Greater Anglia makes further changes to its weekday timetable

Greater Anglia has made further temporary changes to its weekday timetable, which began on Monday January 10, in response to fewer passengers travelling.

The company is going to replace the current temporary weekday timetable which was implemented just before Christmas with a Sunday-style timetable on most routes – but with earlier first trains mostly consistent with a normal weekday timetable and more trains at peak times. The busiest services will be operated with eight or ten-carriage trains. The weekend timetable will remain unchanged.

Passenger numbers at Greater Anglia have fallen again in recent weeks – and are currently at 40-50 per cent of pre pandemic levels, having increased to around 65-70 per cent in the autumn. Peak-time passenger numbers are currently around 30 per cent of pre-pandemic levels.

However, the new timetable allows for some growth in passenger numbers, with about 74 per cent of pre-pandemic services continuing to run. Jamie Burles, Greater Anglia managing director, said: “The pandemic has changed our railway over the past 21 months.

"Working patterns have altered, so we currently have fewer commuters and business travellers and we are now entirely funded by the government – and ultimately taxpayers. We are accountable to our customers and to taxpayers. We want to provide a reliable and punctual service for our customers, which also represents the best possible value to taxpayers.

“We’ve been closely monitoring and reviewing our passenger numbers and have designed a timetable which more accurately represents the level of customers who are using the trains. We’ll continue to monitor passenger numbers and make adjustments if necessary, by either increasing the length of trains or adding extra services.

“We are determined to continue running a reliable and punctual service for all our customers, as we have done throughout the pandemic.”

Customers are reminded to check before they travel using the Greater Anglia website or app, which will include revised train times.

The updated services

Intercity

• Norwich, Ipswich, Colchester – London Liverpool Street - 1 train per hour

Great Eastern

• Ipswich – Liverpool Street, Clacton – Liverpool Street, Walton-on-the-Naze – Thorpe-le-Soken, Manningtree – Harwich, Braintree – Witham, Southminster – Wickford, Colchester – Colchester Town - 1 train per hour
• Southend – London Liverpool Street - 2 trains per hour
• Colchester – London Liverpool Street - 3 trains per hour

West Anglia

• Cambridge-London Liverpool Street, Hertford East – Stratford, Stratford – Meridian Water - 2 trains per hour
• Bishop’s Stortford – Liverpool Street - 4 trains per hour

Regional routes

• Norwich – Cambridge/Stansted; Norwich -Lowestoft; Norwich - Great Yarmouth; Norwich – Sheringham; Ipswich – Lowestoft; Ipswich - Felixstowe and Ipswich - Cambridge. Marks Tey - Sudbury - 1 train per hour
• Ipswich – Peterborough - 1 train every 2 hours

Stansted Express

• Stansted Airport-London - 2 trains per hour

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