ISSUE 5 2019 Take a look…
2 What
Network Rail did over Christmas
3 How to…
book the cheapest tickets online
Ramps on test for boarding new trains We’re replacing all of our existing trains with brand new trains – and this means we also need to get new ramps for people with mobility issues to use them. Transport professional Dominic Lund-Conlon has been helping us make sure that the ramps work well for passengers who will be using them. He has tested the latest prototype ramp developed by Portaramp, using a mockup platform and assessing it for ease of use, stability and gradient, along with Greater Anglia representatives and design consultant Paul Stanforth, of Trainways Ltd. The testing highlighted adjustments and improvements that will make the ramp easier to use. Dominic said: “Inclusive design is much more than a toilet and a wheelchair space. The ramps need to be suitable for all, regardless of scooter, wheelchair, walking with or without an assistance dog - by working together we are enabling more customers to get on board.” People who use assistance dogs have also been consulted during the design process. Dominic has also advised us about the design of our new trains to make sure that features including the wheelchair area, accessible toilets and passenger information screens meet all needs.
You said
We did
For more information and to see a video go to greateranglia.co.uk/ramp-testing Mandy Lancaster, General Manager at Portaramp, said, “Although we work with most of the main rail operating companies, train designs differ so our ramps are designed for each specific application. This means each new ramp must be tested to make sure they perform as required, so having the opportunity to work directly with Dominic and to get his input has been invaluable.” All of our new trains will have wheelchair spaces and accessible toilets. Other features include USB and plug points, air conditioning, fast free WiFi and improved passenger information screens.
Clear up of cycle parking Customers at Harlow Town station asked us to remove unused bikes from the cycle parking. We tagged all bikes and any that were unclaimed were removed, freeing up space in the cycle park.
What Network Rail
On the up Happy New Year! Unfortunately, the return to work wasn’t as good as I’d hoped for our customers, as there were a couple of incidents, including broken track on the outskirts of Liverpool Street, which caused delays when everyone had to go back to work and school. We continue to represent your interests with Network Rail. Following our Performance Summit in December with their key responsible managers, we’ve both committed to respond faster to incidents within our respective control so that we can get our train service back to normal as quickly as possible. We’ve also invited Network Rail to contribute to this newsletter – in this edition they talk about the upgrade work they did at Christmas. Meanwhile, we’re doing what we can to improve our own service to you. The number of trains that are shorter than scheduled is a key focus for us. We’ve seen some improvements on some days but there is more to do. At the end of the first week back we were extremely close to a fully formed commuter train fleet and then one train developed a fault and another couple, tragically, hit people on the line. Our Engineering team is working around the clock to get trains back into service quickly. Our December punctuality figures were a big improvement on November’s and an improvement on December 2017 as well. Obviously we want them to improve further though – and that’s the task that I’ve set all the teams that contribute to our performance, from directors and back office managers to maintenance technicians and frontline colleagues at stations.
More than 170 rail engineers worked on one of the most complex railway improvement jobs over the Christmas and New Year period. During a nine-day closure, over 12.5km of overhead wire was installed at Forest Gate on the busy Great Eastern Main Line. The overall project to renew the overhead wires between Chelmsford and London Liverpool Street on the Great Eastern Mainline is part of a £250m investment to improve reliability and is now 97 per cent complete. The wiring system on the Great Eastern Mainline is one of the oldest in the country. When the weather gets hot the wires expand and sag, which can then get caught on trains’ pantographs when they pass at high speed, bringing the wires down and closing the line. To prevent this happening, a speed restriction is put in place when on-track temperatures reach a certain level, which leads to delays and cancellations of train services. The new wiring system is made up of weights and pulleys which work to keep the wires taut when they expand, stopping them from sagging. This allows trains to run at line speed all year round, which means fewer delays and cancellations.
