The first trains to carry the new Great British Railways identity for Anglia were unveiled at London Liverpool Street station on 16 July, marking a milestone in the creation of a more joined-up railway for the East of England.
Rail minister Lord Peter Hendy joined GBR Anglia managing director Jamie Burles and colleagues from c2c, Greater Anglia and Network Rail Anglia at the event, where c2c Class 357 units 357008 and 357020 and Greater Anglia Class 720 units 720144 and 720501 were displayed in the red, white and blue Great British Railways livery.
GBR Anglia brings c2c, Greater Anglia and Network Rail Anglia together under one unified leadership team, aligning track and train more closely to improve reliability, resilience and customer service across the region.
Lord Hendy said track and train had operated independently for too long, with passengers and taxpayers left to bear the consequences. He said uniting them under one identity and leadership in Anglia would create a more reliable service and formed part of the plan to deliver what he called the biggest reform of the railways in a generation.
Burles said the new identity reflected the three organisations increasingly planning and delivering as one railway. He pointed to greater flexibility across train fleets, more effective planning of major events and closer track-and-train working to trial new services, while acknowledging there was much more to do.
Early progress under GBR Anglia includes approval for Greater Anglia Class 720 trains to operate on the c2c network, giving greater resilience and flexibility across the two fleets. Teams from c2c, Greater Anglia and Network Rail Anglia also worked together to support thousands of Southend United supporters travelling to Wembley, including through strengthened services between Southend and London.
Closer planning between Greater Anglia and Network Rail Anglia has also enabled a trial of overnight Friday Stansted Express services, with engineering plans reviewed and adjusted where possible while protecting essential maintenance.
Further work is under way to coordinate maintenance more closely, expand on-train technology to identify infrastructure faults earlier, improve data sharing and develop joint marketing to encourage rail travel to and from Southend.
Customers will see more trains carrying the GBR Anglia identity over the coming weeks and months as further Class 357 trains receive the new livery through c2c’s existing repaint and maintenance programme. Existing c2c and Greater Anglia logos will gradually be replaced by GBR Anglia branding across the wider fleet, though the Stansted Express identity will be retained and transition to GBR Stansted Express.
The new identity will also be introduced gradually across station signage and wayfinding, colleague materials and customer communications. The transition will take place over time, with a mixture of GBR Anglia, Greater Anglia and c2c branding visible across the region for some time to come. Existing train services, tickets and customer arrangements will not change.
c2c runs services between Fenchurch Street and Shoeburyness, serving 26 stations in East London and South Essex, with nearly 37.3 million journeys made on its services every year. Operation of c2c services transferred into public ownership on 20 July 2025 and is managed by DFTO (DfT Operator Ltd), the government’s public sector rail owning group tasked with bringing all privately-owned train operators into public ownership ahead of the creation of Great British Railways in 2027.
