First Great Eastern

First Great Eastern was an award winning train operating company (TOC) that operated suburban, local and medium distance train services from London Liverpool Street via Romford to Essex and Ipswich in the United Kingdom on the Great Eastern Main Line (GEML) railway.

First Group gained the Great Eastern franchise in 1997 as part of the Privatisation of British Rail. In 2003, as part of a franchise reorganisation planned by the then Strategic Rail Authority, the Great Eastern was to be merged to form a 'Greater Anglia' franchise. This new contract was won by National Express Group who took over First Great Eastern operations on April 1, 2004 using the brand name 'one', which has since been rebranded as National Express East Anglia.

Most lines previously served by First Great Eastern are electrified with 25 kV AC overhead catenary wires, with the exception of the Marks Tey to Sudbury branch line, which is served by diesel units.

Branches served

 * Romford to Upminster
 * Shenfield to Southend Victoria
 * Shenfield to Southminster
 * Witham to Braintree
 * Marks Tey to Sudbury
 * Colchester to Clacton-on-Sea and Walton-on-the-Naze
 * Colchester to Colchester Town
 * Manningtree to Harwich Town

Fleet

 * A diesel multiple unit (DMU), was used on the Sudbury-Marks Tey branch line due to the lack of electrification, a Class 150 Sprinter, was used on weekdays and a Class 153 Sprinter at weekends. This was an unspecified unit from the Anglia Railways fleet based at Norwich, swapped daily. Prior to this arrangement, a Class 121 Bubble Car was hired from Silverlink.