The Greater Anglia (GA) Annual Business Plan (ABP) is designed to achieve the wider rail industry objectives set for GA, by delivering strategies, actions and a financial plan which achieve local targets, as well as underpinning and supporting national rail objectives.
The overarching aim is to provide a positive customer experience which accelerates demand and drives revenue growth, whilst continuing operate as a financially sustainable railway. In 2023/24 that will include both the opportunities presented by the completion of the transition to full new trains operation and revenue recovery, and the challenges presented by wider economic issues and the specific financial constraints facing the rail industry, with the need for cost efficiencies they necessitate.
Historically, GA has been a healthy, profitable and premium-paying franchisee performing well against its customer, financial and contractual measures. This strong performance and commitment to continuous improvement was maintained throughout the pandemic emergency contracts and the first year of the National Rail Contract (NRC) - and was recently recognised with GA being named Passenger Operator of the Year at the National Rail Awards 2022.
Furthermore, as well as delivering an entirely new fleet of trains and investing significant capital in the largest TOC-delivered infrastructure change programme the industry has ever seen, GA returned to being a positive net contributor to the industry’s finances in 2022, as a result of excellent operational performance, customer service, revenue generation and cost reduction activity.
This well-established high performance provides the foundation for GA to deliver against the Secretary of State’s industry objectives, including new initiatives and actions to further enhance the customer experience, optimize all opportunities to accelerate revenue recovery and support further sustainable efficiency.