Greater Anglia has been named Passenger Operator of the Year at the National Rail Awards 2024.

It is the second time in three years the company has received the accolade, having won the award in 2022. Judges said they: “…quickly agreed on the strength of this entry from an operator that continues to improve its operation and customer service since completing the replacement of its entire fleet in 2023.”

Greater Anglia has been the most punctual operator in the UK since April 2023 with annual performance at 94.3% using both the long-standing public performance measure (which measures arrival at destination within 5 minutes) and the more demanding “Time to 3” metric (which measures arrivals of every train at every station it serves). Its best performing routes are even achieving annual performance of between 96.0% and 98.1%.

The company has transformed travel across its network, replacing its entire fleet, with brand new, state of the art, more comfortable trains, with Wi-Fi, plug points, USB points, air conditioning and improved accessibility. They also offer more seats, provide better reliability and service resilience, and have enabled additional services and quicker journey times to be introduced across its network – plus new, direct services, such as from Norwich to Stansted Airport.

At the annual awards event last Thursday night, Greater Anglia (GA) also won the Fleet Achievement of the Year award for its successful transition to a complete fleet of new trains (in one of the biggest fleet replacement projects delivered in the UK over the last 30 – 40 years, completed successfully despite added complications caused by the pandemic), while Cambridge won the Large Station of the Year award.

In addition, GA was highly commended in the Customer Service Excellence award for both its We’re All Ears customer feedback programme and for the customer-focused design and delivery of its Stadler-built intercity, Stansted Express, and regional train fleets. Meanwhile Bures and Norwich were finalists in the Small and Large Station of the Year awards, respectively.

Jamie Burles, Managing Director, Greater Anglia said: “Everyone at Greater Anglia is very proud to have won the Passenger Operator of the Year award for the second time in three years. Right across our company, colleagues are passionate about doing their best for the customers and communities we serve. With excellent performance, a commitment to customer service, high quality new trains, and effective partnerships with other rail industry organisations and wider stakeholders, we’re fully focused on maintaining our high standards.

“It was also pleasing to see further recognition with our Fleet Achievement award, our Large Station award for Cambridge and commendations in Customer Excellence for our We’re All Ears customer feedback programme and, with Stadler, for the customer-focused features of our intercity, Stansted Express, and regional trains. They illustrate again our efforts and achievements in providing the best possible service for passengers across our network, day in, day out.

“We’re also grateful to key partners, such as Network Rail, the Department for Transport, Stadler, Alstom, community rail partnerships, station adopters, other rail industry organisations and regional stakeholders who all play a key role in helping us provide a high-quality service. We will continue to work to keep up our high standards and keep on improving – always focused on delivering the best train service we can for customers, communities, and wider stakeholders across our region.”

Judges’ citations for GA’s other award wins were as follows:

• Fleet Achievement of the Year: “A ‘hands down winner’, owing to the strong focus on passenger benefits and close coordination between operations and engineering teams during the operator’s fleet replacement programme.”
• Large Station of the Year – Cambridge: “This city station has improved even further since it last won the category back in 2017, adding a multi-storey cycle hub, more ticket gates and bigger ticket office. The judges felt it provided a modern welcome to the famous university city without compromising the historic atmosphere.”