Greater Anglia has announced that one of their brand-new intercity trains has now entered passenger service between Norwich and London Liverpool Street.
The brand new 12 carriage electric train, built by Stadler, left Norwich at 7.40 am on Wednesday 8 January, calling at Diss, Ipswich and London Liverpool Street.
It then returned from Liverpool Street at 10.00 am, calling at Colchester, Manningtree, Ipswich, Diss and Norwich.
It is the first time Greater Anglia's new trains have been in passenger service calling at stations in Essex.
What did the officials say?
Ian McConnell, Greater Anglia franchise and programme director, said:
“We're very pleased to have brought one of our new intercity trains into passenger service.
“Last month was difficult for our customers, as signalling issues on our rural branch lines caused a great deal of disruption and also set back our new trains roll-out.
“We are making every effort to improve our service – and the first longer intercity train in service with all the facilities customers expected will start to make a difference to our intercity customers.
“This week we also ran one of our new bi-mode trains, which run on electricity and diesel, on the Ipswich-Peterborough route, where disruption has continued for much longer as a knock-on effect of the signalling issues.
“This year, we will concentrate on getting more new trains into passenger service and making sure they are as reliable as possible.”
Martino Celeghini, technical project manager at Stadler, said:
“The roll-out of the intercitys represents a key moment in the overall introduction of the two new Stadler fleets. These trains, which will run into London are built to exceptionally high standards.
“They will vastly improve rail travel in East Anglia, supporting business and helping boost economic growth. They will be transformational for the travelling public in the region.”
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Just a shame that they’ve not been introduced in time and that the Southend to Liverpool Street line is still waiting for our decrepit old rolling stock to be replaced
GA Class 720s will not enter service until probably late Summer or Autumn this year. Or from early/mid 2021. As Bombardier are still in progress of manufacturing not just the Class 720 but also in progress of manufacturing the LO Class 710s and SWR Class 701s.
And perhaps there should be a farewell tour of the Class 90 Mk3 Intercity units as they too are to be replaced by the Class 745.
Stansted Express is also due to introduce 10 Class 745s in service and are replacing the Class 379 Electrostar units.