Published on: Wednesday, 25 October 2023
Last updated: Wednesday, 25 October 2023
A Greater Anglia train. Credit: Greater Anglia
Figures released by Greater Anglia (GA) today show that it is continuing to deliver very high levels of punctuality, on an ongoing basis, for customers across East Anglia.
Performance for the last 4-week period (ending 14 October) saw punctuality across the Greater Anglia network averaging 95.9% - using the long-standing public performance measure (PPM), which measures arrival times at destination stations for each service.
As a result, the GA moving annual average PPM figure is now at 94.4% - continuing the historically high results being delivered by the train operator over the last three and a half years.
Great Eastern services across Essex, serving destinations such as Southend, Chelmsford, Braintree, Colchester, Clacton, Harwich, and up to Ipswich in Suffolk, have an annual average of 95.5%, rural services across Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, plus the Marks Tey to Sudbury line, are averaging 95.0%, intercity services between Norwich, Ipswich, Colchester, Chelmsford and London are averaging 94.5%, West Anglia services to destinations including Hertford East, Harlow, Bishops Stortford, Cambridge and Ely are averaging 93.2% and Stansted Express services are averaging 91.0%.
Exceptional annual results of 97.8% or over have been achieved on four routes:
Norwich to Great Yarmouth 99.0%
Marks Tey to Sudbury 98.2%
Norwich to Lowestoft 97.9%
Norwich to Sheringham 97.8%
The impressive results are also evident using the more challenging “Time to 3” performance measure – which measures the arrival within 3 minutes of every single train at every single station it serves. On this measure GA’s annual performance is 93.4%.
In addition, in the last 4 week period (to 14 October), Greater Anglia was the best UK train operator on all five of the performance measures on which train operators are regularly measured - on time at all stations, time to 3 minutes at all stations, time to 15 minutes at all stations, the public performance measure (arrival time at destination within 5 minutes of scheduled time) and cancellations.
Traditionally, annual PPM performance results across the Greater Anglia network have tended to average between 87% and 91%, with a highest annual result of 92.8% in June 2013. However, over the last three and a half years, annual performance has consistently averaged over 93% all year round – fulfilling, ahead of schedule, a commitment GA made, when it was awarded the contract to continue operating services in the region in 2016, to increase punctuality to 93% by 2025.
The higher performance levels are due to a combination of three main factors – sustained joint work by Greater Anglia and Network Rail to improve performance standards; the better performance provided by the new Greater Anglia trains, which have been being phased in over the last 4 years and now operate all Greater Anglia services; and work by Network Rail to improve rail infrastructure reliability.
Commenting on the continuation of the positive performance results, Jamie Burles, Managing Director, Greater Anglia said: “We’re pleased to be consistently delivering high levels of punctuality for our customers and stakeholders in East Anglia. We are fully focused on keeping up these very high standards of performance, to match the transformation of the journey experience brought by our new trains, with their greater comfort, better facilities (including plug/USB points and wifi), increased seating capacity and better accessibility.”