c2c (legal name Trenitalia c2c Limited) is a British train operating company owned by Trenitalia that operates the Essex Thameside railway contract. It manages 25 stations and its trains call at 28. c2c provides commuter services from its London Fenchurch Street terminus to parts of East London and south Essex along the London, Tilbury and Southend line. At weekends it also operates from London Liverpool Street.
The company began operating as LTS Rail in May 1996 under the ownership of Prism Rail, which had been awarded the London, Tilbury & Southend railway franchise as part of the privatisation of British Rail. In 1997, as a part of its original franchise commitments, LTS Rail ordered 44 Class 357 Electrostar electric multiple units (EMUs); in conjunction with an additional order placed two years later, the company completed the replacement of its slam-door rolling stock inherited from British Rail in 2003. During 2000, LTS Rail rebranded as c2c; that same year, parent company Prism Rail was acquired by National Express.
The original franchise was scheduled to conclude on 26 May 2011, but received multiple extensions before National Express was awarded a second franchise in 2014. Various service changes and amenities have been introduced over the course of the two franchise periods, including the fitting of regenerative braking to its rolling stock (the first UK train operator to do so) in March 2007, the launch of Quiet Zones onboard its trains in early 2008, the provision of Wi-Fi in April 2017, and the rolling out of pay-as-you-go and National Rail ITSO smartcard ticket options over multiple years.
In February 2017, National Express sold c2c to the Italian operator Trenitalia. During December of that year, c2c announced an order with Porterbrook for six ten-car Class 720/6 Aventra EMUs in response to growing demand; these were introduced in September 2023. Largely in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the franchise agreement was replaced by a rail contract on 19 July 2021 under which services have continued to be run. In February 2023, the Department for Transport (DfT) announced the extension of c2c's contract through to 20 July 2025. c2c has been one of several train operators impacted by the 2022–present United Kingdom railway strikes.
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