Published on: Wednesday, 25 September 2019
Last updated: Wednesday, 25 September 2019
Local organisations have welcomed Greater Anglia’s announcement of more frequent rail services on some rural routes on Sundays from December, linked to the introduction of a complete fleet of new trains.
Additional services will see trains running hourly on Sundays from 15 December between Ipswich and Cambridge, Ipswich and Lowestoft and Norwich and Lowestoft.
In addition, a brand-new service between Norwich and Stansted Airport will offer people in Suffolk an alternative to driving to the airport with the option to take a train to Norwich and connect with the direct airport service.
There will also be an additional service from Ipswich to Felixstowe on Sundays.
Aaron Taffera, Chair of The East Suffolk Community Rail Partnership said, “We’re delighted by this fantastic news. The new hourly service in Sundays is a big deal for the Ipswich – Lowestoft line as this doubles the number of services people will be able to use.
“The current Sunday timetable is a two-hourly frequency between Ipswich and Lowestoft, so this will effectively double capacity on the line and make travelling on it so much more convenient and attractive.”
“With new trains on the way too, the line is set to continue to go from strength to strength, benefiting local people, tourists and the Suffolk economy.”
Martin Moran, Greater Anglia’s Commercial and Customer Service Director said: “More services and thousands of extra seats in our new timetable will provide a boost to people who live and work in East Anglia, as well as supporting the regional economy.
“These improvements are helping us to transform the railway for the people of East Anglia as we continue the introduction of our brand-new fleet of trains into passenger service.”
The introduction of new trains across the Greater Anglia network, in a £1.4 billion investment programme, is now underway, with longer state-of-the-art trains now in service between Norwich and Cambridge, Lowestoft and Great Yarmouth. From later this year, this will see new intercity style trains on rural services in Suffolk.
From now until the end of 2020, new trains are due to replace the existing fleet on every route - providing more seats, more comfort, air conditioning, plug sockets, USB points and better accessibility. They will also be more reliable.
Some other services in the new timetable have been retimed. Passengers are advised to check at greateranglia.co.uk