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