Published on: Tuesday, 8 March 2016
Last updated: Wednesday, 5 October 2016
Abellio Greater Anglia haspledged additional support to the region’s Community Rail Partnerships (CRPs)to help them to continue to promote and improve rural railways lines for thebenefit of local residents, business and tourists.
During the current short franchise that runsuntil October 2016, the train operator will increase annual funding to the CRPsby a further £23,000 to £83,000 a year. The additional funding will mean the CRPs across the region can build upon their success andlook at new opportunities to promote local lines to the benefit of passengersand the communities they serve.
Projects undertaken to date by CRPs in Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex andCambridgeshire include the production of local area guides, guided walks,special event trains, volunteering initiatives, community art projects, wildlifeinitiatives, partnership initiatives to deliver service improvements andstation upgrades and wider community involvement schemes.
Commenting on the additional funding, Jonathan Denby, Head ofCorporate Affairs for Abellio Greater Anglia said:
"From the start of ourfranchise we made a real commitment to our Community Rail lines - doublingtrain operator funding for the CRPs in East Anglia and investing time andresources into working closely with them to encourage more people to use thetrain - as well as optimising the role of rail services and stations insupporting local communities and the local economy.
“This additional investment in our CRPsillustrates our major ongoing support for the development of local rail linesacross our network, in partnership with local communities - increasing fundingdespite being in the final 10 months of the franchise, after already havingraised our contribution by 140% over our two short franchises. We look forwardto continuing our work with the CRPs to deliver projects that benefit our region’srail users. ”