Everything about First Capital Connect totally explained
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 between
Brighton and
Bedford, 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 is in the process of overhauling the trains with new liveries and on-board services as well as an
£8 million programme of upgrades for several major stations. The full term of the franchise is 9 years (until 2015) however this depends on meeting performance targets at the end of the fourth year (automatic 2 year extension) and the discretion of the DfT after the sixth year (optional up to 3 year extension).
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. On 24 July 2007, the Secretary of State for Transport,
Ruth Kelly, formally announced that the Government was fully committed to funding the Thameslink Programme. Since the planning permission and legal powers associated with the project have already been granted, the project is now clear to proceed .
News
In the early part of 2007 First Capital Connect (FCC) conducted a study and sought consultation on options for increasing the capacity of services to Peterborough and Cambridge. The final recommendations involve changing a small number of morning and evening peak services from 8 to 12 carriages, and adding or removing a small number of stops to balance loads between trains
.
The changes are due to take place by December 2008, but may be as early as May 2008.
In April 2007, FCC introduced a new type of ticket called "One Day Off Peak Travelcard Plus". Despite being an Off Peak ticket, the 'plus' indicates that the ticket can be used in the evening peak (but not the morning peak). It costs the same as a Peak Travelcard, but unlike a Peak Travelcard it can be purchased in conjunction with a railcard at a discount. The ticket doesn't appear as a suggested ticket on the National Rail site, and many staff are unaware of it.
On
11 June 2006, First Capital Connect introduced changes to reduce overcrowding on evening peak time trains by introducing restrictions on the use of off-peak (and other reduced price tickets) on trains departing London northbound between 16:30 and 19:00.
The changes attracted strong criticism from passengers who had previously been able to use cheaper off-peak tickets. Critics have also pointed out that services departing just before and just after the restriction are now significantly more crowded. Further problems can arise if trains are delayed, as the restrictions are based on the scheduled departure time. If a train scheduled to depart during the restricted hours is delayed and actually departs after 19:00, the restriction still applies.
FCC defended the imposition of the restriction by stating "
This step was taken in order to try to spread demand away from the highly crowded peak trains onto less busy trains before or after the peak. These changes were introduced to ensure that those customers who use our service on a daily basis have access to as comfortable a journey as possible, cheap tickets are designed to be used on less busy off peak services".
No restrictions apply in the evening on trains departing London southbound.
FCC subsequently made minor changes to the restrictions on
10 July 2006 and announced that the restrictions would no longer apply to journeys from London to stations south of Stevenage and St Albans, and from London to Ely and stations to Kings Lynn .
FCC also took the opportunity to rephrase the restriction to prevent people using a flaw in the original wording to avoid the restriction.
FCC have revised the way that customers can apply for compensation on the occasions that their journeys are delayed. In place of cash refunds, a form. has to be completed to claim rail vouchers.
Performance
The latest performance figures for First Capital Connect as of the third quarter of the financial year 2007/8 are 89.5% (MAA up to 31 December) and 88.2% (PPM) 3% above the same figure from the same period last year.
Rolling stock
Current fleet
First Capital Connect are the sole FirstGroup TOC that uses only electric trains.
The Thameslink rolling stock is composed of 78
Class 319 trains built by
BREL between
1987 and
1990. These are
electrically powered dual-voltage four-car units rated to hold either 289, 308 or 319 passengers. They use
25 kV AC overhead power north of Farringdon and 750 V DC
third rail to the south.
In addition to its EMU fleet, First Capital Connect also own the sole surviving mainline registered
Class 03, 03179
Clive.
Future Fleet
An additional 8 Class 319 trains will be transferred from
Southern by December 2008 to expand capacity on the Thameslink route. Southern are also in the process of procuring 23 new dual voltage
Class 377 units, 12 of which will be transferred to FCC on delivery to further enhance the Thameslink services. FCC will also take on five
Class 321 units (cascaded from
London Midland) in May 2009, with the possibility of an additional five 321s coming over to FCC later on in 2009. These units will enhance the Peterborough - London King's Cross services, thus allowing more
Class 365 units to be available for the King's Lynn - Cambridge - London King's Cross services. Some
Class 313 units from
London Overground will move to the Great Northern route for Inner Suburban services from London King's Cross/Moorgate - Welwyn Garden City/Hertford North/Letchworth Garden City.
Separate from the government's rolling stock plan is the procurement of new rolling stock for use on the expanded
Thameslink route which will replace the current
Class 319 units. 1100 vehicles will be purchased; these will be dual voltage EMUs likely to be delivered in units of four, which will operate in multiple giving trains of 12 cars. The new stock is due to enter service from
2012, during the period of First Capital Connect's franchise.
Refurbishment
Under privatisation,
Thameslink went about refurbishing its units. The Class 319/1s were rebuilt by Railcare Wolverton into the Class 319/3s, which included removing First Class accommodation. These units are used on Thameslink CityMetro services from Luton/
St Albans city to Wimbledon around the Sutton loop. These units are numbered 319361-319386.
The Class 319/0s it owned were rebuilt into Class 319/4s (with First Class accommodation added) for dedicated use on Thameslink Cityflier services from Bedford to Brighton, and were subsequently renamed 319421-319460. Since then the fleet had undergone a minor refurbishment and
Thameslink also initiated a programme of technical improvements. First Capital Connect has continued the refurbishment initiated by
Thameslink, although it has altered the cosmestic features to its specifications.
WAGN and Thameslink trains are being repainted with the First Capital connect livery, that of a light blue-to-dark blue gradient with pink doors. These colours are very much so vibrant and bright whi is quite unnecessery, blue and yellow of
Thameslink was much nicer.
Management
The current Managing Director is Elaine Holt. Other directors include Andy Cope (Engineering), Hugh Clancy (Commercial), Karen Boswell (Customer Services), Belén Martinez(Projects), Michelle Smart (Human Resources), Chris Cornthwaite (Finance) and Nigel Holness (Operations and Safety).
Further Information
Get more info on 'First Capital Connect'.
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