard Branson. The core business areas are travel, entertainment and lifestyle. Virgin Group's date of incorporation is listed as 1989 by Companies House, who class it as a holding...

). For this new franchise, GNER's annual payment to the government was increased to £130 million, four times the previous amount. As a result, the company said that it was likely to raise fares and make job cuts.

The initials 'GNER' were similar to LNER

London and North Eastern Railway

The London and North Eastern Railway was the second-largest of the "Big Four" railway companies created by the Railways Act 1921 in Britain...

, the company that operated the route before being nationalised as part of British Rail

British Rail

ways in 1948. Additionally, two of the LNER's predecessor companies were the GNR

Great Northern Railway (Great Britain)

The Great Northern Railway was a British railway company established by the Great Northern Railway Act of 1846. On 1 January 1923 the company lost its identity as a constituent of the newly formed London and North Eastern Railway....

, who built King's Cross station, and the GER

Great Eastern Railway

The Great Eastern Railway was a pre-grouping British railway company, whose main line linked London Liverpool Street to Norwich and which had other lines through East Anglia...

. GNER made further links to their past by adopting a dark blue livery with red trimming lines for their trains, similar to that used by the GER, and using a Victorian coat of arms

Coat of arms

A coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...

-style crest on their trains.

GNER was the second-to-last British train company to allow smoking

Tobacco smoking

Tobacco smoking is the practice where tobacco is burned and the resulting smoke is inhaled. The practice may have begun as early as 5000–3000 BCE. Tobacco was introduced to Eurasia in the late 16th century where it followed common trade routes...

in designated areas on its trains, but banned it completely on 29 August 2005. First ScotRail

First ScotRail

ScotRail Railways Ltd. is the FirstGroup-owned train operating company running domestic passenger trains within Scotland, northern England and the cross-border Caledonian Sleeper service to London using the brand ScotRail which is the property of the Scottish Government...

at that time still allowed limited smoking on its Caledonian Sleeper

Caledonian Sleeper

The Caledonian Sleeper is a sleeper train service operated by First ScotRail and one of only two remaining sleeper services running on the railways of Great Britain, the other being the Night Riviera....

services, although it was subsequently banned in October 2005 in advance of the 26 March 2006 deadline, when a smoking ban

Smoking ban

Smoking bans are public policies, including criminal laws and occupational safety and health regulations, which prohibit tobacco smoking in workplaces and/or other public spaces...

in public places came into force under Scottish law.

In 2005, GNER and Hong Kong's MTR Corporation made an unsuccessful joint bid, under the name Great South Eastern Railway, for the Integrated Kent Franchise now held by Govia

Govia

Govia is a transport company based in the United Kingdom. A joint venture between Go-Ahead and Keolis SA it is a key operator of commuter services in London, the South East and on the West Coast Main Line...

, which operates it as Southeastern

Southeastern (train operating company)

London & South Eastern Railway Limited, trading as Southeastern is a train operating company in south-east England. On 1 April 2006 it became the franchisee for the new Integrated Kent Franchise , replacing the publicly owned South Eastern Trains on the former South East Franchise...

.
GNER suffered two major accidents during its operating years: The Hatfield crash

Hatfield rail crash

The Hatfield rail crash was a railway accident on 17 October 2000, at Hatfield, Hertfordshire, UK. Although the accident killed fewer than other accidents, Hatfield exposed the major stewardship shortcomings of the privatised national railway infrastructure company Railtrack and the failings of...

on 17 October 2000, when the 12:10 London King's Cross - Leeds train derailed just south of Hatfield station due to a hairline crack in the rail. The only fatalities were in the restaurant car, which struck an overhead catenary stanchion during the derailment. GNER's only other accident was the Great Heck rail crash on the morning of 28 February 2001, where a Newcastle Central - London King's Cross service hit a Land-Rover that had driven off the M62 on to the ECML. The GNER train derailed and was subsequently hit by a Freightliner train from Immingham to Ferrybridge

Ferrybridge power station

The Ferrybridge power stations refers to a series of three coal-fired power stations situated on the River Aire in West Yorkshire, England. The first station on the site, Ferrybridge A power station, was constructed in the mid-1920s, and was closed as the second station, Ferrybridge B power...

