Greater Anglia has announced that it has been named Train Operator of the Year in the Rail Business Awards 2020.
The award comes as the judges praised the operator for continuing to innovate and improve while also preparing for the arrival of new trains.
Last year, Greater Anglia carried out a number of improvements, which included introducing the Norwich in 90 train service and improving its Delay Repay scheme to DR15 standard.
Additionally, the operator made progress at improving its punctuality, which has seen 35,000 more trains arriving on time in 2019, when compared to 2018s performance levels.
The company also continued to invest in stations, car parks and new services and saw passenger numbers increase.
What did the officials say?
Jamie Burles, Greater Anglia managing director, said:
“To be named train operator of the year is a tremendous accolade and a credit to the hard work and determination of everyone in our team, across the whole of Greater Anglia, to make our service much better for our customers.
“We have seen our improvements in punctuality recognised across the industry and have been named most improved London and the South East operator for punctuality on our commuter lines in Essex and Hertfordshire. Customer satisfaction has also increased by 8% to 81%.
“We've replaced all the trains on our rural routes with high quality, state-of-the-art new trains, with more seats and a much better travelling environment which, as they bed in, are starting to improve our reliability, as well as our customers' on-board experiences.
“We have also begun to bring in new intercity trains on the main line between Norwich, Ipswich, Colchester and London.
“We recognise, of course, that last year ended on a difficult note on our rural lines due to signalling issues and that punctuality is not consistently where we want it to be so far this year. We're sorry for those occasions when we have let people down and we are determined to get performance back on track as soon as possible.
“We fully intend to live up to our new title of train operator of the year, to continue to improve our service to our customers, raising standards further and continuing the roll out of a complete fleet of new trains.”
The citation for Greater Anglia's award at the Rail Business Awards, which are organised by the Railway Gazette, said:
“Greater Anglia had an excellent year in 2018-19, continuing to innovate while preparing for the arrival of its new trains. The judges commended it for launching the Norwich in 90 service with existing stock, whilst also improving regional and commuter services.”
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WHAT A FARCE THIS IS, OBVIOUSLY GIVEN BY IDIOTS WHO DONT USE THESE SERVICES.
New train breakdowns, no service for a while on Cambridge and Peterborough service.
Continued DREADED BUS REPLACEMENT ON MOST WEEKENDS. ALWAYS PROBLEMS.
I agree with previous writers that Abellio should be stripped of the franchise NOW !!
GRANT SCHAPPS PUT AND END TO THIS FRANCHISE, ITS A DISGRACE.
I think Greater Anglia should be stripped just like Northern. Greater Anglia are nothing but wanting to be the best train operator in East Anglia. But with criticism over faulty trains including problems with the Class 755 Flirts, overcrowding at rush hour, abusive behaviour towards staff and passengers, toilets being filthy on the trains and at some stations. No wonder they got the award for being the best train operator. Disgraceful. Abellio Greater Anglia deserves to be stripped from its franchise. Get Greater Anglia stripped from their franchise pronto.
Plus adding to the misery. Train services were been delayed because of problems with the level crossing somewhere on the Wherry Lines. So yes more controversy for Greater Anglia.
What a joke award.
Greater Anglia is a joke. Take into account all the weekend services they’ve failed to run and they’ll have a shocking performance score.
Speechless! 1130 Liv.St-Norwich usually runs with a pair of superannuated 321 units, no catering and a very poor ride quality; GA can’t even be bothered to put a pair of “refurb” units on the diagram. Then take the 1410 Southend Vic-Liv.St on Friday 28th: 2 coaches locked out of use on the leading unit preventing access to toilets & 1st class. A fault on the trailing unit resulting in continuous bleeping of the door-close alarm, driving several passengers to move to another coach. If this qualifies GA as operator of the year then I am the proverbial Dutchman! Get a grip, GA!