Jamie Burles, Managing Director, Greater Anglia
How are we doing? Punctuality – how many trains run on time*
Responsibility for delays
Greater Anglia performance 11 November to 8 December 2018
11 November to 8 December 2018
Greater Anglia performance 9 December to 22 December 2018 Annual average performance 12 months to 8 December 2018
Annual average performance 12 months to 22 December 2018
2
82.54% 89.69% 86.85% 87%
55% Network Rail
10% 35% Other train companies
Greater Anglia
8 December to 22 December 2018
58% Network Rail
*Based on Public Peformance Measure figures. For more details see greateranglia.co.uk/about-us/our-performance/performance-figures
12% 30% Other train companies
Greater Anglia
did over Christmas
A guest article from
The project is all part of Network Rail’s Railway Upgrade Plan to provide a high performing railway for the Anglia region for the 31 million passengers who use this key route between Norwich and London. Further work will take place early this year which will see the overhead wiring system upgraded on the final stretch between Forest Gate and London Liverpool Street. The same system is also being installed on the Southend Victoria branch line. How are the overhead wires replaced? The overhead wiring system consists of wires, steel masts and booms and small part steel which connects the wires to the masts and booms. Between Chelmsford and London Liverpool Street, the whole system is being removed and replaced. Firstly, masts and booms need to be installed, which involves piling work and installing the structure itself. Where a boom is being used, it is attached across the top of the masts. Small part steel is then installed, which will hold the wires up in position. Engineers then use a wiring train to take down the old wires and replace them with new wires. One wire run takes approximately 24 hours to complete. The new wire is then tested before the line can be reopened to trains.
How to… book the cheapest tickets online
No more first class on most trains from January 2020 We’re removing first class from all our trains, except the Norwich-London Intercity service, from 2 January 2020 – which will create many more seats available for everyone. Only our new Intercity trains, calling at Norwich, Diss, Stowmarket, Ipswich, Colchester, Chelmsford and Liverpool Street, will have first class. The rest of our brand new trains will be standard class only – which we know is what most of our customers want. Existing first class areas on non-Intercity trains still in service next year will be available for all ticket-holders. First class season ticket holders will be able to swap to a standard class season ticket at no extra cost. Find out more greateranglia.co.uk/first-class
Roaming cleaners now on board Have you seen one of our roaming cleaners who are hopping on board to clean up the train while it’s on the move? They get on and off trains between Wickford and Shenfield, Colchester and Chelmsford, Tottenham Hale and Cheshunt, Audley End and Tottenham Hale throughout the day, litter picking, checking toilets and reporting any faults to engineers at Liverpool Street and helping passengers during any disruption. Read more here and watch a video of them at work here greateranglia.co.uk/cleaners
Book your train ticket direct with Greater Anglia via our app or website and we guarantee you’ll pay the cheapest price possible – with no booking fees via our Price Promise. If you do find your ticket cheaper elsewhere we’ll refund the difference. Just go to the website greateranglia.co.uk or press “plan & buy” on the app and follow the easy instructions. There’s a range of great value fares so you can enjoy a day out by train, including Advance tickets from £5 and Groupsave – and with a Railcard you can get a further 1/3 off. Find out more here greateranglia.co.uk/price-promise
Car park improvements We are currently investing £25 million on improving car parks at our stations, including installing Automatic Number Plate Recognition at 20 car parks, adding an extra 1,782 spaces, fitting LED lights, improving CCTV and security and re-surfacing car parks. We’ve installed ANPR at Ipswich, Colchester, Broxbourne, Audley End and Cambridge station car parks and we’re due to fit it at Billericay, Bishop’s Stortford, Cheshunt, Diss, Harlow Town, Hatfield Peverel, Ingatestone, Kelvedon, Manningtree, Marks Tey, Rayleigh, Shenfield, Wickford, Witham and Whittlesford.
Free WiFi for Liverpool Street passengers We’ve now finished a £4.8m project to install free WiFi on all our trains to Liverpool Street. The work involved a bespoke installation on four different types of trains – a total of 840 carriages. Each train required its own WiFi access points, network switch, roof antennae and power supply housed in a secure cupboard, with bespoke designs required for each different type of train.
3
Fewer shorter trains
Meet... Michael O’Callaghan Michael O’Callaghan cares greatly about customer service. He’s Area Customer Service Manager for the South Outer Area, covering all stations from Southminster and Southend Victoria to Shenfield. He previously worked in retail customer service management for 11 years. Since joining Greater Anglia 4 years ago Michael has been focussed on improving performance and customer service at his stations to make sure customers get the best possible experience when travelling. Initiatives carried out by Michael and his team include setting up a station care team to ensure passengers can get assistance at every station on their patch, working with colleagues from across the business to improve service offered during disruption and working with industry partners at Southend Airport and Transport for London to make interchanges as smooth as possible. Michael is keen to hear from customers so if you see him out and about, please stop and have a chat.