, resulting in the death of 10 people. In neither of these accidents was GNER at fault.

Under the name Great South Western Railway, GNER and MTR had pre-qualified to bid for the new South Western

South West Trains

South West Trains is a British train operating company providing, under franchise, passenger rail services, mostly out of Waterloo station, to the southwest of London in the suburbs and in the counties of Surrey, Hampshire, Dorset, Devon, Somerset, Berkshire, and Wiltshire and on the Isle of Wight...

franchise, which began on 4 February 2007 and combined services formerly operated by South West Trains

South West Trains

and Island Line

Island Line (train operating company)

Island Line Trains is a sub-brand of South West Trains, a train operating company on Great Britain's National Rail Network, operating the 8½ mile Island Line on the Isle of Wight.-Before "Island Line":...

. Stagecoach

Stagecoach

A stagecoach is a type of covered wagon for passengers and goods, strongly sprung and drawn by four horses, usually four-in-hand. Widely used before the introduction of railway transport, it made regular trips between stages or stations, which were places of rest provided for stagecoach travelers...

won the franchise again, meaning that Sea Containers

Sea Containers Ltd

Sea Containers Ltd. is a Bermuda-registered company which operates two main business areas: transport and container leasing.In March 2006 the company sold its share of Orient-Express Hotels...

' railway operations in the UK remained limited to GNER.

On 15 December 2006, the Department for Transport announced that it was to terminate GNER's franchise to operate the East Coast Main Line. The franchise contract was established in 2005 and was originally intended to last for 10 years. The reconsideration was due in part at least to lower-than-expected revenue figures by GNER; in October 2006, Sea Containers filed for Chapter 11

Chapter 11, Title 11, United States Code

Chapter 11 is a chapter of the United States Bankruptcy Code, which permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Chapter 11 bankruptcy is available to every business, whether organized as a corporation or sole proprietorship, and to individuals, although it is most...

bankruptcy

Bankruptcy

Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....

protection. Virgin Trains

Virgin Trains

Virgin Trains is a train operating company in the United Kingdom. It operates long-distance passenger services on the West Coast Main Line between London, the West Midlands, North West England, North Wales and Scotland...

/Stagecoach Group

Stagecoach Group

, FirstGroup plc

FirstGroup plc

FirstGroup plc is a public transport company, registered in Scotland at its headquarters in Aberdeen, operating in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Denmark, Sweden, Canada and the United States...

and National Express Group

National Express Group

National Express Group plc is a British transport group headquartered in Birmingham that operates bus, coach, rail and tram services in the UK, the US and Canada, Spain, Portugal and Morocco and long-distance coach routes across Europe...

all submitted bids for the franchise. On 14 August 2007 it was announced that the National Express Group

National Express Group

had been awarded the franchise, operating under the name of National Express East Coast

National Express East Coast

. GNER continued operating the route until the new franchise started on 9 December 2007.

At the very end of its operation, GNER sold tickets allowing travel between any two points on its network for £5.

The last northbound train to be operated by GNER was the 2030 King's Cross - Newcastle on Saturday 8 December 2007. GNER gave out chocolate coins with the crest and the wording "Thank you for your custom with GNER". Rail enthusiasts travelled to meet the train at many of the train's calling points, as a tribute to GNER.

Financial and operational concerns

In May 2006, it was revealed that GNER's parent company Sea Containers was in financial difficulties, and was rumoured to be bordering on insolvency. Subsequently, questions were raised as to whether GNER could continue operating should its parent company cease trading. The company rejected this assertion, stating that its lines of credit and financial activities were "ring-fenced" away from Sea Containers, and therefore a cessation of services for this reason was impossible. It did not however stop a furore of speculation from rival TOC

Train operating company

The term train operating company is used in the United Kingdom to describe the various businesses operating passenger trains on the railway system of Great Britain under the collective National Rail brand...

s (principally Virgin Trains

Virgin Trains

and First Group) that they would be keen to rebid for the ECML franchise if it were put back out to tender. In July 2006, rumours then began circulating that Sea Containers would be prepared to sell GNER in an effort to stave off resorting to Chapter 11 proceedings to secure itself from its creditors.

