this article is about the former train operating company . for its successor see virgin trains east coast . for the future open access operator see east coast trains . east coast overview franchise s intercity east coast 14 november 2009 28 february 2015 main region s greater london east of england east midlands yorkshire and the humber north east england scotland fleet size 31 class 91 electric locomotives 30 intercity 225 sets 14 intercity 125 hst sets stations called at 53 stations operated 12 national rail abbreviation gr parent company directly operated railways website www.eastcoast.co.uk v t e east coast route legend inverness carrbridge aviemore kingussie newtonmore blair atholl pitlochry dunkeld perth gleneagles dunblane stirling falkirk aberdeen stonehaven montrose arbroath dundee leuchars kirkcaldy inverkeithing glasgow central motherwell haymarket edinburgh waverley dunbar berwick upon tweed alnmouth morpeth newcastle central durham darlington northallerton york skipton keighley bradford forster sq shipley harrogate horsforth leeds wakefield westgate hull brough selby doncaster retford lincoln central newark north gate grantham peterborough stevenage london king s cross east coast 1 was a british train operating company that operated the intercity east coast franchise on the east coast main line between london yorkshire the north east and scotland . east coast operated long distance inter city services from its central london terminus at london king s cross on two primary routes ; the first to leeds and the second to edinburgh via newcastle with other services reaching into yorkshire and northern and central scotland . it commenced operations on 14 november 2009 and ceased on 28 february 2015 . 2 east coast was a subsidiary of directly operated railways formed by the department for transport as an operator of last resort when national express was refused further financial support to its national express east coast nxec subsidiary and consequently lost its franchise . 3 the franchise was re nationalised on 14 november 2009 with the intention being that operations would return to a private franchisee by december 2013 . 4 in march 2013 the secretary of state for transport announced that this would occur in february 2015 instead . 5 in january 2014 firstgroup keolis eurostar and stagecoach virgin were announced as the shortlisted bidders for the new franchise . 6 7 8 the franchise passed to virgin trains east coast on 1 march 2015 . 9 10 11 contents 1 principal services 1.1 london leeds 1.2 london newcastle 1.3 london edinburgh 1.4 london newark york 2 limited service 2.1 london glasgow 2.2 london aberdeen 2.3 london inverness 2.4 london bradford 2.5 london skipton 2.6 london lincoln 2.7 london hull 2.8 london harrogate 3 rolling stock 3.1 cancelled future fleet 3.2 locomotive naming 4 performance 5 profitability 6 loyalty scheme 7 tv series 8 final day of service 9 references 10 external links principal services edit london leeds edit this was the busiest citation needed east coast service half hourly with one train per hour serving peterborough doncaster wakefield westgate and leeds while the other served stevenage grantham doncaster wakefield westgate and leeds . at weekends they called at stevenage every two hours while peterborough grantham newark doncaster and wakefield were served hourly . london newcastle edit east coast operated a half hourly service between king s cross and newcastle central one fast one semi fast throughout the day departing from london on the hour and the half hour . the top of the hour trains were part of the london to scotland services which ran as limited stop expresses between london and newcastle as seen below . the half hour train called at peterborough newark doncaster york northallerton darlington durham and terminated at newcastle although there was an extension of this service to edinburgh every 2 hours . at weekends all daytime services to newcastle continued through to edinburgh with some going non stop . late evening services terminated at newcastle . london edinburgh edit this was east coast s flagship route serving the whole length of the east coast main line ; an hourly service from london to edinburgh waverley calling at york darlington newcastle central berwick upon tweed and edinburgh . some of these trains also called at peterborough . occasionally there was a half hourly service to edinburgh with some newcastle trains extended at peak hours . at weekends all services on the half hour continued to edinburgh from newcastle . during the day services to london king s cross from edinburgh ran every 30 minutes one fast and one semi fast . all trains called at newcastle and most at berwick upon tweed darlington and york . in may 2011 east coast re introduced the historic flying scotsman service . this was an early morning service to london king s cross with a journey time of four hours departing edinburgh waverley at 05 40 calling only at newcastle central at 07 03 and arriving at london at 09 40 . london newark york edit an hourly service ran between king s cross and newark calling at all intermediate stations . this was extended to york every two hours serving retford and doncaster and at peak times was extended to newcastle . these services operated only on weekdays . additional services also start terminated at doncaster or peterborough at peak times . a map of east coast services showing the service pattern each hour and extensions limited service edit london glasgow edit there was only one direct through train per day in each direction between king s cross and glasgow central departing glasgow at 06 50 and departing king s cross at 15.30 as an extension of a london to newcastle service also calling at edinburgh . there were no east coast service to glasgow on saturdays . london aberdeen edit these trains were