National Express East Coast [SEP] inception
National Express East Coast
National Express East Coast (NXEC) was a train operating company in the United Kingdom owned by National Express that operated the InterCity East Coast franchise from December 2007 until November 2009, when it refused financial support for its franchise. It operated InterCity train services on the East Coast Main Line.
History.
The original InterCity East Coast franchise was awarded to Sea Containers which operated it from April 1996 until April 2005 trading as GNER. Sea Containers was awarded a new seven-year franchise by the
-Simplon Orient Express.
EWS have previously hauled passenger trains for Anglia Railways, Arriva Trains Northern, First Great Western First North Western, National Express East Anglia, Valley Lines, Virgin CrossCountry Virgin West Coast and Wrexham & Shropshire.
Since its inception, EWS has held the contract to operate the Royal Train. Initially two Class 47s were dedicated to this work. These were replaced in 2004 by two Class 67s.
From September 2016 Virgin Trains East Coast hired class 90 locomotives from DB Cargo for use on services