The two Southend to London routes are bucking the trend of falling passenger numbers into London, as THEO STEEL explains
The 2018 Golden Whistles awards celebrated c2c’s return to the top of the punctuality league. The operator recorded an ‘On Time’ Moving Annual Average (MAA) of 83.7% for the year to the end of Period 9 (9 December 2017); the On Time measure records punctuality at most station stops. c2c is also now top of the Transport Focus National Rail Passenger Survey for commuter routes, at 90%.
In performance terms, Greater Anglia and TfL Rail (the Crossrail operator) are also not far behind. This is despite the Crossrail and overhead line equipment replacement works which have been taking place on the Great Eastern route.
Most of c2c’s passenger rolling stock comprises Class 357 EMUs, now in mid-life and no longer the most reliable, although still achieving 50,000 Miles per Technical Incident (MTIN).
There are also the six Class 387 units drafted in in 2017 to handle the growth in traffic. A fleet of 6x10-car Aventras is now on order for delivery in 2021 to work alongside the ‘357’ fleet.
On the Great Eastern, the Class 345s for the Elizabeth Line are being phased in to work the Shenfield servi…
