Before I start, I would like to say thank you for keeping up to date with my blogs. It marks the first year and honestly didn't think of doing something so.... interesting. Inspiration from other blogs is what made me to write my own.
Anyways, I am going to talk about the Great Eastern Main Line in it's old and new form in terms of train stock since it will change very soon. Since this is my local route, expect me to go into detail here.
Great Eastern Main Line (what you need to know)
The Great Eastern Main Line (GEML), runs from London Liverpool Street to Norwich via many stations/destinations with a total of 184km and 27 stations that are served. Now, it's a fairly long distance relying on a working fleet of trains, transporting people to places that they need to go. The line is part of 7 main railway lines in the UK. It opened in 1862, operated by Network Rail with operators such as Greater Anglia and TFL Rail mainly doing the route. There are various branches on the route, that go towards alternative directions such as Chingford, Barking, Clacton, Southend and more.
The Past...
London North and Eastern Railway (this is the past so ignore the current one for this post), began operation from 1923 to 1947. During this time, the flyover near Ilford was formed in order to allow interchange onto the Central Line at Stratford and to test Liverpool Street's west platforms without having to do it much closer to the station.
In 1950, British Railways opened a new service (Liverpool Street-Clacton).Within that period, electrication on the line had to be managed in order to meet the standards. So it was done even if it's slightly lower. Incase you don't understand, this is the overhead lines where on most trains, have a pantograph which can sometimes cause sparks. The 1980s. Signalling felt too outdated here and a proposal was written to the Department of Transport. 5 years later, the first electric train (Class 305) came into Ipswich station on the 9th April being used for crew training. A week after that, a passenger service was born as the Class 309 operating the Clacton service seen today. It was known as the Clacton Express.
The Present...
In 1997, privatisation came around leading to services being handed over to First Great Eastern and Anglia Railways. Class 90s, Class 321s, Class 360s and other train types had go through this phase before being called National Express East Anglia. During this period it became the start of my first ever sights of trains seen on rail. :) A proud moment. From 2012 the company became known as Abellio Greater Anglia seen today. TFL Rail began the Shenfield Metro operation (Liverpool Street-Shenfield) in May 2015. Most of the Class 315s, were repainted into white with blue being the skirt supporting the livery. 2 years later, Class 345s became introduced to prepare for the upcoming Crossrail. Heh. We all know how well that went...
Not so distant Future...
The future (which is now haha), will see many trains being replaced by newer and up to date stock for passengers. Part of phase, has started already with the Class 345s and Class 745s (replacing the Class 90s slowly at the time of publish), making their way on track. Class 720s are also being built to replace the Class 321s and Class 360s. Somewhere along 2021, they all should be in service which is shame but its all to do with regulation standards, so you cannot really complain. Greater Anglia better not screw this order up, since London Overground did with the Class 710s - mind you I would be pretty annoyed if I was on that line. Well, least they could get a months worth of free travel. Wait. This is part of - Ah. Okay well I'm out of options then. Hopefully it doesn't go to that extent though...
Let me list the trains here...
Greater Anglia Fleet (at the time of publish)
British Rail Class 90
Built in: Crewe
Constructed between: 1987-1990
Entered public service in: 1990
Stock replaced: Class 81/82/83/84 and 85s
Manufacturer: British Rail Engineering Limited
Maximum speed: 110mph
Lines served: British Rail, DB Cargo UK, Greater Anglia and Freightliner
Last refurbishment: n/a
Total built: 50
Formed of: 10 coaches (not sure)
Type: Intercity express train (very fast service)
British Rail Class 170
Built in: Derby
Constructed between: 1998-2005
Entered public service in: 1998
Stock replaced: Class 142, Class 144, Class 150, Class 153, Class 156, Class 158, Class 205 and Class 207
Manufacturer: Adtranz (known today as Bombardier Transportation)
Maximum speed: 100mph
Lines served: Abellio ScotRail, CrossCountry, Greater Anglia, Northern, South West Trains, Transport for Wales and West Midlands Trains
Last refurbishment: n/a
Total built: 139 (9 was converted to Class 168s for Chiltern Railways whlist 11 were for Class 171s)
Formed of: 2/3 coaches
Type: Stopping service train
British Rail Class 317
Built in: York and Derby
Constructed between: 1981-1987
Entered public service in: 1981
Stock replaced: Class 127, Class 310 and Class 312
Manufacturer: British Rail
Maximum speed: 100mph
Lines served: First Capital Connect, Greater Anglia and London Overground
Last refurbishment: 2006-07 (FCC) 2013-15 (GA) and 2015-18 (LO)
Total built: 72
Formed of: 4 coaches
Type: Stopping/semi fast train
British Rail Class 321
Built in: York
Constructed between: 1988-1991
Entered public service in: 1988
Stock replaced: Class 305, Class 308, Class 309, Class 312 and Class 317
Manufacturer: British Rail Engineering Limited
Maximum speed: 100mph
Lines served: First Capital Connect, Greater Anglia, Sliverlink
Last refurbishment: 30 units for Greater Anglia were part of Renatus project
Total built: 117 originally - 12 got converted to Class 320s
Formed of: 4 coaches
Type: Fast, non-stopping train
British Rail Class 360
Built in: Krefeld, Germany
Constructed between: 2002-2005
Entered public service in: 2003
Stock replaced: Class 312
Manufacturer: Siemens Mobility
Maximum speed: 100mph
Lines served: Greater Anglia, Heathrow Connect and TFL Rail
Last refurbishment: n/a
Total built: 26
Formed of: 4/5 coaches
Type: Stopping/semi fast type train
British Rail Class 379
Built in: Derby
Constructed between: 2010-2011
Entered public service in: 2011
Stock replaced: Class 317
Manufacturer: Bombardier Transportation
Maximum speed: 100mph
Line served: Greater Anglia (part of Stansted Express)
Last refurbishment: n/a
Total built: 30
Formed of: 4 coaches
Type: Fast, non stop train
British Rail Class 745
Built in: Bussang, Switzerland
Constructed between: 2018-present
Entered public service in: 2020
Stock replaced: Class 90, (in progress) Class 379 (soon but no date released)
Manufacturer: Stadler Rail
Maximum speed: 100mph
Lines served: Greater Anglia
Last refurbishment: n/a as they are still being built
Total built: 20 - ongoing
Formed of: 12 coaches
Type: Fast, non stop train
British Rail Class 755
Built in: Bussang, Switzerland and Siedice, Poland
Constructed between: 2018-present
Entered public service in: 2019
Stock replaced: Class 37, Class 153, Class 156 and Class 170
Manufacturer: Stadler Rail
Maximum speed: 100mph
Lines served: Greater Anglia
Last refurbishment: n/a as they are still being built
Total built: 38 - ongoing
Formed of: 3/4 coaches
Type: Stopping service train
Coming soon.....
