Business in East Anglia

 National Express East Anglia has launched a 12 week consultation with  stakeholders and customers on its plans to improve train service capacity

In April this year, the Department for Transport announced a 17 per cent boost to rail capacity on National Express East Anglia (NXEA) services to and from London Liverpool Street with the construction of 120 new rail carriages and the transfer of 68 additional modern refurbished carriages to provide a total of 188 extra carriages to be added to East Anglia services.

In the first stage towards the implementation of the additional trains, NXEA has started a consultation exercise with key stakeholders including local authorities and rail passenger groups in London and the East Anglia region. This consultation will set out proposals for the deployment of the extra trains and the major passenger benefits that can be delivered over a phased period between December 2010 and December 2012 as the additional trains are introduced. These proposals consider the options to:

• Increase capacity into Liverpool Street at peak travel times by an additional 11,000 seats.
• Deploy the 120 new electric carriages on services to Stansted Airport and some Cambridge to Liverpool Street services.
• Improve the existing timetable schedules to enable the introduction of 68 additional carriages on services to Chelmsford, Colchester, Clacton, Harwich, Braintree and Southend, and additional stops at some intermediate stations between Colchester and London, including Marks Tey and Kelvedon.
• Plus, more stops at Stratford, more trains from Ipswich and potential for a faster journey on a key morning peak train from Norwich.

 Other passenger benefits include the option to extend all Stansted Express services to 12 carriage trains (from the existing eight) and provide additional carriages at peak times on the lines to Enfield, Chingford, Hertford and Bishop’s Stortford. Amongst other improvements, the consultation considers options for the introduction of extra capacity on some peak Norwich to London intercity services and off-peak Ipswich/Colchester to London services, as well as extending most Norwich to Cambridge services from two to three carriages and Ipswich to Cambridge trains to two carriages.  NXEA will be seeking the views of stakeholders and customers over a 12 week consultation period and will welcome comments on these proposals – a summary of which will be available soon on the NXEA website at www.nationalexpresseastanglia.com  The overwhelming priorities are to deliver initiatives which will provide more seating capacity and extra services to benefit the majority of rail passengers, and in meeting the DfT’s requirements on capacity enhancement for the NXEA network.