GNER White Rose train at King's Cross railway station
Great North Eastern Railways (GNER) is a British train operating company owned by Sea Containers Ltd . It was awarded a 7 year franchise to operate high speed train services on the East Coast Main Line in April 1996. GNER were then awarded a 2 year extension allowing them to operate trains until 2005; that franchise has now been extended until 2015. The cost that agreement was a payment to the Government of £130 million per annumn, quadrupling the previous payment, and as a result of which the company said that it was likely to raise fares and make job cuts. (The Times March 23 2005).
Most of GNER's services run between London's Kings Cross station and Leeds and Edinburgh. From Leeds, a number of trains run to/from Bradford, Skipton and Harrogate. From Edinburgh, some services continue to Glasgow, Inverness and Aberdeen. One service per day also runs to/from Hull.
Other towns and cities served by GNER trains include Peterborough, Doncaster, York, Darlington, Durham, Newcastle upon Tyne, Berwick-upon-Tweed and Dundee.
The initials GNER were almost certainly chosen for their similarity to LNER, the company that operated the route before British Railways was formed.
GNER rolling stock comprises a number of 225 Electric Sets and 125 Diesel Sets. This fleet is supplemented by three trains leased from Eurostar, painted in GNER livery, which comprises the "White Rose" service between London and Leeds. These will be replaced in December 2005 by three additional 125 sets.
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