Planned service alterations Engineering works in February Friday 1 February – Tuesday 28 February 2019
Please refer to journey planner for full details greateranglia.co.uk
Sheringham
Buses replace trains. Saturday 16 February Sunday 17 February Saturday 23 February Sunday 24 February
Roughton Road
Norwich
North Walsham
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Hoveton & Wroxham Salhouse Brundall Brundall Gardens
for Northern England and Scotland
Ely March
Whittlesea
Buses will replace trains. Sunday 3 February Sunday 10 February Sunday 17 February Sunday 24 February
Lingwood
Diss
Cambridge North
Cantley
Thurston Bury St. Edmunds
Kennett
Elmswell
Beccles – Lowestoft
Cambridge
Stowmarket
Shelford
Wickham Market Melton
Stansted Airport
Woodbridge
Colchester – Ipswich
Buses replace trains until 12.25. Sunday 10 February Sunday 24 February
Stansted Mountfichet
Cheshunt – Bishops Stortford/ Hertford East
Sawbridgeworth
Rye House
Buses replace trains until 12.25. Sunday 3 February Sunday 17 February
Hertford East – Liverpool Street
Theobalds Grove Enfield
Trains to/from Hertford East will be Town diverted to start/terminate from Liverpool Street all day. Bush Hill These trains will additionally call at Park Hackney Downs instead of Lea Bridge. Sunday 17 February
Stratford/Hackney Downs – Cheshunt Services that normally run via the Lea Valley/Tottenham Hale will be diverted via the Seven Sisters/Southbury Loop. Saturday 23 February Sunday 24 February
Hackney Downs – Cheshunt Services that normally run via the Lea Valley/Tottenham Hale will be diverted via the Seven Sisters/Southbury Loop after 23.15 each night. Additionally on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday morning, the 04.40 Liverpool Street to Stansted Airport will call at Seven Sisters instead of Tottenham Hale. Monday 25 February Tuesday 26 February Wednesday 27 February Thursday 28 February Friday 1 March
Turkey Street
Edmonton Green
4
Colchester
Braintree
Cheshunt
Braintree Freeport
Alresford
Colchester Town
Frinton-on-Sea
Great Bentley
Kelvedon
Clacton-on-Sea
White Notley
Seven Kings – Gidea Park From 21.25 some trains may depart early and journey times will be extended by 10 minutes. Monday 4, 11, 18, 25 February Tuesday 5, 12, 19, 26 February Wednesday 6, 13, 20, 27 February Thursday 7, 14, 21, 28 February
Brimsdown
Bruce Grove
Northumberland Park
Limited Service
Chingford
North Fambridge
Billericay
Battlesbridge
Rayleigh Hockley
Emerson Park
St. James Street
Romford
South Woodham Ferrers
Wickford
Gidea Park
Clapton
Althorne
Ingatestone
Harold Wood
Walthamstow Central
Rectory Road
Southminster Burnham-on-Crouch
Chelmsford
Wood Street
Stoke Newington
Upminster
Rochford Southend Airport
for c2c
Prittlewell
Chadwell Heath
Hackney Downs
Goodmayes Seven Kings
Lea Bridge
Ilford
Cambridge Heath Bethnal Green
Hatfield Peverel
Brentwood
Highams Park
Stamford Hill
London Fields
Witham
Shenfield
Tottenham Hale
Manor Park Forest Gate Maryland
Stratford
Stratford – Lea Bridge Services diverted to start and terminate at Liverpool Street. Saturday 9 February Sunday 10 February
Follow us on Twitter @greateranglia for the latest updates
A new digital Railcard was launched in January, for 26-30 year olds, following a trial with our customers last year. Buy it online for £30 from 26-30railcard.co.uk and get 1/3 off most fares, including Oyster pay as you go.
