West Anglia Great Northern

West Anglia Great Northern[1] was a train operating company in England owned by National Express, that operated the West Anglia Great Northern franchise from January 1997 until March 2004 and the Great Northern franchise from April 2004 until March 2006.

West Anglia Great Northern

Class 317 at Cambridge in 2004
Overview
Franchise(s)	West Anglia Great Northern: 5 January 1997 – 31 March 2004 Great Northern only: 1 April 2004 – 31 March 2006
Main region(s)	East of England
Other region(s)	Greater London (north and north-east)
Fleet size	145
Stations called at	55
Parent company	National Express
Reporting mark	WN

History

Corporate logos used by WAGN

Interior of a refurbished Class 313

Refurbished Class 317 in the original WAGN livery at Liverpool Street station in 2006

Prism Rail was awarded the West Anglia Great Northern franchise and commenced operations on 5 January 1997.[2][3]

West Anglia Great Northern made an open access application to extend services from Peterborough to Doncaster but this was rejected by the Office of Rail Regulation.[4]

In July 2000, West Anglia Great Northern was included in the sale of Prism Rail to National Express.[5][6]

In 2002 as part of a franchise reorganisation by the Strategic Rail Authority, it was announced that the franchise would be split with the West Anglia part merged into the Greater Anglia franchise.[7] In December 2003, the Strategic Rail Authority awarded the Greater Anglia franchise to National Express, with the West Anglia services transferring to One on 1 April 2004.[8] After being granted a two-year franchise extension, the Great Northern services were retained with the company now referring to itself as WAGN rather than West Anglia Great Northern.[9]

Services

West Anglia Great Northern operated all stops and limited stops West Anglia services out of London Liverpool Street to Chingford, Enfield Town, Hertford East, Stansted Airport, and Cambridge, and all stops and limited stops Great Northern services out of London King's Cross to Cambridge, King's Lynn and Peterborough, (including the Hertford North loop line.)

Rolling stock

West Anglia Great Northern inherited a fleet of Class 313, Class 315, Class 317, Class 322 and Class 365s from British Rail.

Some Class 322s were loaned to First North Western from 1997 until 1999,[10] before all five went to ScotRail in 2001.[11] In 2004, sixteen Class 365s were transferred from South Eastern Trains.[12]

The trains to receive an overhaul were twenty-four Class 317/2s, which were made more suitable for long distance use through repainting, the addition of carpet, installation of lower-density seats and an improved first class area. Dedicated bicycle and wheelchair spaces and improved lighting were also provided, with the exterior receiving a new white, grey, blue and red livery.[13]

Suburban trains were also improved with the Class 313s gaining new seats with higher backs, wheelchair provision and minor improvements to fittings such as stanchions in the passenger areas. These emerged from refurbishment at Railcare, Wolverton in a plain white undercoat[14] before a metallic purple livery was introduced in 2001.[15]

A dedicated Class 317/7 fleet was created for the Stansted Express through the refurbishment of 9 Class 317 units during 1999/2000. These featured improved interiors and new metallic blue Stansted Express livery.[16][17]

Fleet details

Class	Image	Top speed		Number	Built	Notes
		mph	km/h
03		28.5	45.9	1	20/01/1962	Used as shunter at Hornsey TMD
313		75	120	41	1976–1977	London Moorgate/London King's Cross – Hertford North, Letchworth Garden City and Welwyn Garden City
315		75	120	18	1980–1981	London Liverpool Street – Chingford, Cheshunt and Enfield Town London Liverpool Street – Hertford East (peak times and Sundays only); transferred to One in April 2004
317		100	160	72	1981–1982 1985–1987	London King's Cross – Cambridge London Liverpool Street – Cambridge, Hertford East and Stansted Airport Stratford – Stansted Airport; 60 transferred to One in April 2004
365		100	160	40	1994–1995	London King's Cross – Cambridge, King's Lynn and Peterborough; 24 originally, 16 added in 2004 and 2006 from South Eastern Trains

Depots

West Anglia Great Northern's fleet was maintained at Hornsey and Ilford depots.

Demise

As part of a franchise reorganisation by the Strategic Rail Authority, the Great Northern services were merged into the Thameslink franchise.[18][19] In December 2005, the Department for Transport awarded the Thameslink franchise to FirstGroup with the services operated by West Anglia Great Northern transferring to First Capital Connect on 1 April 2006.[20]

References

1. Companies House extract company no 3007944 West Anglia Great Northern Railway Limited
2. Tooher, Patrick (7 December 1996). "Prism wins franchise for Great Northern". The Independent. London.
3. Railway Organisations Research Paper 99/80 House of Commons Library 20 September 1999
4. "WAGN – Simply no space on East Coast for locals" Rail issue 374 12 January 2000 page 5
5. National Express buys Prism for £166m The Telegraph 19 July 2000
6. National Express buys Prism for £166m The Guardian 19 July 2000
7. Rail issue 426 9 January 2002 page 4
8. National Express wins rail franchise The Telegraph 22 December 2003
9. Franchising Program Continues Apace Strategic Rail Authority 13 February 2004
10. "NWT livery for Class 322 Stansted units" Rail issue 329 22 April 1998 page 12
11. Rail issue 427 23 January 2002 page 58
12. Class 365 Southern E-Group
13. "West Anglia Great Northern unveils new branding". RAIL. No. 326. EMAP Apex Publications. 11–24 March 1998. p. 12. ISSN 0953-4563. OCLC 49953699.
14. "WAGN ghost trains" Rail issue 368 20 October 1999 page 12
15. "WAGN reveals livery in line with c2c's" Rail issue 421 31 October 2001 page 10
16. "WAGN unveils £10m Stansted Express" Rail issue 391 6 September 2000 page 6
17. Class 317 The Railway Centre
18. Rail franchising arrangements Strategic Rail Authority Press Release
19. Rail issue 496 15 September 2004 page 7
20. Department for Transport Announces Winner of Thameslink/GN Franchise Department for Transport 13 December 2005

External links

Media related to West Anglia Great Northern at Wikimedia Commons

Preceded by Network SouthEast As part of British Rail	Operator of West Anglia Great Northern franchise West Anglia 1997 – 2004 Great Northern 1997 – 2006	Succeeded by One Greater Anglia franchise from 2004
		Succeeded by First Capital Connect Thameslink and Great Northern franchise from 2006