Nine more years of @GreaterAnglia - a reason for cautious celebration?

I am not an uncritical user of our railway system. As someone who actually likes travelling by train - I am known to travel a long way in order to travel a long way by train - I have a pretty good idea as to what I expect, and am quick to tell the various train operating companies if I'm not happy.

So, now that we know the fate of the East Anglian rail franchise until 2025, what do we have to look forward to in mid-Suffolk, courtesy of Abellio Greater Anglia? The list of goodies includes;

• an hourly service to Peterborough for connections to the North, Midlands and Scotland (currently every two hours)
• an extra morning service to Bury St Edmunds and Cambridge
• wi-fi on all trains
• new rolling stock, rather than the hand-me-downs that we usually get

We may also get;

• an extra train per hour to London and Norwich from Stowmarket - there will be three trains an hour between London and Norwich, but that doesn't necessarily mean that they'll stop at Stowmarket
• more services at Elmswell, Needham Market and Thurston - if the new trains are sufficiently quick to allow the Peterborough trains to stop at local stations more often

So, all in all, not bad. Longer, faster trains, more trains, nothing much to complain about there, especially with Suffolk growing faster than the country as a whole.

There are some regrets though. There will be four trains a day linking Lowestoft with Liverpool Street, but none linking Bury St Edmunds to London (which at least keeps it out of easy commuting range). There are no proposed new stations - Claydon is getting close to the point where a new station might be viable, especially with all the new housing springing up in what I would describe as the "Gipping Corridor" between Ipswich and Stowmarket.

It would also have been nice if there had been some Ipswich - Stansted Airport services, instead of just the proposed Norwich - Stansted Airport ones. Why not alternate trains from Stansted?

There is also the question of catering. I have almost reconciled myself to never again having the joy of a cooked full English breakfast as my train crosses the Stour Estuary at Manningtree but will the new rolling stock have a buffet car? That isn't entirely clear yet.

In terms of technology, Abellio have been pretty good. I rely upon their app, which works well and reliably, offering mTickets on key routes, and one hopes that they will expand that to all routes, meaning that we aren't tied to stations with ticket machines or open ticket offices - Needham Market, for example, has neither, and you obviously can't buy advance tickets from the train guard.

There is already talk of automatic refunds under the Delay Repay scheme, and given my regular failure to make claims when I could, that would be worth something to me.

The fly in the ointment, if you like, is Network Rail. Abellio struggled with ageing rolling stock and that, combined with equally ancient infrastructure, tended to mean that, when things went wrong, they went horribly wrong. The new trains will improve reliability no end, but unless Network Rail can deliver their end of the bargain, we will still have nagging doubts over the ability of Abellio to get us there when it really matters.

So, interesting times ahead on our local railways. I've been modestly impressed with Abellio whilst they've operated the chart franchise and its extension, and if they can make the new franchise work, they'll make our lives just a little easier, given how much both Ros and I use them. Fingers crossed...

"Needham Market rail passengers need better information", says Cllr Wendy Marchant

Commuters are waiting at Needham Market railway station for trains which will never arrive because a new information screen has not been installed, according to district councillor Wendy Marchant.

She said when engineering works are in progress, which cause services to be cancelled, passengers are left in the dark. Rail replacement buses are often provided but they run through the High Street and don’t stop outside the station so many passengers do not use them, Mrs Marchant added.

This has been going on for some time, I went down there Saturday and there was no information about replacement buses. There was a poster with small type which would have been very easy to walk straight past which was up along side several other posters.

She added that in September she was promised a Customer Information System would be fitted to help passengers.

A spokesperson for Abellio Greater Anglia said “more prominent” signs were being displayed when replacement buses were running.

He added;

We’re grateful to Councillor Marchant for her continued interest in this matter, and we are planning to arrange a follow-up meeting between one of our local managers and the councillor to discuss the progression of these further improvements.

@greateranglia find another way to shred their reputation...

I am a fairly patient soul as a rule, and a tolerant one much of the time. So tolerant, in fact, that I tend not to seek compensation when Greater Anglia fail to convey me to my destination in a timely manner if the problem has been caused by an infrastructure problem (I know, I really should, but it's such a hassle...). However, last month, after I turned up at Liverpool Street, bought a ticket and then discovered that they had cancelled the next train to Stowmarket due to a train fault, I collected a 'Delay Repay' form, completed it, inserted the ticket and sealed the form so that it formed an envelope - that's what the instructions say - and posted it to Norwich for my refund.

Abellio Greater Anglia promise a response within ten working days, and so I wasn't surprised when it took longer than that. However, I received an e-mail confirming receipt of my application, and waited for the formal letter with the Rail Travel Voucher that would follow.

Yesterday, I received a letter from them, asking for the original ticket. "Funny,", I thought, "I know I made sure that it was enclosed.", so I picked up the phone and rang the Customer Services Helpline. On getting through, I explained to the operative (I won't name her, she'll probably get into trouble if I do) that I had indeed enclosed the ticket with my application.

It transpired that this happens quite often, as the gum holding the form closed isn't very good, and tickets fall out in transit, a problem that Abellio Greater Anglia know all about and haven't done anything to solve. It was suggested that, in future, I should staple the ticket to the form but, on this occasion, my application would be processed as though the ticket had reached them which was, I suppose, kind of her.

It isn't the first time that this has happened to me, but on the other occasion, I assumed that it was my fault. I won't in future... And, due to the cynicism of their management, I am far more likely to claim compensation in future, regardless of the cause of the delay.

In the past, I have been quite sympathetic towards Abellio Greater Anglia, given the shortness of the franchise, the almost total unreliability of the infrastructure and the age of the rolling stock. And, whilst in some respects they are much better than National Express ever were, it seems that their managers are equally willing to 'nickel and dime' the travelling public. I fear that this will come with a price...

Good news from Network Rail for Suffolk rail passengers

Regular readers will be aware that I am seldom deliriously happy about our train service. Apart from the fact that Creeting St Peter doesn't have a railway station (and I would have been perfectly happy to have High Speed 2 serve the village - albeit quietly as a preference), I have first had to deal with National Express East Anglia - the least said, the better - and now Abellio Greater Anglia, who have at least tried.

The real problem, however, is the aged infrastructure and rolling stock, which has done more to obstruct the smooth running of rail services than the weather has. The overhead cables date back to the electrification of the line beyond Ipswich in the 1980's, the rolling stock is just as old, and the inability of the Department of Transport to run a franchise bidding process has prevented serious investment. However, the news that Network Rail is planning to spend £2.2 billion over five years on rail infrastructure in our region can only be a good thing.

So, what does the money get us?

• an upgrade of Bow Junction, near Liverpool Street, to allow more trains to pass through
• replacement of ageing tracks around Colchester and extending platform six to improve services
• safety improvements at level crossings
• a new rail operating centre in Romford to control the entire railway in the Anglia region, covering parts of London, Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire

Elsewhere in the region, Network Rail will;

• rebuild Ely Junction North, relieving congestion between Norwich and Cambridge on the West Anglia line
• replace a vital rail junction at Pitsea, reducing the number of days the section of track needs closing for route improvement work every year
• work with Transport for London to bring longer trains to the Overground and electrify the Gospel Oak to Barking line, creating more space for passenger and freight services

This all looks like good stuff, and might enable Abellio Greater Anglia to continue their improvements to our services, now more reliable and on time more often than they were under National Express East Anglia.

So, what else would be nice?

• Electrification of the line between Felixstowe and Peterborough/Cambridge
• More rolling stock for the Ipswich to Cambridge and Ipswich to Lowestoft routes

I suspect that we'll have to wait for a new, longer franchise before we get those though...