TOC's (Train Operating Companies)
Anglia Railways - Anglia Railways operate the Intercity services from East Anglia into London and also local services in the East Anglia region though there is possibly some changes to create a new franchise to merge with the Humber area, though this is still under discussion. Anglia have increased frequency from London to East Anglia due to high demand like Midland Mainline have with their services.
Arriva Trains Northern - Formerly known as Northern Spirit, or pre-privitisation Regional Railways North East serving the North East from Newcastle and Carlisle to the north to Doncaster, Leeds and Manchester in the south. Arriva took over Northern Spirit when they bought MTL. MTL owned also the main operator of buses in Liverpool and Merseyrail, which Arriva also have under their wing. Teething problems with Leeds First project rebuilding the station does not help Arriva's operations and driver shortage.
Arriva Transpennine - Part of Arriva Trains Northern but due for splitting. This part of the franchise operate the faster links throughout the North East. Rumours who want to win this are Stagecoach, Connex just to name a couple.
c2c (LTS Rail) - Another franchise which National Express acquires from Prism Rail. New rolling stock is phasing into c2c with the odd Class 317 from sister WAGN which also help with Thameslink services out of Moorgate to help with shortage of stock. Back to c2c operate out of Fenchurch St to Southend and Showburyness serving South Essex basically.
Central Trains - Central Trains operate trains in Central England area the regional franchise for Central England. Operating the Centro network for the West Midlands, and also services into South and Mid-Wales, East Anglia and up to Liverpool and Manchester. Train services are operated by National Express.
Chiltern Railways - Chiltern Railway operate out of Marylebone and now serve Birmingham and Stourbridge areas. Owned by M40 Trains.
First Great Eastern - Operate out of London's Liverpool Street serving towns in Essex such as Chelmsford, Colchester, Southend, Walton on the Naze and up as far as Ipswich. Part of the First Group Company which also run bus services in South Wales (Cardiff), and Essex
First North Western - Regional Railways North Western now trading under First Group operate services in the North West such as the Great Manchester Passenger Transport (GMPTE), services into North Wales (due to be handed over to Wales and Borders in the near future). Services operated by the First Group.
First Great Western - FGW run out of London Paddington and run the Intercity franchise for South Wales/South West into London. They also jointly with Virgin Trains run the Swindon-Gloucester/Cheltenham Spa local services due to go back to Wessex Trains. Part of the First Group Company which also run bus services in Bristol, Glasgow, East Anglia, Edinburgh, Leeds, London, Manchester.
Gatwick Express - Every 15 mins from London Victoria to Gatwick non-stop. Part of the National Express Group
GNER (Great North Eastern Railways) - GNER operate the Intercity East Coast franchise serving the Scotland/North East and East Yorkshire areas into London. Sea Containers which operate this franchise wanted to bid for the South West Trains franchise which was won by Stagecoach.
Heathrow Express - Operating from London Paddington to Heathrow Airport every 15 mins.
Hull Trains - A new created franchise created in September 2000 after privatisation which operate trains from Kings Cross to Hull. Operator is GB Railways which also run Anglia Railways.
Island Line - Rail in the Isle of Wight using very old former London Underground trains. Rumours that it could be converted into a tramlink style operation are on the cards like the Croydon Tramlink.
Arriva Trains Merseyside (Merseyrail) - Metro suburban services which operate in the Merseyside areas to the Wirral, Chester and New Brighton.
Midland Mainline - Operating out of St Pancras the franchise for the Intercity Midland Mainline route. Trains service towns and cities such as Leicester, Nottingham, Derby, Sheffield and now extending to Barnsley and Leeds. Trains service operated by National Express.
ScotRail - Scot Rails run the Regional Railways services for Scotland and also Caledonian Sleeper services from Scotland to London. Train operator is National Express which also run Travel West Midlands and Dundee.
Silverlink Trains - Silverlink formerly North London Railways operate in a two tier level with Silverlink Metro (suburban services) and Silverlink County (which operate longer distance services). After privatisation services created were the Clapham Junction to Willesden Junction and also extension to Rugby, Coventry, Birmingham International and Birmingham New St. Another National Express run service.
South Central Trains - South Central Trains operate out of London's Victoria and Bridge stations to serve the South London Metro and Sussex Coast. Won the franchise after Connex lost it's franchise due to poor performance. Though the name is a temporary measure as the franchise is to be called New Southern Railway but this will be under negotiation with Go-Via and the SRA for an extention of the franchise. Sister Thameslink franchise has a lot of work to do with new plans to operate a faster connection to the Sussex Coast via the Dorking line and also aiming to re-open the Uckfield to Lewes line to reduce journey times to the East Coastway. Re-electricification is also on the cards for the Ashford to Brighton line to maintain a new extended link to serve trains to and from Brighton.
