Greater Anglia facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Greater Anglia

Class 745 at Colchester in February 2020
Overview
Franchise(s)	Greater Anglia 5 February 2012 – 15 October 2016 East Anglia 16 October 2016 – 20 September 2026
Main region(s)	East of England
Other region(s)	Greater London
Fleet size	133 Class 720 Aventra units (112 in service) 20 Class 745 FLIRT units 38 Class 755 FLIRT units
Stations called at	150
Stations operated	134
Parent company	Transport UK Group (60%) Mitsui & Co (40%)
Reporting mark	LE
Predecessor	National Express East Anglia

Greater Anglia is a train company in the UK. It is owned by two groups, Transport UK Group and Mitsui & Co. Greater Anglia runs trains in the East of England. These trains connect places like Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk, Hertfordshire, and Cambridgeshire to London Liverpool Street. They also have many local train services across the East of England.

The company started running these train services in February 2012. At first, it was called Greater Anglia, then it changed to Abellio Greater Anglia in 2013. The company worked on making train services better. They bought new trains and started a plan called 'Norwich in 90'. This plan aimed to make journeys faster between major cities. In 2015, some of Greater Anglia's local train services were moved to other companies like London Overground and TfL Rail.

In 2016, Greater Anglia won the right to keep running the train services. They went back to being called Greater Anglia. In 2017, a Japanese company called Mitsui bought a part of Greater Anglia. Since then, Greater Anglia has used some Japanese ideas to help plan and run their trains. Sometimes, there have been disagreements with train workers. This led to strikes in 2017 and 2018. In 2023, Transport UK Group took over Abellio's share in Greater Anglia.

History of Greater Anglia Trains

How Greater Anglia Started

Abellio Greater Anglia logo, used from 2013 to 2016

In 2003, another company called National Express started running these train services. They called their service "One". This was before Greater Anglia. Their contract was supposed to end in 2011. However, the government decided not to extend their contract. This was because another National Express train service had problems.

After a change in government in 2010, new train contracts were put on hold. So, National Express East Anglia kept running trains for a bit longer. In 2011, three companies were chosen to bid for the contract. These were Abellio, Go-Ahead, and Stagecoach. Abellio won the contract in October 2011. Greater Anglia took over the services from National Express East Anglia on 5 February 2012.

The first contract for Greater Anglia was short, ending in 2014. This was to allow the government to plan for longer contracts. In 2013, the contract was extended until October 2016. In December 2013, Greater Anglia changed its name to Abellio Greater Anglia.

Making Changes and Improvements

Before Greater Anglia, there hadn't been many big improvements to the train lines for almost 30 years. When Greater Anglia started, they promised to invest money. They wanted to make services and stations better. In 2014, a report showed many ideas for improving the rail network.

One big project was the 'Norwich in 90' plan. This aimed to make journeys faster. For example, London to Colchester in 40 minutes. London to Ipswich in 60 minutes. And London to Norwich in 90 minutes. People had been asking for faster trains since 2009. Greater Anglia knew this but couldn't do much at first. This was because their first contract was very short. A special group, the Great Eastern Rail Taskforce, was created in 2013. This helped push for these improvements.

The train lines in the region were quite old and often had problems. So, the improvements focused on making trains faster and more reliable. This work involves many groups, including Network Rail. It also includes buying new trains. To make intercity trains faster, all trains on the line needed to speed up. There is also a goal to have three trains per hour between Norwich and London. But some parts of the track need to be improved first.

Some train services were moved to other companies. On 31 May 2015, some local London services went to London Overground Rail Operations. On the same day, other local services went to TfL Rail.

In 2015, Abellio, FirstGroup, and National Express were chosen to bid for the next contract. Abellio won the contract again in August 2016. This new contract would last until 2025. As part of this, Greater Anglia promised to buy 1,043 new train carriages. These new trains would be built by Bombardier Transportation and Stadler Rail. In 2017, Mitsui bought a 40% share in Greater Anglia. Since then, Greater Anglia has used Japanese railway ideas. For example, they use computer models to plan train times.

In 2021, Greater Anglia was given a new contract. This contract will last until September 2026. In 2023, Transport UK Group bought Abellio's share in Greater Anglia.

Train Worker Disputes

In August 2017, train conductors at Greater Anglia voted to strike. This was because of plans to close ticket offices. It was also about having more trains run by drivers only. Since October 2017, there have been several strikes. The main problem has not been fully solved. The National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) said that Greater Anglia used stand-in staff during strikes. They said this put passenger safety at risk. The disagreements continued into 2018. More strikes were planned for the summer. These strikes affected about 40% of train services.