On 27 July 2006 the High Court

High Court of Justice

The High Court of Justice is, together with the Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, one of the Senior Courts of England and Wales...

rejected GNER's judicial review

Judicial review

Judicial review is the doctrine under which legislative and executive actions are subject to review by the judiciary. Specific courts with judicial review power must annul the acts of the state when it finds them incompatible with a higher authority...

over the Office of Rail Regulation

Office of Rail Regulation

The Office of Rail Regulation is a statutory board which is the combined economic and safety regulatory authority for Great Britain's railway network. It was established on 5 July 2004 by the Railways and Transport Safety Act 2003, replacing the Rail Regulator...

's decision to allow Grand Central Railway to operate trains along part of the East Coast Main Line

East Coast Main Line

The East Coast Main Line is a long electrified high-speed railway link between London, Peterborough, Doncaster, Wakefield, Leeds, York, Darlington, Newcastle and Edinburgh...

. GNER had made its application partly on the basis that 'open-access' train operators (like Hull Trains) are not required to meet the same fixed costs for accessing Network Rail

Network Rail

Network Rail is the government-created owner and operator of most of the rail infrastructure in Great Britain .; it is not responsible for railway infrastructure in Northern Ireland...

's infrastructure as train operating companies running services under a contract or 'franchise' with the UK Department for Transport

Department for Transport

In the United Kingdom, the Department for Transport is the government department responsible for the English transport network and a limited number of transport matters in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland which are not devolved...

. GNER's case failed principally because the High Court determined that not only did European law permit the Rail Regulator

Rail Regulator

The Rail Regulator was a statutory office, created with effect from 1 December 1993 by section 1 of the Railways Act 1993, for the independent economic regulation of the British railway industry....

to establish a charging regime for open-access operators which was different from the one which applies to franchised operators (such as GNER) - in this case not imposing a fixed charge on open-access operators - but that if he had not done so, he would have been acting illegally because of the very different conditions under which open-access operators and franchised operators get access to the network. The High Court (Mr Justice Sullivan

Jeremy Sullivan

Sir Jeremy Mirth Sullivan PC has been a Lord Justice of Appeal since 2009.He was educated at Framlingham College and King's College London and was called to the Bar at Inner Temple in 1968 where he became a bencher in 1993.By 1976 Sullivan was Counsel for the Department of Environment's M25...

) refused GNER permission to appeal, and GNER decided not to ask the Court of Appeal to take the case.
On 25 July 2006, two days before the public judgment in the above action, GNER announced that Christopher Garnett

Christopher Garnett

Christopher Garnett is a member of the Board of the Olympic Delivery Authority, and was until recently the Chief Executive Officer of Great North Eastern Railway and simultaneously Senior Vice President and Chief Executive of the Rail Division of Sea Containers, GNER's parent company.Before this,...

, the company's chief executive officer, was to step down, having occupied that position since Sea Containers

Sea Containers Ltd

Sea Containers Ltd. is a Bermuda-registered company which operates two main business areas: transport and container leasing.In March 2006 the company sold its share of Orient-Express Hotels...

, GNER's parent company, won the first InterCity East Coast franchise (see above). Amid growing industry speculation that Sea Containers was working towards a "financial restructuring", that company's President and Chief Executive Bob Mackenzie was named as Garnett's successor.

The problems were further fuelled by GNER's poor profitability, which had been linked to the company's overbidding for the ECML franchise coupled to what proved to be crippling subsidy repayments to the government (see above). The company blamed the effects of the 7/7 terrorist attacks

7 July 2005 London bombings

The 7 July 2005 London bombings were a series of co-ordinated suicide attacks in the United Kingdom, targeting civilians using London's public transport system during the morning rush hour....

