C2c - Wikipedia

British state-owned train operating company This article is about the state-owned train operator. For its privately-owned predecessor, see c2c (1996–2025). For other uses, see C2C. c2c

Class 357 Electrostar near Barking
Overview
Main regions	EssexGreater London
Fleet	Class 357 Electrostar Class 720 Aventra
Stations called at	28
Stations operated	25
Parent company	DfT Operator
Headquarters	Lower Thames Street, London
Reporting mark	CC
Dates of operation	20 July 2025 (2025-07-20)–present
Predecessor	Trenitalia c2c Limited
Technical
Length	125.5 km (78.0 miles)
Other
Website	www.c2c-online.co.uk
Route map Legend Weekend-only service London Fenchurch Street London Liverpool Street Limehouse Stratford West Ham East Ham Depot Barking Dagenham Dock Upminster Rainham Ockendon Purfleet Chafford Hundred Lakeside Grays West Horndon Tilbury Town East Tilbury Laindon Stanford-le-Hope Basildon Pitsea Benfleet Leigh-on-Sea Chalkwell Westcliff Southend Central Southend East Thorpe Bay Shoeburyness

c2c Railway Limited, trading as c2c, is a British state-owned train operating company, which runs services in East London and south Essex. It took over the operations from the Trenitalia-owned operator of the same name on 20 July 2025.

History

[edit]

In the lead up to the 2024 United Kingdom general election, the Labour Party of Keir Starmer committed itself to bring the passenger operations of the British rail network back under state ownership.[1][2] Following the election of the Starmer government, it introduced the Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Act 2024 that received royal assent in November 2024.[3][4]

In December 2024, it was announced that the National Rail Contract with Trenitalia-owned operator c2c would not be renewed when it expired. On 20 July 2025, c2c services were taken over by the government-owned company DfT Operator.[5][6][4][7]

Services

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c2c operates passenger services on the London, Tilbury and Southend line from Fenchurch Street in the City of London to Shoeburyness in Essex, a distance of 39 miles 40 chains (63.57 km).[8] The main line operates via Basildon with a loop line via Tilbury and a branch line via Ockendon. c2c trains connect Central London with East London and the northern Thames Gateway area of southern Essex. The main route between Fenchurch Street and Shoeburyness has a fastest timetabled journey of 56 minutes.[9]

Although the Class 357 Electrostar and Class 720 Aventra trains are capable of running at 100 mph (160 km/h), the line's speed limit restricts them to only 75 mph (121 km/h).[10]

As of the May 2025 timetable, the off-peak Monday–Friday service is as follows:[9]

London, Tilbury and Southend line

Route	tph	Calling at
Fenchurch Street to Shoeburyness via Basildon	4	Limehouse, West Ham, Barking, Upminster, West Horndon (2 tph), Laindon, Basildon, Pitsea (2 tph), Benfleet, Leigh-on-Sea, Chalkwell, Westcliff, Southend Central, Southend East, Thorpe Bay
Fenchurch Street to Southend Central via Ockendon	2	Limehouse, West Ham, Barking, Upminster, Ockendon, Chafford Hundred Lakeside, Grays, Tilbury Town, East Tilbury, Stanford-le-Hope, Pitsea, Benfleet, Leigh-on-Sea, Chalkwell, Westcliff
Fenchurch Street to Grays via Rainham	2	Limehouse, West Ham, Barking, Dagenham Dock, Rainham, Purfleet

Future services

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Beam Park, a new station between Dagenham Dock and Rainham, will eventually be integrated into the Fenchurch Street to Grays via Rainham route when it opens.[11]

Fleet

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The c2c fleet, all which was inherited from its predecessor, is maintained at East Ham Depot and Shoeburyness Depot.

Family	Class	Image	Type	Top speed		Number	Carriages	Routes operated	Built
				mph	km/h
Bombardier Electrostar	357[12]		EMU	100	161	74	4	London, Tilbury and Southend line	1999–2002
Alstom Aventra	720/6[13]					12	5	London, Tilbury and Southend line	2022[14]

See also

[edit]

• List of companies operating trains in the United Kingdom

References

[edit]