South West Trains - South West Trains operates out of London Waterloo serving South West London, principle towns of Woking, Guildford, Reading, Portsmouth, Southampton and Bournemouth. Company is owned by Stagecoach Holdings PLC who operate bus services in many parts of the country such as East Kent, Exeter, London, Cambridge, Manchester and Sussex.
Thameslink - Thameslink part of Go-Via and North East based Go Ahead run Thameslink which runs from Bedford to the north to Brighton in the south serving areas such as the City and Brighton line. CityMetro serve the Wimbledon loop and stations to Luton. Go Ahead operate London General and London Central for London, Brighton and Hove and Metrobus for Sussex (Crawley and Brighton areas), Kent and South East London)
Thames Trains - Run out of Paddington serving Berkshire, Oxfordshire, Wiltshire. It's extended services into Worcester and jointly operate with First Great Western the Bicester to Bristol line. Go Ahead run this franchise and partly run Thameslink and the recent South Central.
Virgin Trains (Virgin WC and XC) - Virgin operate two franchises with new Bombardier trains creeping into service to replace the very old stock on some of the Cross Country services. New trains are due for Virgin West Coast which current stop are rumoured to move to Crown Point home of Anglia Railway if all goes well to replace some of their stock. 49% of Virgin is owned by Stagecoach Holdings operators of South West Trains and the 51% is owned by the Virgin Group. West Coast serving the Midlands and North West and Scotland, while Cross Country (XC) serve areas of the South West (Plymouth, Bristol and South Wales), South East (Brighton and Portsmouth and Bournemouth) to serve the North West and East and Scotland.
WAGN (West Anglia and Great Northern) - WAGN operate out of Liverpool St, Moorgate (weekdays) and Kings Cross to serve the commuter belts of North Essex, Cambridgeshire and up into West Anglia. Due for a total restructure in the next few years with the dividing of the metro services to merge with Great Eastern Metro services, while long distance to join the Thameslink 2000 if and when this completed. Stansted Express will soon be another TOC to fall in line with Heathrow and Gatwick Express respectfully. Under new ownership National Express take over the responsibility from Prism Rail (like Wales and West and C2C).
Wales and Borders - Web site is being updated as a result of the re-branding and split of Wales and West by the ATOC from 30th September 2001. National Express have put this temporary page up. The North Wales routes and Mid Wales are operated by First North Western and Central Trains for the timebeing.
Wessex Trains - The other part of the split of Wales and West which will cover the South West. Allowing the Wales services to be operated by Wales and Borders, though there a number of routes Anglo Wales and England services being split between the two. Wessex Trains are due to acquire the South West Trains London Waterloo to Salisbury, Exeter, Torbay, Plymouth and Reading to Brighton lines in the near future as a result of the ATOC changes. A page has been created for their company. Also the Wales and West page is still up for the time being. Wessex Trains is owned by National Express.
Transport for London (formerly London Transport) - Now under the umbrella of an executive body of the Greater London Authority (GLA) reporting to the Mayor of London who is also Chair of TfL's Board.
Croydon Tramlink - Trams come back to London and it's proved successful with the Croydon Tramlink from Wimbledon in the South West to the heart of Croydon to Beckenham Junction in the East.
Docklands Light Railway - A success and one of the key transport systems for the Docklands area.
Real Time Travel provided by Nexusalpha (apart from National Rail which is provided by Serco)
Rail Enthusiasts
Railbritain.com - All your info on TOC's and what vehicles are used.
Epsom Downs Branch Web Site - News of the pre-privatisation on this route now part of the Go-Via South Central - South London line.
Tattenham Corner Branch Web Site - Information on services on the Tattenham Corner branch with latest news of South Central services operating on that line
Wessex Rail - Focusing on SWT's Wessex routes in Hampshire
Unofficial Croydon Tramlink - Site constructed by Stacey Harris
Yahoo Groups Silverlink - Discussion board on Silverlink (Metro and County)
Yahoo Groups South Central - Discussion board on South Central services be it South London Metro or Coastway services.
Yahoo Groups South West Trains - Discussion board on South West Trains services.
Yahoo Groups Thameslink - Discussion board on Thameslink and future of Thamelink project.
Yahoo Groups Thames Trains - Discussion board on Thames Trains services in the Thames Valley to the Malverns