, increased electricity prices, and increased competition from low-cost airlines for the decline in passenger numbers. It also faced a growing challenge from the revitalised West Coast

West Coast Main Line

The West Coast Main Line is the busiest mixed-traffic railway route in Britain, being the country's most important rail backbone in terms of population served. Fast, long-distance inter-city passenger services are provided between London, the West Midlands, the North West, North Wales and the...

services operated by Virgin. The company attempted to address the problem by waiving booking fees on internet sales, cutting staff numbers, and raising fares and car parking charges where the market could bear it. In a press interview in September 2006, GNER's ex-chief Christopher Garnett hinted at a bleak future for GNER and the franchising system - claiming that the trend among TOCs to overbid for the renewal of franchises would result in a financially unsustainable railway.

On 16 October, Sea Containers confirmed that it was filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, therefore allowing it to continue trading should insolvency occur. Two days later, Sea Containers' chief Bob Mackenzie threatened that the company would withdraw from the GNER franchise by May 2007 if the government did not renegotiate the franchise terms.

On 27 November 2006 the Department for Transport announced that it would withdraw the franchise from GNER, largely on the basis of Sea Containers' financial difficulties and its uncertain future. However, the company was allowed to continue running the ECML franchise on a fixed management contract basis for up to 24 months, until a new operator was found.

Bids for the InterCity East Coast franchise were submitted to the Department for Transport

Department for Transport

(DfT) on 15 January 2007, with details of the bids made public on 20 February 2007. Neither GNER nor its parent company made the shortlist of potential operators for the InterCity East Coast franchise. GNER declined to comment on whether it made a bid submission to the Department for Transport

Department for Transport

. Only Arriva Trains

Arriva

Arriva plc is a multinational public transport company owned by Deutsche Bahn and headquartered in Sunderland, United Kingdom. It has bus, coach, train, tram and waterbus operations in 12 countries across Europe, employs more than 47,500 people and services over 1.5 billion passenger journeys each...

, First Group, National Express Group

National Express Group

and inter city - railways Limited (Virgin Trains

Virgin Trains

/Stagecoach Group

Stagecoach Group

) were shortlisted to replace the incumbent operator. In April 2007, it was announced that GNER had a 10% stake in the bid placed by Virgin and Stagecoach. On 14 August the DfT announced that the East Coast Mainline franchise was awarded to NXEC Trains Ltd, a subsidiary of National Express Group. From 10 December 2007 all services were branded as National Express East Coast

National Express East Coast

Service patterns

In off-peak times, there were three or four trains per hour to and from King's Cross. The following details applied to weekday operations.

Journey times on many services operated by GNER actually increased since the days of British Rail. The fastest London-to-Edinburgh journey time offered by the state corporation was 3 hours 59 minutes, whereas the fastest GNER service (with the same rolling stock) took 4 hours 10 minutes (the 15:00 London Kings Cross to Edinburgh).

London–Newcastle–Edinburgh

A half-hourly service between King's Cross and Newcastle operated for most of the day, departing from London on the hour and the half-hour. The 'top of the hour' departures continued through to Edinburgh (with the 10:00 keeping the traditional name Flying Scotsman
Flying Scotsman (train)
The Flying Scotsman is an express passenger train service that has been running between London and Edinburgh—the capitals of England and Scotland respectively—since 1862...

), with some running on to either Glasgow Central, Aberdeen

Aberdeen

Aberdeen is Scotland's third most populous city, one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas and the United Kingdom's 25th most populous city, with an official population estimate of ....

or Inverness

Inverness

Inverness is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for the Highland council area, and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands of Scotland...

.
These trains generally ran as limited-stop expresses between London and Newcastle: all trains called at York, and most at Peterborough and Darlington, though afternoon and evening departures from King's Cross ran non-stop to Doncaster or York. The trains leaving King's Cross on the half-hour generally terminated at Newcastle and served other intermediate stations such as Grantham, Newark, Retford, Doncaster and Durham as well as Peterborough, York, and Darlington.