Thorpe-le-Soken
Cressing
Enfield Lock
26-30 Railcard available now
Kirby Cross
Weeley
Angel Road
Seven Sisters
Harwich Town
Walton-on-the-Naze
Wivenhoe
Marks Tey
Broxbourne
White Hart Lane
For the latest information and updates visit our website greateranglia.co.uk
Harwich Dovercourt International
to Stansted
Chappel & Wakes Colne
Roydon
Ponders End
Stansted Express – Buses replace trains until 12.25. Sunday 3 February Sunday 10 February Sunday 17 February Sunday 24 February
Hythe
Bures
Silver Street
Liverpool Street – Stansted Airport
Wrabness
Waltham Cross
Limited Service Southbury
LONDON LIVERPOOL STREET
Mistley
Sudbury
Harlow Town
St. Margarets
Ipswich
Manningtree
Harlow Mill
Ware
Felixstowe
Trimley
Derby Road
Westerfield
Buses will replace trains from 11.30 Saturday and all day Sunday. Saturday 16 February Sunday 17 February
to Colchester
Bishops Stortford Hertford East
Saxmundham
Needham Market
Elsenham
Broxbourne – Bishops Stortford
Buses will replace trains from 18.50 Saturday and all day Sunday. Saturday 9 February Sunday 10 February Saturday 16 February Sunday 17 February Saturday 23 February Sunday 24 February
Halesworth
Newport
Buses replace trains until 09.10. Sunday 17 February
Ipswich – Felixstowe
Beccles
Darsham
Audley End
Lowestoft
Oulton Broad South
Brampton
Great Chesterford
Cheshunt – Stansted Airport/ Audley End/Hertford East
Somerleyton
Buses replace trains. Saturday 16, 23 February Sunday 17, 24 February
Whittlesford Parkway
Buses replace trains. Saturday 16, 23 February
Oulton Broad Sunday 17, 24 February North
Haddiscoe Newmarket
Norwich – Lowestoft/ Great Yarmouth
Berney Arms
Reedham
Dullingham
Great Yarmouth
Acle Limited Service
Buckenham
Manea Waterbeach
Ely – Peterborough
No service, Cantley and Reedham customers for Great Yarmouth to travel via Brundall, no service for Berney Arms. For further advice please use the station help point or speak to a member of staff. until further notice
Gunton Worstead
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Peterborough
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Littleport
Sh
Downham Market
Limited Service
La
Watlington
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Kings Lynn
Reedham – Great Yarmouth
Cromer
West Runton
Norwich – Sheringham
We know how frustrating it is for customers when we shorten our trains. Most of our electric trains are made from sets of four-carriage trains coupled together into eight and twelvecarriage trains. On less busy routes or off-peak they’re often scheduled to run with only four or eight carriages. However, if a train develops a fault or is in the wrong place due to disruption, unfortunately we sometimes have to run shorter “short-formed” trains – which is better than cancelling the service altogether. Due to new maintenance schedules and other factors, we’ve managed to significantly reduce the number of shorter trains. We can’t guarantee there will never be a shorter train, but we can promise that we will fix faults as quickly as we can to get trains back on the tracks again.
Liverpool Street – Ingatestone* or Witham^ and Southminster/Southend Victoria
Buses will replace trains. Saturday 16 February Sunday 17 February
Southend Victoria
Buses replace trains between Newbury Park underground station and Ingatestone or Witham and Southminster/Southend Victoria. Tickets will be accepted on the Central Line from Newbury Park to/from Liverpool Street. Saturday 2 February* Sunday 3 February^ Saturday 9 February* Sunday 10 February^ Saturday 23 February^ Sunday 24 February^ Pindar Creative 15.1.19 (GA83)
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Shenfield – Southminster/ Southend Victoria
Red lines Indicate engineering works taking place all day Purple lines Indicate engineering works taking place for part of the day only Greater Anglia Sunday service only Greater Anglia limited service Operated by TfL
Get regular journey information via text or email journeycheck.com/ greateranglia
Find out more about Greater Anglia If you want more news and updates about Greater Anglia, there are plenty of places you can get it. Follow Greater Anglia News on Twitter @GreaterAngliaPR. Find us on Facebook facebook.com/ greateranglia or follow Greater Anglia on LinkedIn. Check out the News Desk section of our website for the latest news articles and blogs. greateranglia.co.uk/ newsdesk