First Great Eastern was a train operating company that ran the Great Eastern franchise in the East of England from January 1997 until March 2004. It was owned by FirstGroup.
right|thumbnail|Logo used from 1997 to 1999
Services
First Great Eastern operated all stops and limited stops services on the Great Eastern Main Line from to , , , , , , and . It also ran services on the Romford to Upminster Line and the Gainsborough Line from to .
Rolling stock
First Great Eastern inherited a fleet of Classes 312, and electric multiple units from British Rail. A Class 15x diesel multiple unit was hired from Anglia Railways for the Marks Tey to Sudbury service, due to the line not being electrified; a was used on weekdays and a on weekends. Prior to this arrangement, a Class 121 Bubble Car was hired from Silverlink.
A franchise commitment was the replacement of the Class 312s. In May 2001, First Great Eastern ordered 21 Class 360 Desiros from Siemens Mobility, with the first entering service in August 2003.
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Fleet in March 2004, at the end of the franchise:
|-
! rowspan="2" |Class
! rowspan="2" |Image
! rowspan="2" |Type
! colspan="2" |Top speed
! rowspan="2" |Number
! rowspan="2" |Routes operated
! rowspan="2" |Built
|-
!mph
!km/h
|-
|121 Bubble Car
|118px
| rowspan="3" |diesel multiple unit
|70
|112
|Hired from<br>Silverlink
| rowspan="3" |–
|1960
|-
|150
|100px
| rowspan="2" |75
| rowspan="2" |120
| rowspan="2" |Hired from<br>Anglia Railways
|1984–1987
|-
|153
|100px
|1987–1988
|-
|312
|100px
| rowspan="4" |electric multiple unit
|90
|145
|24
|–<br>–<br>– and (peak times only)
|1975–1978
|-
|315
|100px
|75
|120
|43
|– and <br>–
|1980–1981
|-
|321
|100px
| rowspan="2" |100
| rowspan="2" |160
|77
|–, , , , , <br>– (Sundays only)
|1988–1990
|-
|360/1 Desiro
|100px
|21
|– and <br>– (peak times only)
|2002–2003
|}
Depot
First Great Eastern's fleet was maintained at Ilford EMU Depot.
Demise
In 2002, as part of a franchise reorganisation by the Strategic Rail Authority, it was announced that the Great Eastern franchise would be merged into a new Greater Anglia franchise. In December 2003, the Strategic Rail Authority awarded the franchise to National Express and services were transferred to One (later National Express East Anglia) on 1 April 2004.