London–Leeds

The service between King's Cross and Leeds

Leeds

was generally half-hourly, with trains serving most main intermediate stations. With the completion of the Allington Chord, near Grantham, having increased track capacity, GNER began to operate a full half-hourly service throughout the day on this route.

London-Newcastle-Edinburgh-Glasgow

GNER operated ten trains per day between King's Cross and Glasgow. With the upgrade of the West Coast Main Line

West Coast Main Line

between London Euston

Euston railway station

Euston railway station, also known as London Euston, is a central London railway terminus in the London Borough of Camden. It is the sixth busiest rail terminal in London . It is one of 18 railway stations managed by Network Rail, and is the southern terminus of the West Coast Main Line...

and Glasgow to 125 mph completed, GNER could no longer compete with Virgin Trains

Virgin Trains

on this route in terms of journey times (5hrs 30mins compared to the new 4hrs 25min time on the WCML), but they did provide a link from Glasgow to Newcastle and York and a secondary route for use when the WCML was closed for engineering work.

Aberdeen

There were three trains per day each way between King's Cross and Aberdeen

Aberdeen

Aberdeen is Scotland's third most populous city, one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas and the United Kingdom's 25th most populous city, with an official population estimate of ....

, the journey time being just over seven hours. There was also one service per day arriving at Aberdeen from Leeds. These services were operated by HST sets, as the line between Edinburgh and Aberdeen is not electrified.

Inverness

A daily service operated between King's Cross and Inverness, called the Highland Chieftain, a journey taking just over eight hours. This route was operated with diesel HSTs, as the line north of Edinburgh is not electrified.

Hull

GNER continued to run the Hull Executive between Hull and King's Cross, with one morning journey up to London and one evening journey down to Hull. Since the branch to Hull is not electrified, this route too was operated using diesel HST sets.

Bradford

There were two trains per day between London and Bradford Forster Square. These were extensions of the King's Cross–Leeds services and were usually operated by 'Mallard' electric sets.

Skipton

There was a morning train from Skipton

Skipton

and Keighley

Keighley

Keighley is a town and civil parish within the metropolitan borough of the City of Bradford in West Yorkshire, England. It is situated northwest of Bradford and is at the confluence of the River Aire and the River Worth...

to King's Cross with an early evening return. As with the Bradford trains, this was an extension to the Leeds–London service. Though the line to Skipton is electrified throughout, the GNER service to/from the town operated using a diesel HST because the electrical infrastructure on the Leeds to Skipton line is insufficient to support GNER's trains.

Harrogate

There was a Monday-Saturday morning HST departure from Harrogate to King's Cross. However, there was no return journey so passengers were required to change at Leeds or York on to Northern Rail

Northern Rail

Northern Rail is a British train operating company that has operated local passenger services in Northern England since 2004. Northern Rail's owner, Serco-Abellio, is a consortium formed of Abellio and Serco, an international operator of public transport systems...

services to Harrogate.

The Saturday running of this service was the week's only GNER southbound service from Leeds not to call at Wakefield Westgate. This service departed from Leeds and headed along the Selby line

York & Selby Lines

The York & Selby Lines is the name given to a group of services in the West Yorkshire Metro area, connecting Leeds with places to its north and east: as well as the Northern Rail local services to York and Selby, the services extend to:...

to join the East Coast Main Line at Hambleton

Hambleton, Selby

Hambleton is a small village and civil parish near to Selby in North Yorkshire, England. It is a ward of the district of Selby and should not be confused with the district of Hambleton, another district of North Yorkshire....

Performance

As a long-distance operator, punctuality was always a weakness of GNER, and the last figures to be published by the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) for GNER reflect this. Based on the Public Performance Measure (PPM), its punctuality for the third quarter of financial year 2007/8 up to 8 December was 85.7%, up slightly on the same quarter of the previous year. The MAA up to 8 December 2007 was 82.1%. This is approximately equal to the sector level for long-distance operators, and approximately 1% behind rival Anglo-Scottish train operator Virgin Trains

Virgin Trains

, over the same quarterly period.

