I’m absolutely delighted by what we have heard from successful bidder Abellio Greater Anglia for the new Great Eastern rail franchise. My congratulations to them and also my colleagues, particularly Ben Gummer and Chloe Smith, who worked so hard to pull together a better offer on the main line, particularly in terms of Norwich in 90 and Ipswich in 60. They have delivered because we will now have at least 4 90-minute services (2 in each direction) between London and Norwich each weekday and 2 60-minute services per day between London and Ipswich. However, what’s really exciting is that there is so much more to this new era for our region’s critical piece of infrastructure.
From the point of view of both the general main line service and South Suffolk itself, the highlight for me is clearly the commitment from Abellio to replace ALL rolling stock. That is ambitious; it is necessary; it is very welcome. The significance for constituents in South Suffolk is not just that we will have better rolling stock on the main line – given that all of my rail users ultimately use the main line whether going directly from Manningtree or Colchester, or via the Gainsborough line to Marks Tey. In addition, for the long-neglected Sudbury branch line to Marks Tey which is still so important to so many living within or around my constituency’s largest town, the news that we will even see replacement rolling stock on this and other such lines is very welcome indeed. Of course, the main line takes priority and they will get the first batch of rolling stock, and therefore new trains on the branch line will take a few years longer to come forward. But when it does, there are many benefits for Sudbury line users:
- More robust and reliable rolling stock, so therefore much less vulnerable to problems such as leaf mulch
- Wider connections: the news that we will have a direct line to Colchester and Colchester town is fantastic news but not possible without new trains, hence the significance.
- I assume there will be more capacity as one would expect the new trains to have a minimum of two cars, though like a number of items announced that is subject to further detail.
I am also delighted that there is a commitment to look at flexible ticketing, including the possibility of part-time season tickets. This is something I have campaigned for in my brief period as an MP, raising it in November and then even holding a House of Commons adjournment debate on it in March, basing my speech principally around emails from constituents who are so frustrated about paying for a fully priced season ticket when they only go in to London 3 or 4 days per week. I also wrote to all the bidders for the franchise pressing them to consider this important but often underestimated area of service delivery.
There is no doubt that the new service from Sudbury to Colchester, perhaps by 2020, was the highlight of the announcements for my constituency given that Sudbury is our only station and is such an important service to the town. But wherever my constituents join the local rail network, there are improvements for everyone: 1,043 new, state of the art carriages between January 2019 and September 2020 to support the faster timetable, with a full programme of refurbishment for the current fleet in the meantime; free Wi-Fi for all passengers on trains and at stations; by 2021, there will be more than 32,000 more seats on services arriving at London Liverpool Street in the morning peak.
The caveat to all of the above is twofold: we will have to wait for the precise details from Abellio, particularly around timing; furthermore, as Paul Geater pointed out in excellent coverage of the new franchise in the EADT, we are dependent on Network Rail to deliver their side of the bargain. Thus, the next stage for me is to meet with Abellio to get the precise details of all the proposed changes bottomed out and I already have a date in the diary to meet their team at our party conference at the end of September.
There is much more to do and no one should pretend that we will have a perfect service any time soon, but I am convinced that this looks like a very good bid from Abellio that offers a brighter future for all of East Anglia’s rail commuters.