On 19 July 2018, the RMT announced that its members voted to accept a deal. This deal would keep guards on trains. It also stopped the plan for more driver-only trains.

Greater Anglia is one of several train companies affected by the 2022–2024 United Kingdom railway strikes. These are the first national rail strikes in the UK in 30 years. Greater Anglia workers are taking part in these strikes. This is due to disagreements about pay and working conditions.

What Greater Anglia Promised

First Contract (2012–2016)

During its first contract, Greater Anglia planned several improvements:

• Better stations and ticket areas.
• A text message service to tell passengers about delays.
• Extending Oyster card use to more stations.
• Tickets that could be printed at home or used on mobile phones.
• 600 more parking spaces at stations.
• More places to store bicycles.
• New automatic ticket gates at Brentwood (though these were not installed by Greater Anglia).

Second Contract (2016–2025)

As part of its second contract, Greater Anglia promised these improvements:

• Replacing all old trains with 1,043 new ones by September 2020.
• Improving some older trains before they are replaced.
• Making trains more on time, aiming for at least 92.9%.
• Two weekday trains from Norwich to London in 90 minutes.
• Two weekday trains from Ipswich to London in 60 minutes.
• Free Wi-Fi on trains and at stations.
• £60 million to upgrade stations. This includes Broxbourne, Cambridge, Cheshunt, Harlow Town, and Southend Victoria.
• New digital information screens at all stations.
• More car and bike parking (1,800 car spaces, 4,000 bike spaces).
• Better ticket offices and vending machines.
• New ticket deals for people who travel less often or work part-time.
• Automatic refunds for delays for some ticket holders.
• £120 million for train maintenance areas. A new one at Manningtree.
• Hiring 20 trainees each year and creating at least 30 apprenticeships by 2019.
• Extending the Gainsborough Line from Marks Tey to Colchester Town.
• Bringing back four direct trains from Lowestoft to London.
• Making the Ipswich to Ely Line services to Peterborough hourly instead of every two hours. Some will go to Colchester.
• Making Sunday services on the Ipswich to Cambridge Line and East Suffolk Line hourly.

Train Services

As of December 2023^[update], here are some of the train services Greater Anglia runs during quieter times, Monday to Friday:

Great Eastern Lines

West Anglia Lines

Regional Lines

Stansted Express Services

Greater Anglia also runs the Stansted Express. This is a special train service that goes to Stansted Airport from London Liverpool Street. As of December 2023^[update], here are the Stansted Express services during quieter times, Monday to Friday:

Train Performance

In late 2013, 94% of Greater Anglia trains were on time. This was a little less than the year before. In 2013, Abellio Greater Anglia was named "train operator of the year".

However, a survey in February 2014 found that customers were not very happy. Greater Anglia was last out of 20 train companies. Only 40% of customers were happy. In 2016, Greater Anglia was ranked the fourth worst UK train operator. Only 35% of commuters were happy.

Experts thought that more people would want to travel on the Great Eastern Main Line into London. They expected a 32% increase from Suffolk and Norfolk. They expected a 52% increase from Essex. This was even though Greater Anglia received less money from the government than most other train companies.

Greater Anglia's Trains

Greater Anglia took over many different types of trains from the previous company. These included older diesel and electric trains. Because their first contract was short, they didn't plan to buy new trains at first. But this changed when they got a longer contract in 2016.

In 2013, people started a petition to stop trains from dropping raw sewage onto the tracks. This was a health concern for railway staff. Greater Anglia said they were working to upgrade their trains. By October 2016, all older trains had new toilets that didn't drop waste onto the tracks.

On 31 May 2015, some of Greater Anglia's Class 315 trains moved to London Overground and TfL Rail. Some Class 317 trains also moved to London Overground.

In August 2016, it was announced that 1,043 new train carriages would be bought. This would replace all the old trains. Many old trains did not meet new rules for accessibility. Also, they couldn't go fast enough for the new journey time goals. Bombardier Transportation built 111 new electric trains. Stadler Rail built 58 new FLIRT electric trains. All these new trains were planned to be in service between August 2019 and September 2020.

Bombardier built the Class 720 trains. These are used for local and commuter services from Liverpool Street. Stadler built the Class 745 trains. These are used for longer journeys on the Great Eastern Main Line and the Stansted Express. Stadler also built the Class 755 trains. These are used for all local diesel services. By July 2020, all Class 755 trains were in use.

