Published on: Thursday, 18 May 2023
Last updated: Thursday, 18 May 2023
Greater Anglia’s new timetable starts this Sunday (21 May).
The main highlight is more Stansted Express services, as the operator continues to increase timetables in line with recovering customer demand after the pandemic.
Weekday peak time Stansted Express services will return to a 4 trains per hour frequency from Monday 22 May, as the airport sees a strong recovery in air travellers. Trains will run every 15 minutes during the following periods on Mondays to Fridays:
London Liverpool Street to Stansted Airport 05.10 to 08.10 and 16.10 to 19.40
Stansted Airport to London Liverpool Street 06.00 to 09.15 and 16.45 to 20.15
The service will continue to operate to a half hourly frequency at off peak times but, with new 12-carriage trains operating the service offering over 80% more seats than the 8-carriage trains they replaced, there is plenty of seating capacity during those periods.
Other improvements starting next week include:
- Additional weekday morning peak services from Southend, Southminster, Colchester, Braintree, Witham and Chelmsford into London.
- Additional weekday morning and evening peak services on the West Anglia route between Ely/Cambridge/Stansted Airport and London (including the additional Stansted Express services)
- Optimising weekday peak train services to/from Kings Lynn and Ely with GTR, so GTR provides a consistent peak time pattern to/from Kings Lynn (with a half hourly pattern to/from Cambridge and London Kings Cross) and Greater Anglia concentrates its London Liverpool Street peak services to/from Ely
- All Hertford East to London Liverpool Street weekday peak services to operate via the Lea Valley
- Normal summer season additional services on Mondays, Fridays and Saturdays between Norwich and Great Yarmouth
- Normal summer season additional Sunday morning services between Ipswich and Peterborough
The service improvements are designed to both support the ongoing recovery in passenger numbers and reflect the emerging travel patterns across the Greater Anglia network, as well as take advantage of the new trains rolling out on Greater Anglia services, with the full transition to new trains on course to be completed this summer.
Jamie Burles, Managing Director, Greater Anglia said: "We’re pleased to be providing 4 trains per hour to Stansted Airport at peak times on weekdays from next week, benefitting air travellers and commuters alike, as well as other peak time and summer season improvements aimed at encouraging even more customers to take the train.
“With new trains now scheduled to operate all of our services, we are transforming rail travel in our region, offering an excellent travel experience, more seats, and a more punctual and reliable service. We’ll continue to adjust our timetable in line with emerging demand and look to make further improvements whenever practical, working with regional partners (such as the Stansted Airport team) on the case for additional services wherever appropriate.”