extensions to the hourly london to edinburgh service . there were three trains per day each way between king s cross and aberdeen departing at 10 00 the northern lights 14 00 and 16 00 weekdays only the journey time being just over seven hours . there was also one service per day in each direction between leeds and aberdeen . these services were operated by intercity 125 sets as the edinburgh to aberdeen line and york to leeds section via garforth were not electrified . this route crossed the historic forth and tay bridges . london inverness edit this was an extension of a london to edinburgh service with a daily service operating between king s cross and inverness departing at 12 00 with the southbound service departing inverness at 7 55 09 40 sundays named the highland chieftain . the journey took just over eight hours and was operated by intercity 125 sets as the line between edinburgh and inverness was not electrified . london bradford edit one train per day in each direction ran between bradford forster square and king s cross via leeds . this used an electric intercity 225 train as the route was fully electrified . this service offered the fastest journey time of 1hr 59m only stopping at wakefield westgate on the way to london . london skipton edit there was a morning train from skipton to king s cross with an early evening return . this was an extension of the london to leeds service . though the line to skipton was electrified throughout the east coast service to from the town was initially operated using a diesel hst because the electrical infrastructure on the leeds to skipton line was insufficient to support a class 91 locomotive in addition to the class 333 electric multiple units that operated the local services from leeds to skipton . however tests took place on 16 january 2011 for the operation of intercity 225s on this service . citation needed from the timetable starting 22 may 2011 the evening return train from kings cross was worked by an intercity 225 monday fridays only . 12 the saturday run of the outward service was the only east coast service out of skipton not to call at wakefield westgate after leeds this service took the route via micklefield and hambleton junctions to doncaster . although the other trains to from skipton used the intercity 225 the saturday run of the outward service used the intercity 125 because the alternative route used was not fully electrified . london lincoln edit from may 2011 a direct train ran between king s cross and lincoln central with one service per day in each direction as an extension of the london newark service . this service used a diesel intercity 125 set as the nottingham to lincoln line was not electrified . london hull edit the hull executive ran between king s cross and hull with one train per day each way . this service also used intercity 125 sets as the hull line was not electrified . more frequent services between king s cross and hull were operated by first hull trains . london harrogate edit there was a daily morning departure from harrogate to king s cross and an evening return . this service used a diesel intercity 125 set as the harrogate line was not electrified . rolling stock edit east coast inherited the rolling stock operated by nxec comprising class 43 diesel sets with their mark 3 coaching stock intercity 125 and class 91 electric locomotives and mark 4 coaches intercity 225 . the original franchise holder gner undertook a major refurbishment of its rolling stock from 2003 which it titled project mallard . between 2003 and 2006 the mark 4 carriage fleet was upgraded and refurbished while work started on refurbishing the mark 3 coaches under gner in early 2007 . this work continued under nxec with the final intercity 125 set completed in october 2009 . 13 until october 2010 east coast offered free wi fi to passengers in both first and standard class . from 5 october 2010 a charge of 4.99 per hour or 9.99 for 24 hours was introduced for standard class passengers with a 15 minute free allowance . 14 as part of an overhaul of the intercity 225 fleet they were repainted into east coast s silver livery . the repaint was started in june 2010 with the first full set excluding loco being released on 30 july 2010 . the idea is that a plain base livery can be easily customised for any future operator of the franchise . 15 trainset class image type top speed number routes operated mph km h intercity 125 class 43 diesel locomotive 125 200 32 london kings cross lincoln central harrogate hull paragon aberdeen & inverness . also skipton london king s cross saturdays only and leeds aberdeen mark 3 carriage passenger carriage 125 200 117 intercity 225 class 91 electric locomotive 140 225 31 london kings cross leeds bradford forster square newark north gate skipton york newcastle edinburgh waverley & glasgow central mark 4 carriage passenger carriage 140 225 302 driving van trailer 140 225 31 cancelled future fleet edit originally east coast were to receive five class 180 adelante dmus . due to a reduction in the number of extra services and with directly operated railways stating its unhappiness with the class 180 units 16 they were sent to first great western for use on the cotswold line instead . east coast investigated using one 11 coach pendolino from july 2011 17 but decided instead to lease an extra hst set from east midlands trains from may 2011 bringing the number of hsts leased to 14 . 18 locomotive naming edit the fleet of class 91 locomotives inherited by east coast has carried various names up until 2008 . in 2011 in response to customer requests east coast resumed the practice . it began by naming 91109 as sir bobby robson unveiled in a ceremony at newcastle central station on 29 march 2011 by his widow elsie and alan shearer patron of the sir bobby robson foundation which the company was