Published on: Friday, 19 June 2015
Last updated: Wednesday, 5 October 2016
The train operator Abellio Greater Angliahas published its latest Annual Report to Customers for 2014/15 covering theperiod from 1 April 2014 to 31 March 2015.
The report includes updates on the serviceimprovements and additional investments (totalling £31.5m) the operator iscommitted to delivering as part of the current short franchise that runs untilOctober 2016, along with information on how services performed over the periodof this report.
New and additional weekday train servicesbetween Cambridge and Stansted Airport, plus extra Sunday services betweenNorwich and London, Marks Tey and Sudbury, Lowestoft and Ipswich / Norwich, andNorwich and Sheringham have all been added to the timetable, and an onlinedelay repay compensation scheme for season-ticket holders introduced. The £12mupgrade of the Intercity train fleet on the Norwich to London mainline isunderway with the first full set of refurbished carriages in service onschedule and generating positive feedback from customers (especially about thenew lighting, plug points and smarter appearance). Additional carriages havebeen hired to maintain service standards during the upgrade programme, whilstfurther investment has been made in train reliability and train cleaning, whichis starting to have a tangible effect.
The report also includes a summary ofimprovements either delivered or currently in progress at Abellio GreaterAnglia’s stations. Other enhancements include more good value fares offers,more integrated transport initiatives (such as better cycle facilities) andmore support for community rail partnerships.
The average train punctuality for 2014/15was 91.1% which, although slightly behind the previous year’s result, stillexceeded the average for the rail industry as a whole of 89.7%, meaning thatAbellio Greater Anglia was placed eighth out of the 22 train service operatorsin the UK. Year-on-year punctuality improved on the West Anglia, StanstedExpress and Regional networks, but was below last year’s average for both theMainline and Metro & Southend routes where performance was more challengingas a result of infrastructure failures, fatalities, train faults and freighttrain failures, particularly in the summer and late autumn.
Commenting on the Annual Report, JamieBurles, Managing Director, Abellio Greater Anglia said: “We made some positiveprogress during the period covered by the report with timetable improvementsand the start of some train refresh programmes, but there is more to do inachieving the consistency of service delivery, including punctuality andreliability that our customers rightly expect.
“We have announced investment of over £30million to raise performance and customer service standards. So, although weare operating to a short franchise contract, I can assure all of our customersof my ongoing commitment and that of the entire Abellio Greater Anglia team todo all we can to deliver a better, more consistent service.”
The Annual Report is available at mainstations.