:East Anglia is often used as a shorthand for the Kingdom of the East Angles. East Anglia is a traditional name for a region of eastern England, named after an ancient Anglo-Saxon kingdom, the Kingdom of the East Angles. The Angles took their name from their homeland Angeln, in northern Germany. East Anglia initially consisted of Norfolk and Suffolk, but upon the marriage of the East Anglian princess Etheldreda, the Isle of Ely also became part of the kingdom. Formerly a standard statistical region, for administrative purposes East Anglia now forms part of the East of England government office region and is defined as a Level 2 Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics, comprising the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire including the city of Peterborough unitary authority area.

History

The Kingdom of the East Angles, formed about the year 520 by the merging of the North and the South Folk (Angles who had settled in the former lands of the Iceni during the previous century) was one of the seven Anglo-Saxon heptarchy kingdoms (as defined in the 12th century writings of Henry of Huntingdon). For a brief period following a victory over the rival kingdom of Northumbria around the year 616, East Anglia was the most powerful of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England, and its king Raedwald was Bretwalda (overlord of the Anglo-Saxons kingdoms). But this did not last: over the next forty years, East Anglia was defeated by the Mercians twice, and it continued to weaken relative to the other kingdoms until in 794, Offa of Mercia had its king Æthelberht killed and took control of the kingdom himself.

The independence of the East Anglians was restored by a successful rebellion against Mercia (825–827), in the course of which two Mercian kings were killed attempting to crush it. On 20 November 869 the Danes killed King Edmund and took the kingdom, which they named East Anglia (see Ivar the Boneless). The Anglo-Saxons retook the area in 920, only to lose it again in 1015–1017, when it was conquered by Canute the Great and given as a fiefdom to Thorkell the Tall, who was made Jarl of East Anglia in 1017.

Much of East Anglia (including parts of Lincolnshire) consisted of marshland and bogs until the 17th century, despite the construction of early sea barriers by the Roman Empire. During the 17th century the alluvial land was converted into arable land by means of systematic drainage using a collection of drains and river diversions. In the 1630s thousands of Puritan families from East Anglia settled in the American region of New England, taking much East Anglian culture with them. East Anglia, with much of its earnings based on wool and textiles, was a rich area of England until the effects of the Industrial Revolution moved manufacturing to the Midlands and the North.

During the Second World War, the RAF and the United States Air Force constructed many air bases in East Anglia for the heavy bomber fleets of the Combined Bomber Offensive against Nazi-occupied Europe. East Anglia was chosen because it had considerable open space and level terrain and it was relatively close to mainland Europe, thus shortening flights and allowing for greater bomb loads. Remnants of some of these bases are still visible. Pillboxes which were erected in 1940 to help defend the nation against invasion can also be found throughout the region at strategic points.

Population

Essex has a population of about 1,700,000, Norfolk 850,000, Suffolk 715,000, Cambridgeshire 769,000, giving a total population of approximately 3.4 million.

In recent years there has been a tendency to create the East of England, which adds Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire to the East Anglian counties.

Geography

Parts of this region of England are characterised by the flatness of the land, partly consisting of fenland and reclaimed marshland, though much of Suffolk and Norfolk is gently undulating.

The East Anglian cities include Norwich, the East of England Regional Assembly is seated in Bury St. Edmunds), Peterborough, Ely and Cambridge. Chelmsford, Ipswich and Huntingdon are major towns.

Although water plays a significant role in the fenland and broadland landscapes, the area is among the driest in the United Kingdom. During the summer months, tinder-dry conditions are frequently experienced, on occasions resulting in field and heath fires.

Maximum temperature ranges from 5–10 °C (41–50 °F) in the winter to 20–25 °C (68–77 °F) in the summer, although temperatures have been known to reach 35 °C (95 °F) in recent years. Sunshine totals tend to be higher towards the coastal areas.

