First Capital Connect

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

First Capital Connect is a train operating company in England that began its passenger operations on the National Rail network at 02:00 BST 1 April 2006. It is owned by First Group and combines the service on the cross-London Thameslink railway line with the services along the East Coast Main Line from King's Cross and Moorgate to Peterborough, Cambridge, and King's Lynn formerly operated by wagn, often referred to as Great Northern. First Group plans to overhaul the trains with new liveries and on-board services as well as an £8 million program of upgrades for several major stations.<ref>RailStaff (2006-04-06). First Capital Connect links London. Retrieved on 2006-04-10.</ref>

The two franchises (Thameslink and wagn) were amalgamated in preparation for the Thameslink Programme (formerly Thameslink 2000), which will increase capacity on the Thameslink route and allow trains from King's Lynn, Cambridge and Peterborough to run via Thameslink. As of 10 November 2006 funding for this project had not been confirmed, although Network Rail has been given the planning permission and legal powers required to carry the project out when funding becomes available.<ref>Network Rail (2006-10-18). THE £3.5BN THAMESLINK PROJECT CLEARS MAJOR HURDLE. Retrieved on 2006-11-10.</ref>

The current Managing Director is Elaine Holt. Other directors include Andy Cope (Engineering), Hugh Clancy (Commercial), Karen Boswell (Customer Services), Belén McWilliam (Projects), Mohammed Saeed (Human Resources), Chris Cornthwaite (Finance) and Nigel Holness (Operations and Safety).

[edit] News

On 11 June 2006, First Capital Connect caused consternation among commuters by restricting off-peak travel in the evenings for some journeys<ref name="off-peak-bbc">BBC News (2006-06-06). New curb on cheap day rail travel. Retrieved on 2006-06-13.</ref><ref name="off-peak-leaflet">First Capital Connect (2006-06-11). Ticket changes (PDF) pp. 2. Retrieved on 2006-06-13.</ref>. Commuters who for many years have used the off-peak service suddenly found they could not get home at their usual evening time without paying an additional fare. This "congestion charge" is attracting protest, the argument being that it unfairly penalises a subset of existing customers for congestion caused by all of them. In addition, FCC will apply these restrictions to delayed trains that were scheduled during the restricted hours<ref name="off-peak-leaflet" />. This means that any delay occurring to trains in the restricted evening hours (between 1630 and 1900) could delay the start of the off-peak time by an equivalent amount, meaning off-peak ticket holders may need to wait for up anything to 2.5 additional hours before they are allowed to travel, even though trains are running regularly through the station.

However, following criticism of the changes<ref name="off-peak-bbc" />, on 10 July 2006 FCC announced that the restrictions would no longer apply to the following stations: Radlett, Knebworth, Welwyn North, Welwyn Garden City, Hatfield, Welham Green, Brookmans Park, Potters Bar, Watton at Stone, Hertford North, Bayford and Cuffley<ref name="off-peak-changes">First Capital Connect (2006-07-10). Changes to Evening Peak Restrictions. Retrieved on 2006-08-14.</ref>.

[edit] Rolling Stock

[edit] Current fleet

Class	Image	Type	Top speed		Number	Routes operated	Built
			mph	km/h
Class 313	Image:100 2557.JPG	electric multiple unit	75	120	41	Inner suburban ECML	1976 - 1977
Class 317		electric multiple unit	100	160	12	Fast ECML	1981 - 1982
Class 319	Image:FCC train at Luton Parkway1.JPG	electric multiple unit	100	160	73	Thameslink	1987 - 1988 1990 - 1991
Class 365 Networker Express	Image:FirstCapitalConnect Unit365505.jpg	electric multiple unit	100	160	40	Fast ECML	1995 - 1995

[edit] References

<references/>

[edit] External links

• First Capital Connect official web site
• Unofficial Blog of First Capital Connect
• BBC News article on Takeover
• Network Rail's Thameslink Programme

Categories: Post-privatisation British railway companies | First Group railway companies | First Group Companies | Thameslink