Rolling stock

Unlike most other UK train companies, GNER continued to use only vehicles which were designed and built (or, in a small number of cases, specified) by the former state corporation British Rail

British Rail

- most of the rolling stock was built in the late 1970s (HSTs) or early 1990s (225s). GNER's primary rolling stock was InterCity 225

InterCity 225

The InterCity 225 is a locomotive-hauled domestic train in the United Kingdom, comprising a Class 91 electric locomotive, nine Mark 4 coaches and a Driving Van Trailer...

electric trainsets, each comprising a Class 91

Class 91

Class 91 may refer to:* British Rail Class 91* DRG or DR Class 91 2-6-0T tank locomotives with the Deutsche Reichsbahn:** Class 91.0-1: Prussian T 9, BLE Nos. 36 to 43, PKP Class Tki2** Class 91.201 + 202: BLE Nos. 32 and 33...

electric locomotive, nine Mark 4

British Rail Mark 4

British Rail's fourth design of passenger carriages was designated Mark 4, designed for use in InterCity 225 sets on the newly-electrified East Coast Main Line between London, Leeds, and Edinburgh.-History and construction:...

coaches, and a Mark 4 driving van trailer

Driving Van Trailer

A Driving Van Trailer is a purpose-built railway vehicle that allows the driver to operate a locomotive at the opposite end of a train. Trains operating with a DVT therefore do not require the locomotive to be moved around to the other end of the train at terminal stations...

. These sets were refurbished by Bombardier Transportation

Bombardier Transportation

Bombardier Transportation is the rail equipment division of the Canadian firm, Bombardier Inc. Bombardier Transportation is one of the world's largest companies in the rail-equipment manufacturing and servicing industry. Its headquarters are in Berlin, Germany....

in 2003–2006 and are known as 'Mallard' in honour of the record-setting Mallard steam locomotive

LNER Class A4 4468 Mallard

Number 4468 Mallard is a London and North Eastern Railway Class A4 4-6-2 Pacific steam locomotive built at Doncaster, England in 1938. While in other respects a relatively typical member of its class, it is historically significant for being the holder of the official world speed record for steam...

. They boasted re-designed interiors and new features such as Wi-Fi

Wi-Fi

Wi-Fi or Wifi, is a mechanism for wirelessly connecting electronic devices. A device enabled with Wi-Fi, such as a personal computer, video game console, smartphone, or digital audio player, can connect to the Internet via a wireless network access point. An access point has a range of about 20...

wireless Internet services and electric sockets at every seat pair.

For routes where the infrastructure for electric trains is absent or inadequate, or to cover for shortages of electric sets, GNER also used the older diesel-electric InterCity 125

InterCity 125

The InterCity 125 was the brand name of British Rail's High Speed Train fleet. The InterCity 125 train is made up of two power cars, one at each end of a fixed formation of Mark 3 carriages, and is capable of , making the train the fastest diesel-powered locomotive in regular service in the...

High Speed Train sets, which use two Class 43

British Rail Class 43 (HST)

The British Rail Class 43 is the TOPS classification used for the InterCity 125 High Speed Train power cars, built by BREL from 1975 to 1982....

locomotives with either eight or nine slam-door Mark 3

British Rail Mark 3

British Rail's third design of standard carriage was designated 'Mark 3' , and was developed primarily for the InterCity 125 High Speed Train...

coaches. As one of their commitments for the new franchise, GNER agreed to upgrade these trains to the same standards as the Mallard project. These were released on 27 February 2007 with a poem by Ian McMillan called The High Speed Train.