The first new train to start service was a Class 755. It began running on 29 July 2019 between Norwich and Great Yarmouth or Lowestoft. The first Class 745 train started service on 8 January 2020. It ran between Norwich and Liverpool Street. After these new trains arrived, the old Class 90 trains were taken out of service by March 2020.

Testing of the new Class 720 trains began in March 2020. Even during the COVID-19 pandemic, testing continued. This was to get them ready for service. In June 2020, they were allowed to carry passengers. The first two Class 720 trains started service on 26 November 2020. They ran on the Shenfield to Southend Line.

Some Class 360 trains were moved in June 2020. They went to be changed so they could go faster. This was to prepare them for another train company, East Midlands Railway. Because the new Class 720s were delayed, Greater Anglia leased some older Class 321 and Class 322 trains from July 2020. All Class 360 trains had moved by February 2021.

The Class 379 trains were taken out of service in February 2022. This was because they were expensive to lease. On 1 August 2022, Greater Anglia confirmed that all West Anglia services now use the new Class 720 trains. Greater Anglia stopped using its Class 321 trains at the end of April 2023.

Current Trains

Family	Class	Image	Type	Top speed		Number	Carriages	Routes operated	Built
				mph	km/h
Shunting locomotive
	08	N/A	Shunter	15	24	3	N/A	Moving trains around depots	1952–1962
Electric trains
Alstom Aventra	720/1		EMU	100	161	44	5	Fen line Hertford East branch line West Anglia Main Line Braintree branch line Crouch Valley line Dutchflyer Great Eastern Main Line Shenfield–Southend line Sunshine Coast Line Stansted Express (Some services)	2018–2021
	720/5					89
Stadler FLIRT	745/0					10	12	Great Eastern Main Line	2018-2020
	745/1					10	12	Stansted Express	2018-2020
Bi-mode trains (electric and diesel)
Stadler FLIRT	755/3 755/4		BMU	100	161	14	3	Wherry Lines Breckland line Bittern Line East Suffolk line West Anglia Main Line Felixstowe branch line Ipswich–Ely line Gainsborough line	2018–2020
						24	4

Past Trains

Here are some types of trains that Greater Anglia used to operate:

Family	Class	Image	Type	Top speed		Cars	Number	Built	Routes operated
				mph	km/h
Locomotive pulled trains
	37		Diesel locomotive	80	130	N/A	4	1960–1965	Wherry Lines
Stadler UKLight	68			100	161		3	2013–2017
	Mark 2		Carriage				13	1963–1975
	90		Electric locomotive	110	177	9	15	1987–1990	Great Eastern Main Line
	Mark 3		Carriage	125	201		130	1975–1988
	Driving Van Trailer		Control car				15	1988–1990
Diesel trains
Super Sprinter	153		DMU	75	121	1	5	1991–1992	Wherry Lines Breckland line Bittern Line East Suffolk line Felixstowe branch line Ipswich–Ely line Gainsborough line
	156					2	9	1987–1988
Bombardier Turbostar	170/2			100	161	2	4	2002
						3	8	1999
Electric trains
BREL 1972	315		EMU	75	121	4	61	1980–1981	Shenfield Metro Lea Valley lines Romford–Upminster line
BR Second Generation (Mark 3)	317/1			100	161	4	10	1981–1982	Fen line Hertford East branch line West Anglia Main Line
	317/5						7	1981–1982	Fen line Hertford East branch line West Anglia Main Line
	317/6						24	1985–1987	Fen line Hertford East branch line West Anglia Main Line
	317/7						9	1981–1982	Lea Valley lines
	317/8						9
	321			100	161	4	89	1988–1991	Braintree branch line Crouch Valley line Dutchflyer Great Eastern Main Line Mayflower line Shenfield–Southend line Sunshine Coast Line
	322			100	161	4	5	1990	Braintree branch line Crouch Valley line Dutchflyer Great Eastern Main Line Mayflower line Shenfield–Southend line Sunshine Coast Line
Siemens Desiro	360/1			110	177	4	21	2002–2003	Braintree branch line Dutchflyer Great Eastern Main Line Mayflower line Sunshine Coast Line
Bombardier Electrostar	379			100	160	4	30	2010–2011	Fen line Stansted Express West Anglia Main Line

Train Maintenance Depots

Greater Anglia's trains are looked after and fixed at three main depots: Clacton-on-Sea, Ilford, and Crown Point.