Published on: Monday, 18 June 2018
Last updated: Monday, 18 June 2018
Punctuality on many Greater Anglia routes was well over 90 per cent during May, latest performance results show.
The best performance was achieved on the routes from Norwich to Lowestoft, with 97.6% of trains on time; Marks Tey to Sudbury, 97.5%; Norwich to Great Yarmouth, 96.5%; Harwich to Manningtree, 95.8% and Norwich to Sheringham, 94.5%.
Essex commuter services from Clacton, Witham, Colchester and Chelmsford to London, also ran well, with 93.9% of trains on time.
Other very good results were on the Southend Victoria to London route, 92.1%, and the intercity services between Norwich, Ipswich, Colchester and London, 91.0%.
The good performance reflects work by Greater Anglia to improve the reliability of its trains and initiatives by Network Rail to improve the reliability of track, signalling, overhead line and other rail infrastructure.
The companies are working closely together to maintain the positive trend and deliver better results on a consistent and ongoing basis.
They are also striving to push up performance on routes where punctuality was between 80% and 90% - such as the West Anglia services, plus the Norwich/Ipswich to Cambridge lines and the Ipswich to Felixstowe/Lowestoft lines.
Overall annual average punctuality across Greater Anglia is around 90%, but the company is aiming to raise that figure to 93% over the course of its franchise.
Over £5 million has been invested in improvements to current trains to improve performance and further initiatives are underway to achieve more progress. From next year, Greater Anglia is replacing every single train with brand new trains which will also improve reliability.
The new trains will also make the service more resilient, as the current eight different types of train will be replaced with just three types, making them easier to maintain.
Meanwhile, Network Rail is investing heavily in improving the railway in East Anglia, with its multi- million pound Railway Upgrade Plan.
Projects include replacing all the overhead wires on the Southend Victoria service, completing improvements to infrastructure between Shenfield and London and modernising signalling on the Norwich to Great Yarmouth line - all of which will improve train punctuality and performance in the next few years.
Jamie Burles, Managing Director, Greater Anglia, said: “We were pleased to deliver some very good performance for our customers in May. Our aim now is to provide better punctuality across all of our network on a more consistent basis.
“Working with Network Rail, we need to reduce the number of disruptive incidents, such as significant train faults, this week’s track fault at Liverpool Street or problems caused by severe weather, and deliver high standards of service month in, month out.
“The actions and investment we have in place should deliver those improvements, the general trends are in the right direction and we expect to see further progress over the weeks and months ahead.”