Greater Anglia (train operating company)

Abellio Greater Anglia is a British train operating company owned by Abellio operating the Greater Anglia Rail Franchise. It provides local, suburban and express services from London Liverpool Street station to destinations in Essex, Hertfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Suffolk and Norfolk in the East of England.

History
In December 2003 the Strategic Rail Authority awarded the Greater Anglia Rail Franchise to National Express, with operations starting on 1 April 2004. The franchise was to run until March 2011, with provision for a three-year extension if performance targets were met.

In November 2009 the Department for Transport announced that National Express would not be granted the three-year extension for which it had met the criteria, because it had defaulted on the National Express East Coast franchise.

Following a change of government at the 2010 General Election, the Department for Transport announced in June 2010 that all refranchising would be put on hold while a review was conducted into the franchising process. As a result, National Express East Anglia was granted an initial extension until October 2011, followed by another until February 2012.

In March 2011 the Department for Transport announced that Abellio, Go-Ahead, and Stagecoach had been shortlisted to bid for the franchise. In October 2011 it awarded the new franchise to Abellio, the services operated by National Express East Anglia transferring to Greater Anglia on 5 February 2012.

The franchise was originally to run until July 2014. The reason for awarding a short franchise, at the same time as the government was speaking of a desire to move to longer franchises, was to allow the government to digest the recommendations of the McNulty Rail Value for Money study before letting a long-term franchise.

In March 2013 the Secretary of State for Transport announced the franchise would again be extended until 15 October 2016. From 2014, Greater Anglia was rebranded as Abellio Greater Anglia.

Improvements
A number of improvements are planned during the franchise period, including:
 * Improved station and ticket facilities and better information for passengers;
 * A text messaging service to keep passengers informed of any disruptions;
 * Extending Oyster card pay-as-you-go capabilities between London Liverpool Street and Shenfield and Hertford East;
 * Mobile-phone and print-at-home ticketing facilities;
 * 600 extra carpark spaces at stations;
 * Additional bicycle storage facilities;
 * New automatic ticket barriers at Brentwood and Chadwell Heath before the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Services
Off-peak weekday services are as follows:

Stansted Express


Abellio Greater Anglia operates the Stansted Express sub-branded airport rail link between London Liverpool Street and Stansted Airport.

Dutchflyer


Abellio Greater Anglia operates the Dutchflyer sub-branded boat train between London Liverpool Street and Harwich International.

Performance
The latest punctuality statistics released by NR (Network Rail) for period 7 of 2013/2014 were 94.0% PPM (Public Performance Measure) down 1.0 percentage points on the same period last year and the MAA (Moving Annual Average) up to 12 October 2013 also fell slightly to 92.3%. In 2013, Abellio Greater Anglia was named train operator of the year.

Sanitation
In November 2013, an online petition was launched, with the aim to stop Greater Anglia trains from dumping raw sewage from the train toilets. There have also been concerns with the 'sewage mist' from passing trains making Network Rail staff ill, and Greater Anglia is "working closely" with the government to introduce a fleet upgrade.

Rolling Stock
Abellio Greater Anglia inherited a fleet of Class 90, Mark 3 carriages, Driving Van Trailers, Class 153, Class 156 and Class 170 diesel multiple units, and Class 315, Class 317, Class 321, Class 360 and Class 379 electric multiple units from National Express East Anglia. Due to its short franchise term, Abellio Greater Anglia is not planning to introduce any new trains.

Livery
Abellio Greater Anglia has continued to repaint rolling stock in the same base white livery as National Express East Anglia used, but with red doors instead of blue. During late 2013 Abellio Greater Anglia logos started to be applied to trains.

Depots
Abellio Greater Anglia's fleet is maintained at Ilford and Norwich Crown Point depots.