Rail reorganisation in Anglia

[Magdalia]

Greater Anglia, C2C and Network Rail Anglia have been brought together in a single organisational structure see here:

Greater Anglia, c2c and Network Rail Anglia to merge leadership

It is part of central government's plans to nationalise all of Britain's rail operators.

www.bbc.co.uk

Railway firms in the East of England have been aligned under one leadership team, as part of the government's nationalisation project.

Greater Anglia, c2c and Network Rail Anglia said the new structure would help deliver more reliable rail journeys for passengers.

The two operators serve passengers in London, Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk, Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire, while Network Rail Anglia looks after the infrastructure.

 

[Russel]

Greater Anglia, c2c and Network Rail Anglia said the new structure would help deliver more reliable rail journeys for passengers.

Why do they have to come out with nonsense like this, just be honest and say that in time there will be fewer manager, saving the Treasury money.

 

[Harpo]

Greater Anglia, c2c and Network Rail Anglia said the new structure would help deliver more reliable rail journeys for passengers.

Does that mean existing journeys will have improved reliabilty?, or an increase in the overall number of journeys, which will be reliable?

 

[WAB]

At the South Eastern Railway IBU, the reorg over time has developed to bring together:

• SE Train Planning and NR Access Planning
• SE Drivers and NR Signallers, MOMs and ECROs
• SE Control and NR Control
• SE Stations and NR Stations
• SE Fleet and NR Maintenance
• SE Commercial and NR Sponsorship
• along with shared corporate functions

The benefits of this should be obvious, and SER already has a litany of performance and experience wins linked to being able to work together. No doubt the Anglia Rlys IBU will be able to achieve similarly.

Anyone who has worked at the TOC-NR interface will agree that working as one team will have its benefits.

 

[vuzzeho]

Exciting to see how this will pan out. I wonder if there'll be any interesting quirks, like C2C 720s running on GA services or vice versa. That's probably unlikely until they're all blue, though.

 

[357]

That's probably unlikely until they're all blue, though.

I've worked for both TOCs in the past, and both have hired in stock from Silverlink!

It would very much make sense to have a common fleet of 720s. You could even park one/two units on the Bow single line in order to provide a hot spare for either route if needed.

GBR was known about before the c2c units were delivered and it was mentioned at the time that in future there would likely be the desire to have them fully interchangable - but c2c wanted to have various customisations compared to the GA units.

 

[720144]

Deleted.

 

[GraphitProjekt]

It would be interesting to see 357’s go beyond Forest Gate on the geml to Norwich & running the 745’s on the LTS to Shoeburyness.

I'd quite like an odd 357 at Norwich, they'd look good next to the EMR 170s.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 21 May 2026 ==

At the South Eastern Railway IBU, the reorg over time has developed to bring together:

• SE Train Planning and NR Access Planning
• SE Drivers and NR Signallers, MOMs and ECROs
• SE Control and NR Control

What are the differences between TOC and NwR control? I know that the ROC programme is meant to be about bringing them together so what does integration further than that look like?

 

[thomalex]

I'm still not sure what model they're moving to with GBR but I could see this as a move towards 'Anglia' or 'Eastern' being used as a brand for this area going forward.

 

[357]

It would be interesting to see 357’s go beyond Forest Gate on the geml to Norwich & running the 745’s on the LTS to Shoeburyness.

They've been to Chadwell Heath at least once

 

[LAX54]

I'm still not sure what model they're moving to with GBR but I could see this as a move towards 'Anglia' or 'Eastern' being used as a brand for this area going forward.

'British Rail (Anglia Region} ' once more ?

 

[Class 170101]

It would be interesting to see 357’s go beyond Forest Gate on the geml to Norwich & running the 745’s on the LTS to Shoeburyness.

They've been to Chadwell Heath at least once

Class 357s were diagrammed to operate between Southend Victoria and Liverpool Street on GE services approximately 2005/6 to cover for GE 321s borrowed by Silverlink as it was called then.

 

[357]

Class 357s were diagrammed to operate between Southend Victoria and Liverpool Street on GE services approximately 2005/6 to cover for GE 321s borrowed by Silverlink as it was called then.

Long before the turnback at Chadwell Heath was even thought about or built!

Interestingly enough, the LTS at one point borrowed Silverlink 321's too.

 

[WAB]

What are the differences between TOC and NwR control? I know that the ROC programme is meant to be about bringing them together so what does integration further than that look like?

The TOC side is service control - they manage the running of the service, unit allocations, distribute service information, unit fault support, etc.

NR control is route control - they manage incidents, deploy MOMs, monitor the infrastructure, manage train regulation and liaise with signallers.

