Published on: Monday, 29 July 2024
Last updated: Monday, 29 July 2024
Regional rail travel transformed with more comfortable journeys and industry-leading performance
Urs Bikle, Jamie Burles, Matthew Allen. L-R. Credit: Greater Anglia
Greater Anglia (GA) has marked the 5th anniversary of its first new train entering passenger service today.
Monday 29th July 2019 saw the first of GA’s brand new, Stadler-built, bi-mode trains in operation on the 07.47 from Lowestoft to Norwich. It marked the start of a new era for rail travel in East Anglia and the beginning of a positive transformation in the service provided for customers and communities across the GA network, which now sees all GA services in the region operated by new trains.
Passengers are benefitting from greater comfort, increased seating capacity, better accessibility, and other features, such as plug/USB points and fast, free wi-fi. They’ve also helped GA deliver record-breaking punctuality and reliability, with Greater Anglia consistently the best-performing train operator in the UK, and timetable improvements on a number of its routes.
5th Anniversary Event Attendees at Lowestoft Station. Credit: Greater Anglia
To celebrate the anniversary of the beginning of this major upgrade for train services in the region, GA invited stakeholders and media representatives to an event which started at Norwich station and included a special trip to Lowestoft and back on one of its high-quality bi-mode trains (in fact the specific train that operated the first service – 4 carriage Class 755 bi-mode train, number 755410).
At Lowestoft there were speeches from representatives from Greater Anglia, Stadler, who built and maintain the bi-mode trains, and Rock Rail who own them, along with refreshments and photographs. The special trip then returned from Lowestoft to Norwich.
Key achievements linked to the introduction of new trains on Greater Anglia services across East Anglia include:
- All Greater Anglia services now operated by new trains
- Greater Anglia consistently the best-performing train operator in the UK with annual performance over 94.3% on both the Public Performance Measure (arrival at destination within 5 minutes of time) and the Time to 3 (arrival at every station served within 3 minutes of time) and 86% on the On Time measure - the best results of any UK operator in each case.
- A number of regional routes - specifically the lines from Norwich to Sheringham, Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft and Marks Tey to Sudbury - have annual punctuality of over 96.5%
- Customer numbers recovering well across the region, as passengers see the benefits of new trains
- Major accessibility improvements - especially on regional, Intercity and Stansted Express routes, where the “level boarding” option provided by Stadler-built trains with low floors and retractable steps have set a new benchmark for accessible rail travel in the UK
- More comfortable journeys with nice seats, bright, air-conditioned interiors, plug/USB points and fast free wi-fi
- Increased seating capacity on all routes, including on 3 and 4 carriage trains on regional routes which were mostly operated with 1 or 2 carriage trains before
- Journey times on some routes reduced - especially intercity services which are now mostly 6 or 7 minutes quicker
- Timetable improvements, such as Norwich to Stansted Airport direct services, more frequent Sunday services on many regional routes and some later last evening trains
- Greater Anglia’s fleet of bi-mode, intercity and Stansted Express trains have now collectively travelled over 33 million miles
Jamie Burles, Managing Director, Greater Anglia said:
“Five years on from our first bi-mode train entering passenger service, train services in East Anglia have been successfully and positively transformed, with state-of-the-art, comfortable trains, excellent performance, better services, and new journey opportunities. Passengers and stakeholders alike have welcomed the step change in service quality and customer numbers are rising as a result.
"Looking ahead, we can reassure customers and communities across our network that our plans are not just to maintain the high standards of rail travel and performance we have now set, but to keep on improving services in line with local needs, as rail plays an ever more crucial role in the region’s sustainable development.”
Urs Bikle, Business Development Director at Stadler, added:
“The fifth anniversary of the first bi-mode entering commercial service is a highly significant landmark and cause for celebration. Designed with the 21st century passenger in mind, these trains have taken rail travel in East Anglia to a new level. They have transformed the customer experience, improved performance, increased seating capacity, delivered ground-breaking accessibility benefits and enabled the delivery of other service improvements. Industry surveys and performance measures show Greater Anglia excelling in a range of measures, including reliability and punctuality as well as passenger satisfaction. We are thrilled to have been part of this journey with partners Greater Anglia and Rock Rail and look forward to working with them in future, as we continue to enhance the services we provide.”
Matthew Allen, Chief Investment Officer at Rock Rail, added:
“We are delighted to see first-hand the transformation of rail services in East Anglia which has been achieved as a direct result of the Stadler FLIRT trains introduced by Greater Anglia and Rock Rail. We look forward to working with Stadler and Greater Anglia to build on the successful introduction of these trains, continuing to grow the industry leading performance, and further enhancing the customer experience throughout the life of the fleet.
“These fantastic state-of-the-art trains for Greater Anglia are financed through public sector and private sector pension funds and insurance companies. This long term investment has already delivered significant benefits for passengers and the environment over the first 5 years of the trains being in operation.”
Lowestoft Station. Credit: Greater Anglia