The 225 'Mallard' electric sets were all allocated to Bounds Green

Bounds Green

Bounds Green is an area in the north of London, in the London Borough of Haringey. Parts of Bounds Green are also known as New Southgate, but most of New Southgate lies in the London Borough of Enfield to the north west....

depot in north London, while the diesel HST fleet was allocated to Craigentinny

Craigentinny

Craigentinny is a suburb in the east of Edinburgh, Scotland. Its name is a corruption of the Scottish Gaelic Creag an t-Sionnaich meaning "Foxrock" or Creag an teinne meaning "Fire Crag"....

in Edinburgh. The depots at Neville Hill in Leeds and Heaton

Heaton, Newcastle

Heaton is a residential suburb and is split into two electoral wards located in the east end of Newcastle upon Tyne, England, about from the City Centre. It is bordered by the neighbouring areas of Benton and Cochrane Park to the north, Walker and Walkergate to the east, Byker to the south and...

in Newcastle carried out light maintenance and stabling.

Until December 2005, this fleet was supplemented by five (three of which were used per day) Class 373

British Rail Class 373

The British Rail Class 373 or TGV-TMST train is an electric multiple unit that operates Eurostar's high-speed rail service between Britain, France and Belgium via the Channel Tunnel...

high-speed trains leased from Eurostar

Eurostar

Eurostar is a high-speed railway service connecting London with Paris and Brussels. All its trains traverse the Channel Tunnel between England and France, owned and operated separately by Eurotunnel....

, which were used on the White Rose service between London and Leeds. Three of these had been adapted to GNER's livery through the use of vinyl wrap

Wrap advertising

Wrap advertising is the marketing practice of completely or partially covering a vehicle in an advertisement or livery, thus turning it into a mobile billboard. This can be achieved by simply painting the vehicle surface, but it is becoming more common today to use large vinyl sheets as decals...

s, while the others retained their Eurostar colours. These services were restricted to 110 mph due to pantograph problems (Class 373

British Rail Class 373

The British Rail Class 373 or TGV-TMST train is an electric multiple unit that operates Eurostar's high-speed rail service between Britain, France and Belgium via the Channel Tunnel...

page).

GNER bought and for some years used the unique Class 89

British Rail Class 89

The Class 89 is a prototype design for an electric locomotive. Only one unit was built, no. 89001, which was officially named Avocet by the then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher on 16 January 1989 at Sandy, Bedfordshire - the home of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds...

Co-Co prototype electric locomotive 89001 Avocet that had previously been briefly used by BR. 89001 served mostly on the Leeds route until it failed in 2001.

