Upgrading carriages, enhancing intercity journeys

Published on: Saturday, 3 September 2016
Last updated: Saturday, 3 September 2016

At Abellio Greater Anglia, we’re carrying out major carriage refurbishments on our Intercity Mk3 trains. The £9 million investment, which extends to Intercity services operating on the Great Eastern Main Line (GEML) between Norwich, Ipswich, Colchester, Chelmsford and London, is all part of our effort to make your journey more relaxing, convenient and enjoyable.

We believe that days out, visits and short breaks all begin with the journey. That’s why on our refreshed Mk3 carriages, we’ve introduced new carpets, seat covers and power points. We’ve also improved the lighting, upgraded the toilets and redecorated inside and out. All with a view to making sure you reach your destination in comfort and style.

Expanding capacity, sharing the experience

To allow as many people as possible to enjoy our newly refurbished carriages on the GEML Intercity services, we’re providing over 2,500 additional Standard seats on weekdays – that’s an extra 600,000+ Standard seats a year. To achieve this, we’re fitting out seven catering vehicles with 44 Standard seats and adding four extra seats to many of our Standard carriages from October 2016. Which means more people than ever can enjoy the Abellio Greater Anglia Intercity experience.

Even more availability

We’re constantly looking for ways to improve our service and vehicle availability, which is why we’ve hired an additional set of Intercity Mk3 carriages. This will enable us to fulfil our planned seating capacity extension during the Mk3 refurbishment programme, and spread the journey experience to more Intercity passengers.

Going eco, feeling good

To help you feel even better about your journey, we’ve fitted eco-toilets in all our Intercity carriages. We’ve also launched a new programme to fit similar facilities in our Class 321 trains as part of a £2 million investment by Network Rail at Orient Way (East London), Southend and Norwich. So not only will your Abellio Greater Anglia journey be relaxing, pleasant and cost-effective, it will also be environmentally friendly.

First Class catering to your seat

As part of the Mk3 improvements, we’re also recruiting an additional six catering staff to help trial an at-seat catering service in our First Class carriages. Committed to exceptional service quality, the extra staff will be deployed on three morning and evening peak Intercity trains in each direction between Norwich and London. Meaning you can sit back and enjoy a First Class catering experience, without even leaving your seat.

The first few refurbished MK3 carriages are now in service, and the entire Intercity fleet will be completed by October 2016.

For more information on our service improvement programme, click here .