Editing C2c (section)

===Slam-door replacement===
[[File:312792 at Shoeburyness.jpg|thumb|{{brc|312}} at {{rws|Shoeburyness}} station on 29 March 2003, the final day of running.]]
LTS Rail inherited a fleet of [[Slam-door train|slam-door]] electric multiple unit {{brc|302}}, {{brc|310}} and {{brc|312}} train sets from [[Network SouthEast]]. The original franchise agreement was for 25 sliding door trainsets (consisting of 100 carriages) to be transferred from [[West Anglia Great Northern]] (WAGN) and for 44 new trains (consisting of 176 carriages) to be ordered by the company.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Class 317s for LTS |magazine=[[Rail (magazine)|Rail]] |issue=296 |date=15 January 1997 |page=9}}</ref> LTS Rail ordered 44 [[British Rail Class 357|Class 357 ''Electrostar'']] units in 1997, to be leased from [[Porterbrook]].<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Adtranz wins £200 million order for new trains on 'Misery Line' |magazine=[[Rail (magazine)|Rail]] |issue=307 |date=18 June 1997 |page=6}}</ref> The most elderly Class 302 units were removed from regular service on 4 July 1998, several sets were retained as spares in case of stock shortages.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Class 302 Gone? |date=1999 |journal=Electric Railway Society Journal |page=18 |volume=44}}</ref> By mid-1997, WAGN had released 18 {{brc|317}} units. However, both companies were experiencing an unexpected increase in passenger numbers and WAGN was unable to release more vehicles by December 1998.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=No more sliding-door trains for LTS as WAGN keeps last Class 317s |magazine=[[Rail (magazine)|Rail]] |issue=345 |date=2 December 1998 |page=13}}</ref>

The franchise agreement was renegotiated in November 1998 to replace the entire LTS Rail fleet with new vehicles, allowing for the return of the Class 317s to WAGN and the planned elimination of slam-door stock by March 2002.<ref name="1998 franchise"/> The first Class 357 train was delivered in 1999.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=First LTS Electrostar Class 357 delivered |magazine=[[Rail (magazine)|Rail]] |issue=358 |date=2 June 1999 |page=45}}</ref> A second batch of 28 Class 357 units was ordered in December 1999, to be leased from [[Angel Trains]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.investegate.co.uk/prism-rail-plc--pim-/rns/-80m-train-order-for-lts-rail/199912211015138619C/ |publisher=Prism Rail |date=21 December 1999 |title=£80m Train Order for LTS Rail |access-date=4 February 2023 |archive-date=4 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230204020215/https://www.investegate.co.uk/prism-rail-plc--pim-/rns/-80m-train-order-for-lts-rail/199912211015138619C/ |url-status=dead}}</ref> This satisfied a franchise commitment to increase the fleet by three units. Reliability problems with the new trains led to their withdrawal from service at peak times in October 2000.<ref>{{cite web |title=Progress on c2c's new train fleet |url=http://www.c2c-online.co.uk/site/news/news_1a2s.htm |website=c2c-online.co.uk |access-date=3 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20011118012509/http://www.c2c-online.co.uk/site/news/news_1a2s.htm |archive-date=18 November 2001 |date=12 March 2001}}</ref> By way of compensation, two additional units were added to the first order for free by the supplier [[Adtranz]].<ref>{{cite magazine |magazine=[[The Railway Magazine]] |year=2002 |page=31}}{{Full citation needed|date=May 2023}}</ref><!-- title and issue number were not carried over date was wrong and title made no sense--> During 2003, c2c became the first [[train operating company]] to have replaced its entire fleet with new accessible trains. The last slam-door Class 312 service ran on 29 March 2003.<ref>{{cite web |title=Farewell 312's |url=http://www.c2c-online.co.uk/news/news_1a3o.html |website=c2c-online.co.uk |access-date=3 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031006161019/http://www.c2c-online.co.uk:80/news/news_1a3o.html |archive-date=6 October 2003 |date=25 March 2003}}</ref>