Major rivers include the River_Stour,_Suffolk runs through John_Constable country. The Nene and Great Ouse have a tributary River_Cam at Cambridge. River_Colne,_Essex at Colchester, River_Can and River_Chelmer at Chelmsford, River_Orwell serves Ipswich. The Norfolk and Suffolk Broads form a network of waterways between Norwich and the coast and are popular for recreational boating. A recent bid to have them declared a national park failed, as it would have given conservation concerns priority over navigation rights.

The flatness of the Norfolk is noted in Noel Coward's Private Lives - "Very flat, Norfolk" - and the history of its waterways and drainage forms the backdrop to Graham Swift's Waterland.

Farming and horticulture have always been successful in this fertile region. The landscape of Cambridgeshire and Norfolk has been heavily influenced by Dutch technology, from the influx of clay pantiles to the draining of the fens. It has a wide range of small-scale holiday destinations ranging from traditional coastal resorts Clacton, Southend, Walton in Essex, Felixstowe and Lowestoft, together with small fishing villages Aldeburgh, Southwold in Suffolk and Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, together with historic towns such as Britain's oldest recorded town Colchester, Bury St. Edmunds, Cambridge, Ely and King's Lynn to the modern holiday villas of Center Parcs set in Thetford Forest.

The Royal Air Force constructed many airfields in this area during the Second World War and a few of these remain in use. One, near Norwich, has become Norwich International Airport.

Universities

Essex_University is in Colchester, University_Campus_Suffolk is in Ipswich. The University of East Anglia is situated in Norwich, Anglia Ruskin University located in Cambridge and Chelmsford, Cambridge_University.

Three Crowns

The East Anglian flag as it is known today was invented by George Henry Langham and adopted by the London Society of East Anglians. It was first mentioned in print in 1900 and was flown locally in various places in Norfolk, but has no official status. It draws upon the coat of arms of the Wuffingas dynasty: three crowns in a blue shield, the colour of the Swedish flag, superimposed on a St. George's cross. The device refers to an old legend of the three crowns of East Anglia, and the blue colour represents the Anglo-Scandinavian heritage of much of East Anglia.

The three crowns of East Anglia appear, carved in stone, on the baptismal font(c.1400) in the parish church of Saxmundham, in Suffolk.

The crowns also appear in the arms of the borough of Bury St. Edmunds and the University of East Anglia.

See also

Kings of East Anglia

Earls of East Anglia

Roman Catholic Diocese of East Anglia

University of East Anglia

East Anglian Brigade

East Anglian English

Parish Pump (CGA series)

References

External links

Category:Regions of England Category:NUTS 2 statistical regions of the United Kingdom Category:Archaeology of East Anglia

br:Rouantelezh East Anglia ca:Ànglia de l'Est cy:Dwyrain Anglia da:East Anglia de:East Anglia es:Anglia Oriental eo:East Anglia fr:Est-Anglie is:Austur-Anglía it:Anglia orientale he:מזרח אנגליה la:Anglia orientalis ja:イースト・アングリア no:East Anglia pl:Anglia Wschodnia (kraina) pt:Ânglia Oriental simple:East Anglia fi:East Anglia sv:East Anglia

{{infobox rail companies | name	National Express East Anglia | bgcolor | image_filename DSC01245-2.jpg | widthpx 300px | franchise Greater Anglia1 April 2004 - 5 February 2012 | logo_filename NX-East-Anglia.png | nameforarea region | regions East of England | secregions London | fleet 296 (+1 on order) | stations 168 | abbr LE | parent_company National Express Group | website www.nationalexpresseastanglia.com | map }}

National Express East Anglia (commonly abbreviated to NXEA) is the brand name of London Eastern Railway Ltd, a British train operating company. It is part of the National Express Group and was branded as 'one' from 1 April 2004 to 26 February 2008. It provides local, suburban and express services from Liverpool Street station in the City of London to destinations in the railway franchise known as the Greater Anglia network, stretching from north and east Greater London to Essex, Hertfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Suffolk and Norfolk in the East of England (East Anglia).