British Rail Class 720
Built in: Derby
Constructed between: 2018-present
Entered public service in: 2021 (planned year)
Stock replaced: Class 317, Class 321, Class 360, Class 379 and Class 387 (soon)
Manufacturer: Bombardier Transportation
Maximum speed: 100mph
Lines served: C2C, Greater Anglia
Last refurbishment: n/a as they are still being built
Total built: 665 planned to built
Formed of: 5 and 10 coaches
Type: Stopping/semi fast type train
TFL Rail Fleet (at the time of publish)
British Rail Class 315
Built in: York
Constructed between: 1980-1981
Entered public service in: 1980
Stock replaced: Class 306
Manufacturer: BREL York
Maximum speed: 75mph
Lines served: London Overground, Greater Anglia and TFL Rail
Last refurbishment: 2015-2016
Total built: 61
Formed of: 4 coaches
Type: Stopping service train
British Rail Class 345
Built in: Derby
Constructed between: 2015-2019
Entered public service in: 2017
Stock replaced: Class 315 and Class 360 (both in progress)
Manufacturer: Bombardier Transportation
Maximum speed: 90mph
Lines served: TFL Rail (to be Crossrail)
Last refurbishment: n/a as they are still being built
Total built: 70 are planned
Formed of: 7 coaches at present (when Crossrail is close to opening then it will be extended to 9 cars)
Type: Stopping service train
British Rail Class 360
Built in: Krefeld, Germany
Constructed between: 2002-2005
Entered public service in: 2003
Stock replaced: Class 312
Manufacturer: Siemens Mobility
Maximum speed: 100mph
Lines served: Greater Anglia, Heathrow Connect and TFL Rail
Last refurbishment: n/a
Total built: 26
Formed of: 4/5 coaches
Type: Stopping service train
London Overground Fleet (at the time of publish)
Class 315 and Class 317s specifications are listed above.
British Rail Class 710
Built in: Derby
Constructed between: 2017-present
Entered public service in: 2019
Stock replaced: Class 172, Class 315, Class 317 and Class 378 (all in progress)
Manufacturer: Bombardier Transportation
Maximum speed: 75mph
Lines served: London Overground
Last refurbishment: n/a as they are still being built
Total built: 54 are planned
Formed of: 4/5 coaches to fit within the tight platform spaces
Type: Stopping service train
Some Facts...
There is only one tunnel on the line and it is named Stoke tunnel. It's 330m in length built by Peter Bruff for Ipswich and Bury Railway back in the day. Various animal fossils were discovered and later became vital for climate change when Ice Age began...The Great Eastern Main Line is among one of the busiest railway lines in the UK containing many uses for daily passengers and those that wish to take a visit to the seaside. Maximum speed for the line is 100mph. Though the Class 90 surpasses that - 110mph. I know what you are probably thinking. "Why not make it 125mph!" Okay. Firstly, the train is not a Pendolino (Class 390 - yep those). Secondly, it doesn't have the tilting capabilities to do all that magic. Finally, it could cause derailments onto the track. 100mph is as good as it gets. Funnily enough, Virgin Trains operated a "Pretendlino" livery on a Class 90! The result was due to a derailment. Click here for more information.
Ilford Depot was where the Fairlop Loop became accessible at the time. It connected freight and passenger stock from Seven Kings onto the Woodford and Ongar branch. The line opened on the 20 April 1903 to freight. Before a few weeks later (1st May) allowed passenger usage. Today it is renamed as Hainault Loop mainly in use for Central Line services going towards Woodford and Central London.
Summary
- The GEML opened in 1862
- Part of 7 major lines in the UK
- It had to be upgraded to meet the current railway standards e.g. signal boxes, overhead wires
- Plays a role today for passenger and freight stock
- Greater Anglia to bring stock suiting the passengers needs
- Fairlop Loop was formed near Ilford Depot
- The future will see modern trains on the GEML
Well would you believe it, you reached the end! Thank you once again for reading my blogs. I will continue posting whenever I can.
P.S. I will miss the old stock on the line. The Class 360s are not even that old. Either way as a passenger, I'm sure you will appreciate this in the years to come. Sooner or later.
Thank you for reading!
Happy riding! :)