Fleet

Class	Image	Type	Top speed		Number	Routes operated	Built
Class	Image	Type	mph	km/h	Number	Routes operated	Built
Class 43 High Speed Train British Rail Class 43 (HST) The British Rail Class 43 is the TOPS classification used for the InterCity 125 High Speed Train power cars, built by BREL from 1975 to 1982....		Diesel locomotive Diesel locomotive A diesel locomotive is a type of railroad locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engine, a reciprocating engine operating on the Diesel cycle as invented by Dr. Rudolf Diesel...	125	200	14	East Coast Main Line East Coast Main Line The East Coast Main Line is a long electrified high-speed railway link between London, Peterborough, Doncaster, Wakefield, Leeds, York, Darlington, Newcastle and Edinburgh...	1976–1982
Class 90 British Rail Class 90 The British Rail Class 90 electric locomotives were built by BREL at Crewe from 1987-1990. Each locomotive weighs 84.5 tonnes and has a top speed of . They operate from 25 kV AC overhead wires and produce...		Electric locomotive Electric locomotive An electric locomotive is a locomotive powered by electricity from overhead lines, a third rail or an on-board energy storage device...	110	180	1	East Coast Main Line East Coast Main Line The East Coast Main Line is a long electrified high-speed railway link between London, Peterborough, Doncaster, Wakefield, Leeds, York, Darlington, Newcastle and Edinburgh... Thunderbird loco	1987-1990
Class 91 British Rail Class 91 The British Rail Class 91 is a class of , electric locomotives ordered as a component of the East Coast Main Line modernisation and electrification programme of the late 1980s. The Class 91s were given the auxiliary name of InterCity 225 to indicate their envisaged top speed of...		Electric locomotive Electric locomotive An electric locomotive is a locomotive powered by electricity from overhead lines, a third rail or an on-board energy storage device...	140	225	31	East Coast Main Line East Coast Main Line The East Coast Main Line is a long electrified high-speed railway link between London, Peterborough, Doncaster, Wakefield, Leeds, York, Darlington, Newcastle and Edinburgh...	1988-1991
Mark 3 coach British Rail Mark 3 British Rail's third design of standard carriage was designated 'Mark 3' , and was developed primarily for the InterCity 125 High Speed Train...		Passenger carriage	125	200	56	East Coast Main Line East Coast Main Line The East Coast Main Line is a long electrified high-speed railway link between London, Peterborough, Doncaster, Wakefield, Leeds, York, Darlington, Newcastle and Edinburgh...	1975–1988
Mark 4 coach British Rail Mark 4 British Rail's fourth design of passenger carriages was designated Mark 4, designed for use in InterCity 225 sets on the newly-electrified East Coast Main Line between London, Leeds, and Edinburgh.-History and construction:... (Mallard)		Passenger carriage	140	225	302	East Coast Main Line East Coast Main Line The East Coast Main Line is a long electrified high-speed railway link between London, Peterborough, Doncaster, Wakefield, Leeds, York, Darlington, Newcastle and Edinburgh...	1989-1992
		Driving Van Trailer Driving Van Trailer A Driving Van Trailer is a purpose-built railway vehicle that allows the driver to operate a locomotive at the opposite end of a train. Trains operating with a DVT therefore do not require the locomotive to be moved around to the other end of the train at terminal stations...	140	225	31	East Coast Main Line East Coast Main Line The East Coast Main Line is a long electrified high-speed railway link between London, Peterborough, Doncaster, Wakefield, Leeds, York, Darlington, Newcastle and Edinburgh...	1988
Class 89 Avocet British Rail Class 89 The Class 89 is a prototype design for an electric locomotive. Only one unit was built, no. 89001, which was officially named Avocet by the then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher on 16 January 1989 at Sandy, Bedfordshire - the home of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds...		Electric locomotive Electric locomotive An electric locomotive is a locomotive powered by electricity from overhead lines, a third rail or an on-board energy storage device...	125	200	1	East Coast Main Line East Coast Main Line The East Coast Main Line is a long electrified high-speed railway link between London, Peterborough, Doncaster, Wakefield, Leeds, York, Darlington, Newcastle and Edinburgh...	1986
Class 373/2 Regional Eurostar British Rail Class 373 The British Rail Class 373 or TGV-TMST train is an electric multiple unit that operates Eurostar's high-speed rail service between Britain, France and Belgium via the Channel Tunnel...		Electric multiple unit Multiple unit The term multiple unit or MU is used to describe a self-propelled carriages capable of coupling with other units of the same or similar type and still being controlled from one driving cab. The term is commonly used to denote passenger trainsets consisting of more than one carriage...	186	300	5	East Coast Main Line East Coast Main Line The East Coast Main Line is a long electrified high-speed railway link between London, Peterborough, Doncaster, Wakefield, Leeds, York, Darlington, Newcastle and Edinburgh...	1992-1996

The end of the line

The last service operated by GNER, on Saturday 8 December 2007, was the 20:30 service from London King's Cross to Newcastle. It departed London on time and arrived in Newcastle 14 minutes late.

The future

Ian Yeowart, the former Chairman of Grand Central Railway, has announced a plan to launch open-access train services from to via and , London King's Cross to via , and to via and . Having discovered that the GNER brand name was now freely available it is his intention to resurrect the brand name for these new services.

History

Financial and operational concerns

Service patterns

London–Newcastle–Edinburgh

London–Leeds

London-Newcastle-Edinburgh-Glasgow

Aberdeen

Inverness

Hull

Bradford

Skipton

Harrogate

Performance

Rolling stock

Fleet

The end of the line

The future

See also