History

The franchise began on 1 April 2004 and is due to run until 5 February 2012. It combined the services previously operated by Anglia Railways, First Great Eastern and the West Anglia (WA) division of WAGN. The large franchise was created in order to improve efficiency and reliability as part of a move to reduce the number of train operating companies providing services from a single London terminal. As a result of the new franchise, the number of operators on the Great Eastern Main Line was reduced, with the company operating most services on the line.

On 26 November 2009, the Department for Transport announced that National Express East Anglia was to lose its franchise in March 2011 rather than be granted an extension to operate it until 2014, which had previously been an option. The decision follows the failure of sister company National Express East Coast, even though National Express East Anglia had met all of its targets required for the franchise to be extended.

From December 2010 the through service to London from Lowestoft ceased operation.

On 18 June 2010, following the 2010 General Election, the Department for Transport announced that the replacement process for the two remaining National Express franchises would be "put on hold". This could result in the National Express franchise continuing to operate after 31 March 2011, the date the DfT initially stated that National Express would lose the franchise on.

On 24 March 2011 it was announced that National Express was unsuccessful in acquiring the rights to continue the franchise, resulting in the company losing the right to continue running its services. The current franchise will end on 5 February 2012. The new franchise will run for 17 months, with an optional one-year extension. The short period is to allow for the publishing of proposed changes to rail franchises and their implementation. The bidders are Abellio, Go-Ahead and Stagecoach.

Brand identity

'one' brand

The area names from the former franchises were initially retained by the new franchise. However, all services other than Stansted Express were later branded simply ‘one’, reflecting the union of the three smaller franchises into one single franchise. This led to passenger confusion as they were unable to establish for example whether the announcer was saying the 07:20 "one" service would be delayed, or the 07:21 service. On 12 November 2007 it was announced that, as part of a company-wide re-branding exercise, National Express would change the name of the company to National Express East Anglia on 27 February 2008. On 11 December 2007 the first Class 90 locomotive to be re-liveried was rolled out of Crown Point depot in Norwich and was pictured in service the next day.

National Express East Anglia had poor industrial relations at the start of the franchise, with strikes by guards and drivers relating to ticket machines and rest day working respectively, but these issues were later resolved. Changes to the timetable were implemented in December 2005 in accordance with DfT requirements, which left some stations without any off-peak service, although a new route was introduced between and Stratford. Other timetable changes resulted in reduced access to the Berney Marshes by means of Berney Arms railway station but an extra 3,000 seats on the West Anglia Route.

The former InterCity trains inherited by National Express East Anglia on the Great Eastern Main Line used locomotive-hauled Mark 2 sets of coaches. The Mark 2 sets were replaced with ex-Virgin Trains Mark 3 sets and all 116 Mark 3 coaches were refurbished. Replacing the Class 86 locomotives and Mk2s with Class 90s and Mk3s from the WCML was criticised as a result of their poorer condition resulting from a lack of maintenance and cleaning before they were withdrawn from service with Virgin.

National Express East Anglia also received criticism for its references to "newer" trains, since the Mk3s are in fact only a few years newer than the Mk2s, in some cases being introduced just one year later. These changes did result in improvements though: the Class 90s were probably the main factor in the 17% improvement in the 'miles per 5-minute delay' figure in the year up to October 2006, but this still left the operator behind all the other ex-InterCity services, in terms of performance, as reported in the January 2007 edition of Modern Railways.

'National Express East Anglia' brand

It was announced on 12 November 2007 that, as part of a company-wide re-branding exercise, National Express was to change the name of One to National Express East Anglia with effect from February 2008.

Services

In addition to its domestic services, the company is also a partner with Stena Line and Nederlandse Spoorwegen in the Dutchflyer service. All the London services use Liverpool Street as their terminus. This station is visited by 123 million people a year.

