Southeastern (train operating company)

London & South Eastern Railway Limited, trading as Southeastern, is a British train operating company serving south-east England. On 1 April 2006 it became the franchisee for the new Integrated Kent Franchise (IKF), replacing the publicly owned South Eastern Trains on the former South East Franchise. It operates the commuter routes to south-east London, most of Kent, and parts of East Sussex.

Overview
Southeastern serves the main London stations of Charing Cross, Victoria, Blackfriars, Cannon Street, London Bridge, Waterloo East and St Pancras. The Southeastern network has a route mileage of 540, with 179 stations. About 70% of its services run to and from London.

It is owned by Govia, a joint venture between Go-Ahead Group and Keolis, which also operates the neighbouring Southern franchise, which overlaps with Southeastern in some areas. The company's formal name, under which it mounted its bid for the franchise, is London and South Eastern Railway (LSER).

The managing director is Charles Horton, formerly MD of sister company Southern.

History of the franchise
Since the privatisation of British Rail, the franchise to run trains in this area has been held by three different companies. The first company to win the South-Eastern Franchise, on 14 October 1996, was Connex, which operated it under the name Connex South Eastern. Connex gained a reputation for unreliable services, but it was for "poor financial management" that its franchise was cut short by the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) on 9 November 2003. Train services were then taken over by South Eastern Trains, a wholly owned subsidiary of the SRA/Department for Transport created for the purpose, until bidding for a new franchise was due. This would see the existing South-Eastern franchise combined with the new high-speed services to be operated on High Speed 1 (formerly known as the Channel Tunnel Rail Link) to form a new Integrated Kent Franchise (IKF).

The opening of the second phase of High Speed 1 in November 2007 made available train paths on the traditional network previously used by Eurostar, allowing Southeastern to increase certain services in December 2007. In December 2008, as part of the franchise agreement, responsibility for the Redhill to Tonbridge Line was handed over to Southern. Southeastern high-speed services began full operations on 14 December 2009.

In March 2009 the bay platforms at London Blackfriars closed for reconstruction as part of the Thameslink Programme. Southeastern services previously terminating at Blackfriars, mostly from via the Catford loop, were extended to Kentish Town, St Albans, Luton or Bedford. As a result of this change, Southeastern now operates these services jointly with First Capital Connect using 20 dual-voltage Class 319 sets (which remain in FCC livery) as well as newly built Class 377 Electrostars. When the station fully reopened with new bay platforms in May 2012 these services continued to run, but in the evening and at weekend (when the station had been closed) instead of terminating at Victoria services now terminate at Blackfriars.

Following the Department For Transport's review after the cancellation of the InterCity West Coast franchise process, extensions were granted to the franchises due for renewal in the near future. Southeastern franchise's was extended from 31 March 2014 to June 2018.

Javelin shuttle
The Olympic Javelin or Javelin was a high-speed train shuttle service operated by Southeastern over High Speed 1 during the 2012 Summer Olympics and Paralympics. The service ran for the duration of both games, between St Pancras International station and Ebbsfleet International station, via Stratford International station, which is close to the Olympic Park. During the Summer Olympics a service of eight trains an hour ran between St Pancras and Ebbsfleet, calling at Stratford, replacing the usual East Kent highspeed service. Two of these were extended to Ashford and one to Faversham. Between 11pm and 1am the service between St Pancras and Ebbsfleet was increased to twelve per hour.

Announced as part of the successful London 2012 Olympic bid, it was an integral part of a plan to improve public transport in London in readiness for the Olympics, an area of the bid that was initially regarded as being poor by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The British Olympic Association applied to register Javelin as a UK trademark on 19 July 2005 and this was granted on 2 June 2006. The service was operated by Southeastern on High Speed 1 using the fleet of Class 395 trains, and because of this the class is sometimes referred to as the Javelin.

At St Pancras there is interchange with the Underground and with trains to/from the Midlands, Scotland, and the North of England. For track capacity reasons, Eurostar trains, which have never called at Stratford, did not do so during the games. It was expected that over 80% of Olympic spectators would travel to and from the venues by rail. Services to the Olympic Park were planned to offer a total capacity of 240,000 travellers per hour, some 25,000 of whom were expected to use the Javelin service.

Southeastern Brands
Southeastern has three distinct sub-brands: Highspeed (grey), Mainline (green) or Metro (pink) and colours its network map accordingly.

Highspeed
Southeastern introduced a full timetable of domestic high-speed services branded Southeastern Highspeed over High Speed 1 between London St Pancras and Ashford International on 13 December 2009; a limited preview service had been running since 29 June 2009. High-speed trains use High Speed 1 calling at Stratford International and Ebbsfleet International. Trains from London to the Medway towns and Faversham leave the high-speed line at Ebbsfleet and continue via the North Kent line and Chatham Main Line. Trains for Dover Priory and Margate leave the high-speed line at Ashford International. A limited peak-hour service now also operates between St Pancras and Maidstone West via Ebbsfleet and Strood.

When bidding for the franchise, Southeastern made a point of advertising part-owner SNCF's experience operating integrated high-speed train services on the French TGV network. A fleet of 29 six-coach Shinkansen-derived high-speed 'A-trains' were built in Japan by Hitachi for this route. Known as Class 395, this was Hitachi's first train sale in Britain. The colour scheme for the high-speed trains is dark blue. The services are marketed as Southeastern Highspeed, and some of the trains are named after British Olympians such as Steve Redgrave and Ben Ainslie.