In most cases, they have been colocated for some time. However, each team remains under separate management and there is very much a line down the middle of the shared controls I’m familiar with. Integration would look like coming together as one team with shared objectives, less them v us thinking and more mobility between the different roles.

 

[dk1]

The 745s are not going to operate any services on the c2c routes. It’s bad enough having them operate away from their depot over on West Anglia let alone over there where nothing can rescue them in times of difficulty.

 

[F Great Eastern]

Nothing wrong with Greater Anglia, everything that has happened since the DfT have been in control has been negative, less transparency, backdoor fare hikes, worse handling of disruption and what looks on the surface to be snipping at costs and penny pinching, which is ironic considering what the cheerleaders of nationalisation have been saying will happen.

There should be benefits from this kind of strategy that is outlined if it's done with the right intention, but I'm extremely sceptical that this is about cost cutting and saving money rather than delivering a better service to customers from everything I have seen so far.

 

[720144]

The 745s are not going to operate any services on the c2c routes. It’s bad enough having them operate away from their depot over on West Anglia let alone over there where nothing can rescue them in times of difficulty.

They would not want the LTS 75mph speed limit & East Ham depot wouldn’t be able to accommodate them.

I’m sure the 357’s could be capable of operating all the way to Norwich just like the 321’s use to while the 90’s were slowly phasing out.

 

[RUK]

Does the GEML still have mirrors/on-platform monitors, which I think the LTS route might still have, for Class 357s to work it? All the newer stock have body-side cameras and in-cab monitors now.

 

[dk1]

They would not want the LTS 75mph speed limit & East Ham depot wouldn’t be able to accommodate them.

I’m sure the 357’s could be capable of operating all the way to Norwich just like the 321’s use to while the 90’s were slowly phasing out.

The 357s are basically a 170 with a pantograph & an extra centre car or tso. One of my trainees when passing a c2c unit for the first time at Bow Jcn in 2018 actually shouted “oh look, an electric 170”

 

[Adrian1980uk]

The 745s are not going to operate any services on the c2c routes. It’s bad enough having them operate away from their depot over on West Anglia let alone over there where nothing can rescue them in times of difficulty.

It's not like there's any spare anyway

 

[saismee]

The 357s are basically a 170 with a pantograph & an extra centre car or tso. One of my trainees when passing a c2c unit for the first time at Bow Jcn in 2018 actually shouted “oh look, an electric 170”

Can't forget the most important detail... they're slightly wider, or thinner, or something along those lines... potentially.

 

[GraphitProjekt]

Yeah they're always getting subbed out for 720 to Stansted, or worse a load of 755s coupled together. Really feels like they purchased too few of them.

 

[saismee]

Yeah they're always getting subbed out for 720 to Stansted, or worse a load of 755s coupled together. Really feels like they purchased too few of them.

Now boarding a triple traction at Ipswich as I read this

 

[NSEWonderer]

Would be nice to see potentially new services between fenchurch and liv street. Gas factory junction could potentially see more use?

 

[dk1]

Yeah they're always getting subbed out for 720 to Stansted, or worse a load of 755s coupled together. Really feels like they purchased too few of them.

The 755s running in triple traction are not a sub. They are on a booked diagram and preferable to 720s on the GEML.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 23 May 2026 ==

Would be nice to see potentially new services between fenchurch and liv street. Gas factory junction could potentially see more use?

Why are there any needs for trains between Fenchurch & Liverpool St stations? Gas Factory Jcn also faces the wrong way.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 23 May 2026 ==

Now boarding a triple traction at Ipswich as I read this

Far superior to a 720 not that I’ve got anything against them.

 

[720144]

Would be nice to see potentially new services between fenchurch and liv street. Gas factory junction could potentially see more use?

It still gets used for ECS workings in the weekday evenings when swapping the 357’s around to Ilford in for the repaint or wheel lathe.

 

[NSEWonderer]

It still gets used for ECS workings in the weekday evenings when swapping the 357’s around to Ilford in for the repaint or wheel lathe.

Ah, I dont suppose the 345s still wait around there from time to time. They're used to be some that would during either disruption or booked moves?

 

[saismee]

Far superior to a 720 not that I’ve got anything against them.

Agreed, though I have plenty against them

Have 720s ever actually covered intercity diagrams in passenger service?

 

[dk1]

Agreed, though I have plenty against them

Have 720s ever actually covered intercity diagrams in passenger service?

Nope. All plans were scrapped at the start of the pandemic.

 

[saismee]

Nope. All plans were scrapped at the start of the pandemic.

Thank god!!!