1 train per hour

colspan="3" style="background:Red; color:White"	Southend & Metro
Route	Frequency
Liverpool Street station	London Liverpool Street to
to Upminster station	Upminster	2 trains per hour
Liverpool Street station	London Liverpool Street to
to	Every 40 minutes
colspan="3" style="background:LawnGreen; color:Black" >Mainline
Route	Frequency	Calling at
Liverpool Street station	London Liverpool Street to <
Liverpool Street station	London Liverpool Street to
Liverpool Street station	London Liverpool Street to
Liverpool Street station	London Liverpool Street to
Liverpool Street station	London Liverpool Street to
to	1 train per hour
to	1 train per hour
to	1 train per hour
colspan="3" style="background:DeepSkyBlue; color:White" >Rural
Route	Frequency	Calling at
<	to	1 train per hour
to	2 hourly (alternates with service below)
to	2 hourly (alternates with service above)
to	1 train per hour
to	2 hourly
to	1 train per hour
to	1 train per hour
to	1 train per hour
to	1 train per hour
colspan="3" style="background:Indigo; color:White" >West Anglia
Route	Frequency	Calling at
Liverpool Street station	London Liverpool Street to <
Liverpool Street station	London Liverpool Street to
Liverpool Street station	London Liverpool Street to via Seven Sisters
Liverpool Street station	London Liverpool Street to
Liverpool Street station	London Liverpool Street to Semi-fast
Liverpool Street station	London Liverpool Street to Slow	| Tottenham Hale, , , , , , , , , , Newport, , , ,
Stratford station	Stratford to
colspan="3" style="background:White; color:Black" >Stansted Express
Route	Frequency	Calling at
Liverpool Street station	London Liverpool Street to

Former Anglia franchise

Intercity Great Eastern Main Line services to Chelmsford, Colchester, Ipswich and Norwich as well as local services in Suffolk and Norfolk

Bittern Line (Norwich–Cromer–Sheringham)

Breckland Line (Norwich-Ely (continuing to Cambridge)

East Suffolk Line (Ipswich–Lowestoft continuing to London Liverpool Street)

Ely to Peterborough Line (Ely-Peterborough)

Felixstowe Branch Line (Ipswich–Felixstowe)

Ipswich to Ely Line (Ipswich–Bury St. Edmunds, continuing to Ely/Newmarket–Cambridge)

Wherry Lines (Norwich–Great Yarmouth / Lowestoft)

Former Great Eastern franchise

Great Eastern Main Line to Chelmsford, Colchester, Clacton-on-Sea and Ipswich.

'Shenfield Metro' service Liverpool Street-Shenfield (service to be taken over by Crossrail in 2016)

Upminster Branch Line (Romford–Upminster)

Shenfield to Southend Line (Shenfield–Southend Victoria)

Crouch Valley Line (Shenfield–Wickford–Southminster)

Braintree Branch Line (Witham–Braintree)

Gainsborough Line (Marks Tey–Sudbury)

Sunshine Coast Line (Colchester–Colchester Town–Clacton-on-Sea and Walton-on-the-Naze)

Mayflower Line (Manningtree–Harwich)

Former West Anglia franchise

Lea Valley Lines (London to Seven Sisters / Tottenham / Chingford / Enfield / Cheshunt). Also services on the Hertford East Branch Line

Local services from Liverpool Street to Stansted Airport

Stratford to Stansted Airport

West Anglia Main Line London – Harlow – Cambridge (and limited service to King's Lynn)

Stansted Express sub-brand

Express Rail Air Link Service between Liverpool Street and Stansted Airport

Rolling stock

The company operates a fleet of Class 153, 156 and 170 DMUs for the local lines, with Class 315, 317, 321, 360, 379 EMUs for the mainline commuter services, and Class 90 locomotives with Mark 3 coaching stock for the intercity services.

The Class 170s are used predominantly on longer services, as they have slower acceleration than the Class 153 and 156 stock, meaning they cannot stick to the timetables of the many local lines.