At the same time there was the largest change to the timetable in the area in 40 years. With the fast trains now travelling over High Speed 1, the Charing Cross to Ashford stopping service was extended to Dover, Canterbury and Ramsgate. It was noted by Barry Doe, fares and timetables columnist for RAIL, that some high-speed services were not much faster than the previous main-line services, especially those on the North Kent coast, but that the main-line services had been slowed down in the new timetable, notably by the addition of extra stops, making the high-speed services appear much faster by comparison.

Fares for journeys that include the High Speed 1 section of line (between St Pancras International and Gravesend) generally include a surcharge.

Mainline
Southeastern is the key operator for Kent, and also serves East Sussex. 'Mainline' services connect central London with Dover, Folkestone, Hastings, Royal Tunbridge Wells, Ramsgate, Chatham, Maidstone and Canterbury. The backbone fleet on these services is the Electrostar, although the /9 Networker is also used on occasion.

In December 2009 Southeastern saw 'Highspeed' trains stopping at 'Mainline' stations, and some longer timings on 'Mainline' services as trains called at more stations. Services to Tonbridge were maintained at six trains per hour off-peak, two per hour going forward to Ashford and beyond, two per hour to Hastings, and two per hour terminating at Tunbridge Wells. With high-speed services reaching Faversham, the half-hourly Victoria to Faversham stopping service was replaced with an hourly service to Gillingham and additional stops on the "fast" services to London Victoria. On the Maidstone East Line, services from London Cannon Street to Ashford International via Maidstone East and from London Victoria to Maidstone East and to Canterbury West via Ashford were replaced by a half-hourly Victoria to Ashford service. The Strood to Paddock Wood service was extended to Tonbridge.

Metro
Southeastern serves south-east and south London, its central stations being London Blackfriars, London Bridge, London Charing Cross, London Cannon Street, London Victoria and Waterloo East. 'Metro' trains serve Greenwich, New Cross, Lewisham, Dartford, Gravesend, Woolwich Arsenal, Hayes, Peckham Rye, Bromley South, Bexleyheath, Orpington and Sevenoaks, and also run a joint service with First Capital Connect Thameslink route with a service from Sevenoaks via Catford to Kentish Town or further north. Trains change company operation at London Blackfriars. Southeastern runs Electrostar,  &  Networkers for 'Metro' services, although a Class 375 Electrostar is used on occasion.

On New Year's Eve, some Metro services operate all through the night.

Current routes
Current weekday off-peak services. These services are:

In addition to the above, there are peak-only routes, including:


 * London St Pancras to Broadstairs via Chatham
 * London St Pancras to Maidstone West via Gravesend
 * London Cannon Street to Broadstairs /Ramsgate via Chatham
 * Bedford to Ashford[1]

Notes
 * 1) Worked north of London Blackfriars by First Capital Connect.

Thameslink Programme
By the conclusion of the Thameslink Programme in 2018, it is planned that the current off-peak services from Sevenoaks via Bat and Ball will be joined by trains from Orpington together with trains from Maidstone East and Paddock Wood via London Bridge. Thameslink services to Dartford, once mooted, are not now thought feasible because of timetabling constraints. Peak-hour trains are planned from Tunbridge Wells and Ashford International via London Bridge together with trains from Maidstone East, Sevenoaks and Orpington via the Catford Loop.

Ticketing
Oyster Pay-As-You-Go is now available from all Zone 1–6 stations served by the company, apart from journeys on High Speed 1 between St Pancras International and Stratford International.

In late 2010 Southeastern increased the price of certain season ticket prices by an average of 7.8%.

Performance
Figures released by NR (Network Rail) rate punctuality at 92.6% (PPM) over period 7 of 2013/2014, and 91.0% moving annual average (MAA) for the 12 months up to 12 October 2013.

In late 2010 the company faced a barrage of criticism for its performance during extreme weather conditions in the south-east of England. Many commuters have indicated that they would like to see MD Charles Horton removed from his post and that the franchise be taken from Southeastern, and there are also allegations that Southeastern deliberately runs reduced services to skew its official performance figures.

Rolling stock
Southeastern operates a fleet of about 367 trains, all of which are electric multiple units.

Southeastern will receive 100 Class 377 units in coming years according to Department for Transport documents published in September 2013, relating to the new combined Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern Franchise.

Current fleet
Since the 22 March 2009 timetable change, Southeastern has been operating Class 319 dual-voltage units shared with First Capital Connect (FCC) to operate most services via London Blackfriars as part of the Thameslink programme. Southeastern operates the service south of Blackfriars, FCC taking over its operation north thereof. This restored some services that initially operated when the Thameslink route was opened in the late 1980s. Southeastern will also share some of the 23 new dual-voltage Class 377 units bound for the Thameslink route.

Past fleet
The arrangement with First Capital Connect for the services via Thameslink, coupled with the transfer of some routes to Southern, has allowed Southeastern to withdraw its small fleet of Class 508 EMUs and replace them with Networker stock cascaded from other services.