Greater Anglia Publishes Annual Report to Customers 2012/13

Abellio train operator Greater Anglia has published its first Annual Report to Customers for 2012/13 covering the period from the start of the franchise on 5 February 2012 until 31 March 2013.

The Annual Report provides a summary of the company’s achievements and progress made in its first year of operation and reflects the operator’s commitment to engage openly with its customers and stakeholders across the region. The highlights of the report include:

Working in partnership with Network Rail through a closer alliance, Greater Anglia improved the Moving Annual Average (MAA) punctuality - which measures all trains over a 12 month average - from 90.9% in March 2012 to a new high for the Greater Anglia franchise area (established in 2004) of 92.3% in March 2013. This has subsequently improved again to 92.6% in May 2013.

All the individual service groups (Mainline, Metro & Southend, Rural, Stansted Express & West Anglia) saw positive improvements in punctuality. In the Autumn 2012 National Passenger Survey, 83% of Greater Anglia’s passengers said they were satisfied with the service, up from 77% in the Autumn 2011 survey and 73% in Spring 2012.

Greater Anglia has upgraded stations, invested in improvements to some of its trains and improved customer communication. All 1,600 of the company’s frontline employees have been equipped with blackberry’s to help provide better, more timely and accurate information to passengers.

The Annual Report also provides information on the good performance and service Greater Anglia delivered during last summer’s Olympics, as well as its work with MPs and stakeholders, making the case for further improvements to the network, and the efforts made by its staff to provide consistently good customer service, reflected in the award of Train Operator of the Year for Greater Anglia at the Rail Business Awards 2012.

Ticket purchase has been made easier, with extra ticket machines at stations and new ways to book on-line (including print at home options) or via mobile apps.

Other highlights include easier weekend travel on the Norwich – London route, with far fewer weekends affected by disruptive engineering work, and improvements to integrated transport links – to make it more convenient to travel to and from stations by bus, bicycle or on foot.

Writing in the Annual Report, Ruud Haket, Managing Director, Greater Anglia said: “We have made good progress in improving the customer experience with some real steps forward in punctuality, customer service and communication. We recognise however, that there is much more to do. We are determined to raise service standards further, by continuing to improve and invest in the service we offer our passengers.

“Over the next 12 months we remain absolutely committed to doing what we can to deliver a better service for customers, and to work proactively with partners to secure the approvals and funding necessary to achieve major upgrades for East Anglia’s rail network in the longer term.”