Current fleet

Class	Image	Cars per set	Type	Top speed		Number	Routes operated	Built
				!mph	!km/h
			Shunter			Shunting at Norwich Crown Point	1953-1962
			diesel locomotive				1962–1968
			electric locomotive				1987–1990
			diesel multiple unit			Ipswich - Lowestoft,Ipswich - Felixstowe,Norwich - Great Yarmouth,Norwich - Lowestoft,Norwich - Sheringham,Sudbury - Marks Tey	1987–1988
			diesel multiple unit			Ipswich - Lowestoft,Ipswich - Felixstowe,Norwich - Great Yarmouth,Norwich - Lowestoft,Norwich - Sheringham,Sudbury - Marks Tey	1987–1989
			diesel multiple unit			Cambridge - Norwich,Ipswich - Cambridge,Ipswich - Peterborough,Ipswich - Lowestoft , Norwich - Great Yarmouth , Norwich - Lowestoft , Norwich - Sheringham	1999–2002
			electric multiple unit			London - Shenfield,London - Hertford EastLondon - Enfield Town,London - Chingford, London - CheshuntLondon - Southminster	1980–1981
			electric multiple unit			London - Stansted Airport,London - Cambridge,London - Hertford East,Romford - Upminster	1981–19821985–1987
			electric multiple unit			London - Braintree,London - Ipswich,London - Southend Victoria,London - Clacton,Colchester - Walton-on-Naze,Manningtree - Harwich,Wickford - Southminster	1988–1991
			electric multiple unit			London - Ipswich,London - Clacton,London - Colchester TownManningtree - Harwich	2002–2003
			electric multiple unit			London - Stansted AirportLondon - CambridgeLondon - Hertford East	2010–2011
rowspan=2						Great Eastern Main Line	1975–1988
		[[Driving Van Trailer				1988

Past fleet

!Class	!Image	!Type	!Built	!Withdrawn
		Electric locomotive	1965–1966	2005
		Diesel multiple unit	1984–1987	2004
		electric multiple unit	1975–1978	2004
rowspan=2			1964–1975	2005
	Driving Brake Standard Open	1979–1986	2006

Diagrams

Class 360: Class 321:

Future fleet

National Express are currently testing and have on order 28 Class 379s. Two are already in service and the rest will be introduced across 2011. The trains will run on the West Anglia routes to Stansted Airport and Cambridge, which will allow the release of a number of Class 317 units. The trains are being built by Bombardier Transportation at its Derby Litchurch Lane facility.

Performance

Infrastructure problems have affected performance. According to Network Rail, the main problems have been track-circuit failures, broken rails, track faults, points failures and overhead line equipment (OLE) failures. Network Rail, which is responsible for the infrastructure, intended to improve performance by work carried out during a planned closure of London Liverpool Street station over Christmas and New Year 2007/8. This allowed much of the outer London overhead line equipment to be replaced by modern, self-tensioning lines. The work was carried out, but over-ran at short notice by some 24 hours, causing ridicule in the national press.

Detailed figures (from the January edition of Modern Railways) of the miles covered per 5-minute delay for the year ending October 2009 showed that the most reliable trains in the fleet were again the Class 360 Desiros (mainly Clacton-on-Sea - London Liverpool Street), which achieved over 38,000 miles per 5-minute delay. The 'workhorse' Class 321s by comparison returned some 21,500 miles per 5-minute delay, while the 'Inter-City' Class 90 locomotive-hauled Norwich - Liverpool Street trains came in at some 14,000 miles per 5-minute delay - this last figure being a 35% improvement on last year's 10,400. The Class 90 locomotives won the Silver Spanner award for InterCity rolling stock at the Annual National Rail Awards 2009.

For the 12 months to 8 December 2007, the average punctuality for all services was 89.6%. Where delays occur, the company has paid compensation to those who request it as part of its Passengers' Charter.

