South Eastern Trains

South Eastern Trains (SET) was a British train operating company who provided train services in the south-east of England including Kent, parts of East Sussex, and the South-East London commuter routes. The London termini of these services are Charing Cross, Blackfriars, Cannon Street, and Victoria. SET operated on 773 miles (1237 km) of tracks, with 178 stations. 82% of their train services ran into London.

History

SET was a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) until franchise was re-privatised on 1 April 2006. It assumed the services following the withdrawal of Connex South Eastern’s franchise on 9 November 2003. Part of the company’s public information leaflet at the time stated that SET ‘will operate the franchise until a private company is appointed to manage the new Integrated Kent Franchise (IKF)’. Some trade unions, such as the RMT, opposed the plans to re-privatise (April 2004), and campaigned for SET to continue under public ownership.

Train fares, staff and schedules remained the same. In the ensuing 18 months the company announced staffing changes involving station staffs, but pointed out that 400 more staff were employed: 90 new jobs involved in station security and ‘revenue protection’ were created. Press articles claimed that large-scale cuts in services would be undertaken; in response to strenuous opposition by local councils, these were modified to some extent been, although some fears remained about the services in the Thames Gateway area. Two stations are to close, although services on the Sheerness branch line from the Isle of Sheppey, which currently terminate at Sittingbourne, are to be extended to Dover.

The routes across Kent are a legacy of the conflict between the London, Chatham and Dover Railway and South Eastern Railway, leaving several towns with more than one railway station. The two companies effectively merged in 1899 into the South Eastern and Chatham Railway. This allowed some rationalisation (eg in Thanet, Sevenoaks, Ashford and Rochester) but this was never completed leaving a legacy of competing / unconnected routes (eg Gravesend, Canterbury, Whistable, and Maidstone). Upon grouping in 1923, the SECR was Incorporated into the Southern Railway. Around half the network was electrified at 750v DC third rail by World War Two (London to; Gillingham, Maidstone East, Maidstone West and Sevenoaks). The rest of the network was electrified under British Rail’s 1955 modernisation plan. Freight only lines and the Marshlink line were not electrified (Marshlink is now operated by Southern).

Under privatisation in 1996 the franchise was awarded to Connex as Connex South Eastern but the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) stripped them of franchise in June 2003 citing ‘poor financial management’, setting up the SRA-owned South Eastern Trains. During this period the very large fleet of Mk1 Slam door stock was replaced by modern Electrostar sets. This required significant power upgrades. At the same time with the construction of the Channel Tunnel, and the gap between the complete opening of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link, meant significant power upgrades were required over two main lines to allow Eurostars to access Waterloo and the reopening of the section Gravesend Branch Line.

As of 1 April 2006, the SET franchise has been transferred Govia, who operate it under the name Southeastern.

Train routes

Main lines

From London termini (Victoria, London Bridge, Waterloo East, Charing Cross, Blackfriars, and Cannon Street) unless otherwise stated;

North Kent Line - services via Dartford to Gillingham
Chatham Main Line - services via Bromley South and Chatham, dividing at Faversham to Ramsgate and Dover
Ashford via Maidstone East Line
Ashford via Sevenoaks (see London to Ashford to Dover Line)
- Ashford to Ramsgate (via Canterbury West) line
- Ashford to Ramsgate (via Folkestone and Dover) line (Kent Coast Line)
Ashford via East Croydon and Redhill
Hastings Line (Hastings via Tunbridge Wells)
London Bridge to Tunbridge Wells (via Redhill and East Croydon) - uses part of the Brighton Main Line
Horsham to Tunbridge Wells (via Gatwick and Redhill) - uses part of the Brighton Main Line

Suburban lines

The suburban services (called ‘Metro’ in the SET timetables) run to:

Sevenoaks: two services - one via Grove Park, and one via Bromley South
Hayes line
Mid-Kent Line
Orpington via Lewisham and via Bromley South
Swanley
Dartford via: North Kent Line; the Bexleyheath Line and the Dartford Loop Line.
Bromley North Line

Rural lines

Medway Valley Line, some services extend to Tonbridge, and the occasional service to Gatwick
Sheerness Line

Rolling stock

Current fleet

- bgcolor=#f9f9f9	Class	Type	Top speed		Number	Cars per Set	Seating arrangement	Number of Seats	Routes operated	Built	- bgcolor=#f9f9f9	mph	km/h
Class 375/3 Electrostar Express	Class	Type	Electric multiple unit	100	Number	Cars per Set	Seating arrangement	Number of Seats	Routes operated	Built	160	10	3	2+2	176 seats (164 std + 12 first)	Entire SET network ?	2001-2002
Class 375/6 Electrostar Express	Electric multiple unit	100	160	30	4	2+2	242 seats (218 std + 24 first)	Entire SET network ?	1999-2001
Class 375/7 Electrostar Express	Electric multiple unit	100	160	15	4	2+2	242 seats (218 std + 24 first)	Entire SET network ?	2001-2002
Class 375/8 Electrostar Express	Electric multiple unit	100	160	30	4	2+2	242 seats (218 std + 24 first)	Entire SET network ?	2004-2005
Class 375/9 Electrostar Outer suburban	Electric multiple unit	100	160	27	4	2+3	277 seats (253 std + 24 first)	Entire SET network ?	2003-2004
Class 376 Suburban Electrostar	Electric multiple unit	75	120	36 ^*	5	2+2	344 seats (216 std + 12 tip-up + 116 perch)	Metro lines	2004-2005
Class 465 Networker	Electric multiple unit	75	120	147	4	?	?	Non-Metro routes	?
Class 466 Networker	Electric multiple unit	75	120	43	2	?	?	Non-Metro routes	?
Class 508 Networker	Electric multiple unit	75	120	12	3	?	?	Medway Valley Line and extension on to Tonbridge, and Gatwick Airport / Horsham. Sheerness Line	?

Past fleet

Class 365 Networker Express - transferred to WAGN in 2004 ^*
Class 411 4Cep - withdrawn by mid-2005
Class 421 4Cig - withdrawn by late-2004
Class 423 4Vep - withdrawn by late-2005

Integrated Kent Franchise

South Eastern Trains has been succeeded by the Integrated Kent Franchise, which will encompass all of their current services as well as domestic high-speed trains running between Kent and London on the Channel Tunnel Rail Link. The franchise was put out to tender on 18 January 2005.

Bids were submitted to the Strategic Rail Authority by April 2005, from Govia (the operators of Southern), DSB/Stagecoach, GNER/MTR, and First.

On 30 November 2005, the Department for Transport announced that the franchise had been awarded to Govia. ^* Operations commenced 1 April 2006 and will last for six years, with an automatic extension of another two years if performance targets are met. This means that the franchise is likely to run until 31 March 2014.

Govia operate the franchise under the name Southeastern, in keeping with their other franchise, Southern. The company's formal name is London and South Eastern Railway. ^*

As part of the new franchise, Southeastern will also operate the Olympic Javelin, a high-speed train between St Pancras station and Ebbsfleet International station, via Stratford International station, which will be situated close to the main venues of the 2012 Summer Olympics.

South Eastern Trains have ordered 28 Shinkansen-derived high-speed trains from Hitachi, which will be used to operate the domestic Channel Tunnel Rail Link services. ^* High-speed services are expected to begin in 2008, but according to the South Eastern Trains passenger magazine Get SET, the first trains will be delivered in 2007 for testing. This is Hitachi’s first train sale in Britain.

External links

Transport in Kent | Post-privatisation British railway companies

South Eastern Trains | South Eastern Trains

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