Network SouthEast
After spending seven years at the ScotRail division of the Provincial sector, ultimately becoming General Manager of the former, Chris Green moved on to become Managing Director of the London & SouthEast sector in January 1986. London & SouthEast was responsible for the operation of train services on all slow lines out of London (i.e. those not covered by the InterCity business sector), with a notable monopoly of train operations in Kent, East Sussex and West Sussex. The then new Managing Director was keen to promote a brand new image for the sector, one which would encompass a vivid livery and more improvements for passengers. Thus, on 10th June 1986, ''Network SouthEast'' was born. The launch of the re-branded sector to the media was a controversial one, the very colourful livery sparking mixed reactions among the press and railway enthusiasts. Class 50 No. 50023 ''Howe'' was unveiled to the public at Waterloo Station on the day of Network SouthEast's launch and Chris Green was determined to have at least one NSE liveried train working on each route from the outset. The British Rail Board made it clear that the decision for a sector re-branding would increase the running costs of business sector considerably, with more money going towards the repainting of stock. The BRB argued that re-painting motive power and rolling stock immediately would not be cost-effective due to the existing paintwork on vehicles being far from life-expired. As a result, it was estimated that all stock would be painted over a period of six years, with very old stock not receiving the livery at all, and this would set the sector back a projected extra cost of £500,000 a year.
Most services on the former Southern Region network were operated by Network SouthEast, the InterCity sector dealing with long-distance cross-country workings which penetrated the Southern boundaries, and the Gatwick Express. Freight was dealt with by Railfreight and, after 1987, the various TrainLoad sectors. Network SouthEast's operating boundaries also extended far into East Anglia on the Eastern Region and Oxfordshire on the Western Region. As a result of the extensive railway coverage in the general south east area, the sector was divided up into operating regions:
· North: Lines from Marylebone / Euston and St Pancras to
o Banbury and Aylesbury
o Northampton, Bletchley and Bedford
· East: Lines from Liverpool Street / Kings Cross and Fenchurch Street to
o Huntingdon and Cambridge;
o Kings Lynn,
o Harwich Town,
o Walton-on-Naze
o Clacton
o Southminster
o Southend Victoria
o Southend Central and Shoeburyness
· West: Lines from Paddington to:
o Bedwyn,
o Oxford
o Reading
· South West: Lines from London Waterloo to
o Exeter
o Salisbury
o Weymouth
o Bournemouth
o Portsmouth
o Newton Abbot
· South Central: Lines from London Victoria to
o Bognor Regis
o Littlehampton
o Brighton (also Blackfriars after Snow Hill Tunnel opening)
o Newhaven
o Seaford
o Eastbourne
o Hastings
o Plus: Brighton to Exeter via Portsmouth
· South East: Lines from London Charing Cross, Cannon Street, Victoria and Blackfriars to
o Dartford and Gillingham (via Sidcup, Bexleyheath or Greenwich)
o Faversham, Margate and Ramsgate via Bromley South
o Dover via Sevenoaks and Tonbridge, or via Faversham
