C2c

British train operating company

This article is about the current publicly owned operator. For the former private operator, see c2c (1996–2025). For other uses, see C2C.

c2c

Class 357 Electrostar at Dagenham Dock

Overview
Main region(s)| Essex
Greater 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

|  |  |

|  |

Limited services

|
|
|
|

* * *

| 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 state-owned train operating company in England 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

[edit]

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

[edit]

Beam Park, a new station between Dagenham Dock and Rainham, will eventually become part of c2c's Fenchurch Street to Grays via Rainham route when it opens.[11]

## Fleet

[edit]

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[citation needed] |

| EMU | 100  | 161  | 74  | 4  | London, Tilbury and Southend line | 1999–2002
Alstom Aventra | 720/6[12] |  | 12  | 5  | London, Tilbury and Southend line | 2022[13]

## 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. ^ "720s for c2c". Modern Railways. No. 857\. February 2020. p. 84.
13. ^ "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

* Rail transport in Great Britain
* Rail transport in Northern Ireland
* Passenger rail franchising in Great Britain

Current

| National|

* Arriva Rail London
* Avanti West Coast
* c2c1
* Caledonian Sleeper4
* Chiltern Railways
* CrossCountry
* East Midlands Railway
* Govia Thameslink Railway
* Grand Central2
* Greater Anglia
* 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 Express
* 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
* 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|

* Greater Anglia

|

Prospective operators|

* Go-op
* Virgin Trains
* International
* Open Access
* Wrexham, Shropshire & Midlands Railway

* Category
* Commons
* Maps

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