1. ^ Elgot, Jessica; Topham, Gwyn (24 April 2024). "Labour promises rail nationalisation within five years of coming to power". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 14 June 2025. Retrieved 13 July 2025.
2. ^ Austin, Katy; Whannel, Kate (26 April 2024). "Labour pledges to renationalise most rail services within five years". BBC News. Archived from the original on 30 May 2025. Retrieved 13 July 2025.
3. ^ Maddox, David (4 September 2024). "Rail nationalisation takes a step closer under Starmer's first major public reform in Commons victory". The Independent. Archived from the original on 10 February 2025. Retrieved 13 July 2025.
4. ^ a b "Government reveals first three operators to be renationalised after law change". Railnews. 4 December 2024. Archived from the original on 7 December 2024. Retrieved 13 July 2025.
5. ^ "Operators to move in-house every three months". Rail. No. 1024. 11 December 2024. p. 14.
6. ^ "South Western Railway to return to public ownership". Rail Express. No. 344. January 2025. p. 11.
7. ^ Adams, Lewis (20 July 2025). "Trains return to public ownership in south Essex". BBC News. Retrieved 22 July 2025.
8. ^ Padgett, David (October 2016) [1988]. Brailsford, Martyn (ed.). Railway Track Diagrams 2: Eastern (4th ed.). Frome, UK: Trackmaps. map 3C. ISBN 978-0-9549866-8-1.
9. ^ a b "c2c Train Times" (PDF). c2c. May 2025. Archived (PDF) from the original on 20 July 2025. Retrieved 20 July 2025. Valid from 18 May 2025 until further notice.
10. ^ Marius, Callum (21 July 2022). "London trains: c2c unveils rebound plans after weeks of strike action and violent attack on staff". MyLondon. Archived from the original on 1 February 2023. Retrieved 1 February 2023.
11. ^ Walton, Simon (16 June 2025). "PM: previous government failed East London Beam Park station project". RailTech.com. Archived from the original on 20 July 2025. Retrieved 20 July 2025.
12. ^ "Onboard our trains | Experience the comfort of c2c trains". c2c. Retrieved 3 September 2025.
13. ^ "720s for c2c". Modern Railways. No. 857. February 2020. p. 84.
14. ^ "60 Class 720s now accepted". Today's Railways UK. No. 243. May 2022. p. 67.

External links

[edit] Wikimedia Commons has media related to C2c.

• Official website

v t e Train operating companies in the United Kingdom
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Current National Arriva Rail London Avanti West Coast c2c1 Caledonian Sleeper4 Chiltern Railways CrossCountry East Midlands Railway Govia Thameslink Railway Grand Central2 Greater Anglia1 Great Western Railway GTS Rail Operations Heathrow Express2 Hull Trains2 London North Eastern Railway1 Lumo2 Merseyrail NI Railways3 Northern1 ScotRail4 Southeastern1 South Western Railway1 TransPennine Express1 Transport for Wales5 West Midlands Trains International Enterprise3 Eurostar Sub-brands Gatwick Express Great Northern Island Line1 London Northwestern Railway Night Riviera Southern Stansted Express1 Thameslink West Midlands Railway Operators not subject to franchising or concession: 1 Owned by the UK Government 2 Open-access operator 3 Operates on the Irish railway network and state-owned 4 Owned by the Scottish Government 5 Owned by the Welsh Government
Defunct (since 1994) Abellio ScotRail Anglia Railways Arriva Rail North Arriva Trains Merseyside Arriva Trains Northern Arriva Trains Wales c2c Central Trains Connex South Central Connex South Eastern East Coast5 East Midlands Trains First Capital Connect First Great Eastern First Great Western Link First North Western First ScotRail First TransPennine Express Gatwick Express1 Great North Eastern Railway Greater Anglia Heathrow Connect Island Line2 KeolisAmey Wales London Midland London Overground Rail Operations Midland Mainline MTR Crossrail National Express East Anglia National Express East Coast Northern Rail ScotRail (National Express) Silverlink South Eastern Trains5 Southeastern South Western Railway South West Trains TfL Rail Thameslink3 Thames Trains TransPennine Express Valley Lines Virgin CrossCountry Virgin Trains East Coast Virgin Trains West Coast Wales and Borders Wales & West Wessex Trains West Anglia Great Northern Wrexham & Shropshire4 1 Separate franchise until 2008; now a sub-brand of Govia Thameslink Railway 2 Separate franchise until 2007, now a sub-brand of South Western Railway 3 Separate franchise until 2006; later reintroduced as a sub-brand of Govia Thameslink Railway 4 Open-access operator 5 Operator of last resort
Future Future operators Great British Railways Thameslink Southern Great Northern West Midlands Trains Prospective operators Go-op Virgin Trains Wrexham, Shropshire & Midlands Railway
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