First Great Eastern
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5 January 1997 – 31 March 2004
East of England
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Class 360 Desiro at Ipswich in 2004 | |
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Franchises | Great Eastern 5 January 1997 – 31 March 2004 |
| Main regions | East London East of England |
| Fleet | 144 |
| Stations called at | 61 |
| Parent company | FirstGroup |
| Reporting mark | GE |
| Successor | One |
First Great Eastern[1] was a train operating company in England owned by FirstGroup that operated the Great Eastern franchise from January 1997 until March 2004.

First Great Eastern operated all stops and limited stops services on the Great Eastern Main Line from London Liverpool Street to Southend Victoria, Southminster, Braintree, Colchester Town, Clacton-on-Sea, Walton-on-the-Naze, Harwich Town and Ipswich. It also ran services on the Romford to Upminster Line and Gainsborough Line from Marks Tey to Sudbury.[2]
Rolling stock
First Great Eastern inherited a fleet of Class 312, Class 315 and Class 321s EMU's from British Rail. A Class 15x DMU was hired from Anglia Railways for the Marks Tey to Sudbury service due to it not being electrified, a Class 150 being used on weekdays and a Class 153 on weekends. Prior to this arrangement, a Class 121 Bubble Car was hired from Silverlink.[3]
A franchise commitment was the replacement of the Class 312s. In May 2001, First Great Eastern ordered 21 Class 360 Desiros with the first entering service in August 2003.[4][full citation needed]
| Class | Image | Type | Top speed | Number | Routes operated | Built | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| mph | km/h | ||||||
| 121 Bubble Car | diesel multiple unit | 70 | 112 | Hired from Silverlink |
Marks Tey–Sudbury | 1960 | |
| 150 | 75 | 120 | Hired from Anglia Railways |
1984–1987 | |||
| 153 | 1987–1988 | ||||||
| 312 | electric multiple unit | 90 | 145 | 24 | Colchester–Walton-on-the-Naze Harwich Town–Manningtree London Liverpool Street–Clacton-on-Sea and Ipswich (peak times only) |
1975–1978 | |
| 315 | 75 | 120 | 43 | London Liverpool Street–Shenfield and Southminster Romford–Upminster |
1980–1981 | ||
| 321 | 100 | 160 | 77 | London Liverpool Street–Braintree, Southend Victoria, Ipswich, Walton-on-the-Naze, Colchester Town, Clacton-on-Sea Wickford–Southminster (Sundays only) |
1988–1990 | ||
| 360/1 Desiro | 21 | London Liverpool Street–Clacton-on-Sea and Harwich Town London Liverpool Street–Ipswich (peak times only) |
2002–2003 | ||||
Depot
First Great Eastern's fleet was maintained at Ilford depot.
