Intercity train upgrade scheme to provide over 600,000 extra seats per year

Abellio Greater Anglia'srefresh programme for its intercity trains will now deliver over 2,500 extrastandard seats every weekday, as a result of further improvements which willnow be implemented as part of the £9 million rolling stock upgrade. Theinitiative, which starts in earnest in the New Year, will see seven cateringvehicles converted from offering 24 First Class seats to providing 54 standardseats and another 29 standard carriages each gain an additional four seats. Theintercity trains operate between Norwich and London, so passengers fromNorwich, Diss, Stowmarket, Ipswich, Manningtree, Colchester and Chelmsford, aswell as on connecting lines from Sheringham, Great Yarmouth, Lowestoft,Felixstowe, Harwich and Clacton will all see benefits from the increasedseating capacity being added by the train operator.

The overall impact meansthat rather than over 1,600 extra standard seats being provided each week day,as was announced earlier this year, there will now be over 2,500 extra standardseats each weekday - equivalent to over 12,500 seats a week, over 50,000 seatsa month or well over 600,000 seats a year.

The major refresh for thecarriages will be undertaken by Vossloh Kiepe at Abellio Greater Anglia's CrownPoint depot in Norwich and it has now been confirmed that there will be 15additional jobs involved in delivering the programme, giving a boost for thelocal economy with more people based in Norwich over a 21 month period.

Jamie Burles, ManagingDirector, Abellio Greater Anglia said: "We are pleased to be able toincrease the number of additional standard seats on our trains as part of ourintercity train refurbishment programme. There will now be over 2,500 extra standardseats every weekday and over 600,000 available every year. On some services itwill lead to an increase of up to 15% in standard seating.

“We're also glad that withour partners in the project Vossloh Kiepe undertaking the work at our NorwichCrown Point depot, there will be a boost for the local economy, with 15 jobscreated locally during the course of the programme. We are committed tocontinuing to raise service standards for customers and communities across ournetwork."