The latest performance figures for the fourth quarter of the 2010-11 year released by the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) were 90.2% for the public performance measure (PPM) for the quarter and 90.2% for the moving annual average (MAA) for the twelve months up to the end of the fourth quarter. The PPM is up slightly compared to the previous quarter. Passenger satisfaction with the company in 2010 was the second lowest in the UK, at 79%.

Compensation

National Express East Anglia operates a Delay Repay scheme under the terms of its Passengers' Charter which is more generous than the minimum provided for by the National Rail Conditions of Carriage. However it does mean passengers have to remember to claim compensation whereas the majority of the other train operating companies automatically provide compensation on season ticket renewals.

Gallery

References

External links

National Express East Anglia Official website

{{s-ttl|rows=3|title=Operator of Greater Anglia franchise |years=2004 - February 2012}} |- |-

Category:National Express Group companies Category:Railway operators in London Category:Train operating companies

de:National Express East Anglia fr:National Express East Anglia nl:National Express East Anglia no:National Express East Anglia pl:National Express East Anglia simple:National Express East Anglia

company name	National Express Group plc |
company logo	200px|
company type	Public ()
foundation	1972 (National Express Branding) 1992 as National Express Group plc
location	Birmingham, England
key people	John Devaney(Chairman)Dean Finch(Chief executive)
area served	United Kingdom, Spain and North America
industry	Public Transport
products	Bus, Train and Tram Services
revenue	£2,125.9 million (2010)
operating income	£204.2 million (2010)
net income	£62.3 million (2010)
num employees	40,000 (2010)
homepage	nationalexpressgroup.com Corporate Site nationalexpress.com Consumer Portal nationalexpresscorp.com North America Operations
footnotes	}}

National Express Group plc () is a British transport group with headquarters 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. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.

History

The National Express brand was created in 1972 by the state-owned National Bus Company (NBC) to bring together the express bus and coach services operated by the bus operating companies within the NBC group. The National Express network was largely a branding and management exercise, with services continuing to be operated by the individual companies.

With the privatisation of the NBC in the 1980s, National Express was subject to a management buy-out in 1988. The management team began to diversify, and acquired the bus company Crosville Wales, but its financial performance began to deteriorate from early 1990. A new management team took over the company in 1991, with the backing of development and venture capital investors. The new team refocused the group on its core activities and sold Crosville Wales. In 1992, National Express Group PLC was floated on the London Stock Exchange with a remit to acquire new businesses in the passenger transport market.

Acquisitions

In 1993 the group acquired Eurolines and East Midlands Airport, although the latter has since been sold.

In 1995, West Midlands Travel, the formerly municipally-owned bus network of Birmingham and the West Midlands, was acquired and renamed Travel West Midlands in September 1996. This began the brand family of Travel ... local bus operations. Since then Travel Coventry has been spun out of Travel West Midlands, and Travel Dundee and Travel London have been acquired.

In 1996 the group acquired its first UK rail franchises, Gatwick Express and Midland Mainline. Since then seven further franchises have been added, and rail services now account for the largest portion of the group's activity.

In 2005 National Express agreed to buy most of operations of privately owned Spanish transport operator ALSA, which operates bus and coach services in Spain, Portugal and Morocco, and long-distance coach services to other parts of Europe. Alsa's operations in South America and China were retained by the previous owners.

Also in mid 2005, the group bought the London buses arm of Tellings Golden Miller and branded it Travel London. This included a number of services in South West London and Surrey.

In 2007 National Express acquired Continental Auto, the second largest bus and coach operator in Spain.

The group has also moved into operations outside Europe. At one time it had extensive bus, rail and tram operations in Australia, but with the collapse of the group there, all operations were either sold off or had control returned to the State Government (see the "Australian operations" section below). Only one bus operator was retained, Westbus in Australia. It led to a strange situation developing, as Westbus at the time of acquisition owned a subsidiary operation in London, called Westbus in Australia that still operates and is managed from Sydney.

