Figures released by Greater Anglia (GA) highlight ongoing excellent punctuality standards being delivered for customers across East Anglia. Performance for the last 4-week period (ending 3 February) saw punctuality across the Greater Anglia network averaging 94.1 per cent – using the long-standing public performance measure (PPM), which measures arrival times at destination stations for each service, despite a period which saw more storms and extreme weather.
As a result, the GA moving annual average PPM figure is now at 94.7 per cent – continuing the historically high results being delivered by the train operator for almost four years. Great Eastern services across Essex, serving destinations such as Southend, Chelmsford, Braintree, Colchester, Clacton, Harwich, and up to Ipswich in Suffolk, have an annual average of 96.5 per cent, rural services across Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, plus the Marks Tey to Sudbury line, are averaging 94.7 per cent, intercity services between Norwich, Ipswich, Colchester, Chelmsford and London are averaging 94.2 per cent, West Anglia services to destinations including Hertford East, Harlow, Bishops Stortford, Cambridge and Ely are averaging 93.3 per cent and Stansted Express services are averaging 91.0 per cent.
Exceptional annual results of 96.0 per cent or over have been achieved on seven routes:
Norwich to Great Yarmouth 98.4 per cent
Marks Tey to Sudbury 98.2 per cent
Norwich to Sheringham 97.3 per cent
Norwich to Lowestoft 97.1 per cent
London to Southend 96.6 per cent
London to Colchester/Clacton 96.2 per cent
Ipswich to Felixstowe 96.0 per cent
The impressive results are also evident using the more challenging “Time to 3” performance measure – which measures the arrival within 3 minutes of every single train at every single station it serves. On this measure GA’s annual performance is 94.4 per cent.
In addition, in the last 4 week period (to 3 February), Greater Anglia was the best UK train operator on four of the five key performance measures on which train operators are regularly measured – on time at all stations, “time to 3” minutes at all stations, the public performance measure (arrival time at destination within 5 minutes of scheduled time) and cancellations – and was joint fourth for the “time to 15” minutes at all stations measure.
Similarly, looking at annual performance over the last 12 months, Greater Anglia has delivered the best performance in the UK for on time at all stations (86.4 per cent), “time to 3” at all stations (94.4 per cent) and the public performance measure (94.7 per cent), the joint best cancellation record (1.5 per cent with c2c) and joint fourth for “time to 15” at all stations (99.4 per cent).
Traditionally, annual PPM performance results across the Greater Anglia network have tended to average between 87 per cent and 91 per cent, with a previous highest annual result of 92.8 per cent in June 2013. However, over the last three and a half years, annual performance has consistently averaged over 93 per cent all year round – fulfilling, ahead of schedule, a commitment made by GA, when it was awarded the contract to continue operating services in the region in 2016, to increase punctuality to 93 per cent by 2025.
The higher performance levels are due to a combination of three main factors – sustained joint work by Greater Anglia and Network Rail to improve performance standards; the better performance provided by the new Greater Anglia trains, which have been being phased in over the last 4 years and now operate all Greater Anglia services; and work by Network Rail to improve rail infrastructure reliability.
Commenting on the ongoing positive performance results, Jamie Burles, Managing Director, Greater Anglia said: “We are pleased to be maintaining consistently high levels of punctuality for our customers and stakeholders across East Anglia.
“We are committed to keeping up these very high standards of performance, to compliment the transformation in the journey experience brought by our new trains, with their greater comfort, better facilities (including plug/USB points and Wi-Fi), increased seating capacity and better accessibility.”
Photo credit: Greater Anglia
