Temporary Changes to the Timetable from 10 January

Update: Some Greater Anglia services outside of East Suffolk were added back to the timetable on 17/1 and 24/1. East Suffolk Lines services have continued to operate on an hourly frequency as usual and are not affected by these changes.

Greater Anglia is making further temporary changes to the weekday timetable from this coming Monday in response to a decrease in the number of passengers travelling.

The company is going to replace the current temporary weekday timetable which was implemented just before Christmas with a Sunday-style timetable on most routes – but with earlier first trains mostly consistent with a normal weekday timetable and more trains at peak times.

No changes will be made to the East Suffolk Lines service frequency or the other regional routes except for four peak services on the Norwich to Great Yarmouth route which will be cancelled. Most regional routes will still run an hourly train service along with the two-hourly service on the Ipswich to Peterborough route, as normal.

The Norwich to London Liverpool Street intercity service, which operates with 12 carriage trains, will become hourly.

The weekend timetable will remain unchanged.

With the changes about 74% of services will be running compared to before the pandemic.

Passenger numbers on Greater Anglia services have fallen to 40-50% of pre-pandemic levels from 65–70% last autumn. Peak-time passenger numbers are currently around 30% of pre-pandemic levels.

The fall in passenger numbers is attributed to Government guidance issued in December asking people to work from home whenever possible due to the increase in Covid infections; the guidance will remain until at least the end of the month.

Jamie Burles, Greater Anglia managing director, said: “The pandemic has changed our railway over the past 21 months. Working patterns have altered, so we currently have fewer commuters and business travellers and we are now entirely funded by the Government – and ultimately taxpayers.

“We are accountable to our customers and to taxpayers. We want to provide a reliable and punctual service for our customers, which also represents the best possible value to taxpayers.

“We’ve been closely monitoring and reviewing our passenger numbers and have designed a timetable which more accurately represents the level of customers who are using the trains.

“We’ll continue to monitor passenger numbers and make adjustments if necessary, by either increasing the length of trains or adding extra services.

“We are determined to continue running a reliable and punctual service for all our customers, as we have done throughout the pandemic.”

You are reminded to check before you travel using the Greater Anglia website or the mobile app, which will include revised train times.