Restructuring

On 11 November 2007, National Express Group announced plans to re-brand their constituent companies under a new unified National Express identity. This is intended to achieve greater recognition for all the group companies, to coincide with recent rail acquisitions and after current rail operations had improved in reliability to warrant association with the established express coach image. It also coincides with the appointment of a group director for all UK operations and relocation of the head office from Victoria in London to Birmingham, bringing all operations under a single strategic management structure. Day to day management remains within individual companies.

On 21 May 2009, National Express Group agreed to sell Travel London to NedRailways (now Abellio), a subsidiary of NS Dutch Railways, for a price of £32 million. The sale includes the 66 bus routes in London and Surrey. All vehicles and premises used were sold, and all staff transferred to NedRailways.

July 2009 nationalisation of the East Coast Line

On 1 July 2009, the Department for Transport announced that it would take the London-to-Edinburgh route into public ownership at the end of the year, and the contract would be put back out to tender at the end of 2010. Further controversy ensued when, on 27 July 2009, the Commons Transport Committee said that ministers should consider operating the East Coast Main Line as a public railway after National Express announced they would walk away. The committee said it was "unacceptable" that the company might be able to "cling on" to its other rail franchises, including the London to Tilbury and Southend route. The East Coast left the National Express group on the 14 November 2009. Also in November 2009, the government announced that it was to terminate their other franchises in 2011, c2c and National Express East Anglia, at which point they would be put out to tender and National Express Group would not be permitted to rebid. This decision was widely expected after defaulting on the National Express East Coast franchise and having to surrender it.

Operational safety concerns

In July 2009, a junior transport minister, the Gillingham MP Paul Clark, spelt out a series of concerns to National Express in a letter following a meeting with an employee of National Express East Coast who lives in his constituency. The worker claimed that due to reduced maintenance checks, some trains were in use with defective brakes, an allegation strongly denied by the company, which said it would "never compromise on safety". He wrote: "As a result of reduced maintenance checks, 'some long-haul sets [trains] are in use with brake defects'. Increasing cuts in staff combined with an increasing pressure to ensure that trains run safely has resulted in fears among staff that a major accident is 'just around the corner'." Passengers, he added, "have been 'poisoned' as a result of coffee machines not being cleaned correctly, with cleaning fluids left in situ". The minister said he was "shocked and appalled at the information with which I've been provided. You will understand that these allegations are exceptionally serious".

Offers for the company

On 29 June 2009, National Express rejected a takeover bid from fellow transport operator FirstGroup, saying it didn't "consider it appropriate" at the present time to discuss a takeover. This was followed in August 2009 by its main shareholder Spain's Cosmen family & CVC Capital Partners for £765 million. The UK Takeover Panel set a deadline of 11 September 2009 for all prospective bids.

The Group agreed to open its books to the Cosmen and CVC consortium on 10 September 2009, though had reportedly been looking into selling its bus and rail franchises to rival Stagecoach Group, according to The Times. The deadline for bids was subsequently extended to 16 October 2009.

The consortium led by the Cosmen family abandoned their bid on 16 October 2009, leading to a drop in shares of 26%. Stagecoach later submitted a new solo all-share bid. The company had initially ruled out making an independent bid, and had agreed with the Cosmen consortium to purchase the group's rail and bus services.

Operations

The Company's operations are summarised below:

UK and Europe

Bus and coach services

The bus and coach services operated by the group are:

Bus operations

AirLinks (contract bus operation at UK airports)

National Express Dundee (bus operation in and around Dundee, Scotland, UK)

* Travel Greyhound (coach arm of National Express Dundee)

*G&N; Wishart (Rural bus and coach arm of National Express Dundee)

National Express West Midlands (Major bus operations in Birmingham and the West Midlands, UK)

* National Express Coventry (bus operation in and around Coventry, UK - A subsidiary of National Express West Midlands)

Continental Auto (bus operation in Spain)

Coach operations

Eurolines (express coach services between the UK and other European countries)

National Express Coaches (long distance express and airport coach services in the UK)

ALSA (coach services in Spain and Western Europe)

The King's Ferry (commuter services and private coach hire)

Tram and railway services

The tram and railway services operated by the group are:

Tram services

Travel Midland Metro (Midland Metro light rail system in the West Midlands, UK)

Railway services

c2c (passenger rail operation in the UK)

Maintrain (train maintenance in the UK)

National Express East Anglia (passenger rail operation in the UK)

* Stansted Express (sub brand of National Express East Anglia)

London and Continental Railways

The structure of LCR is complex due to numerous reorganisations, for example SNCF is involved in the Eurostar operation at three different levels. shareholders in LCR in 2006 were:

Rail Link Engineering (RLE)

National Express Group

SNCF

EDF Energy

UBS

Since the 1998 reorganisation the operation of EUKL has run as under a management contract, expiring in 2010, by InterCapital and Regional Rail (ICRR). ICRR shareholders are:

National Express Group (40%)

SNCF (35%)

NMBS/SNCB (15%)

British Airways (10%)

Operation of the line is undertaken by Network Rail under a contract lasting until 2086, when LCR's concession ends too, and all rights return to the British Government.

This structure will change as per the announcement made in June 2009.

USA and Canada

Bus and coach services

ATC (transit and paratransit bus operation in the US)

Durham School Services (school bus operation in the US)

Stock Transportation (school bus operation in Canada)

Former operations

UK rail franchises

Rail franchises lost in refranchising include:

ScotRail passed to First Group in October 2004

Wales and Borders passed to Arriva in December 2003

WAGN split into two parts - First Group took over the Great Northern services in April 2006

Wessex Trains, absorbed into First Great Western in April 2006

In November 2007 several franchises were lost in a general restructure of franchises:

Central Trains split between London Midland, East Midlands Trains and CrossCountry

Midland Mainline absorbed into East Midlands Trains franchise

Silverlink split between London Overground and new franchise London Midland

In June 2008 Gatwick Express was absorbed into Southern franchise

In November 2009, National Express East Coast was handed over to the government owned East Coast, a subsidiary of Directly Operated Railways Limited, after National Express defaulted on the franchise earlier in 2009.

UK bus operations

In May 2009 National Express agreed to sell some of their bus operations so reduce some of their debts due to the recession at the time.

Travel London (bus operation under contract to London Buses in London, UK)

* Travel Surrey (bus operation Surrey and South West London, UK - A subsidiary of Travel London)

Airports

In the 1990s National Express Group moved into the privatisation of airports, eventually purchasing East Midlands Airport, Bournemouth Airport and Humberside Airport. In a move to concentrate on bus and rail provision, the airports were sold to Manchester Airports Group for £241 million in March 2001.

Until November 2007, the group also operated Stewart International Airport in New Windsor, New York. However, the lease was sold to the public Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

Australian operations

In 1999 the Group gained the Australian franchises M>Train, M>Tram and V/Line Passenger after privatisation by the Government of Victoria. After financial collapse of the Australian division, in 2003, the operations were handed back to the State Government. M>Train was passed on to Connex, and M>Tram to Yarra Trams.

Australian bus companies previously operated by the group include:

Westbus, Glenorie, and Hillsbus in Sydney sold to ComfortDelgro-Cabcharge Group

National Bus Company, Melbourne, sold to Ventura Bus Lines

National Bus Company, Brisbane, sold to Connex.

See also

Megabus

EasyBus

Stagecoach Express

List of bus companies in the United Kingdom

References

External links

National Express Group

National Express website

History of the National Express Group

National Express Twitter feed

Category:Transport operators of the United Kingdom Category:Bus groups in the United Kingdom Category:Companies listed on the London Stock Exchange Category:Companies based in London Category:Companies established in 1972

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