Greater Anglia trains average 94.1% for punctuality – but not on the West Anglia line
The punctuality of train services for Stortford, Stansted and Sawbridgeworth travellers continues to lag behind the rest of Greater Anglia’s network.
Overall, annual performance for the 12 months to March 31 this year was 94.1% - using the public performance measure (PPM), which measures arrival times at destination stations for each service.
However, the West Anglia line from Cambridge to London Liverpool Street and the Stansted Express average 92% and 90.1% respectively.
In contrast, Great Eastern services across Essex, serving destinations such as Southend, Chelmsford, Braintree, Colchester, Clacton, Harwich, and up to Ipswich in Suffolk, hit 96.2%. Rural services across Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, plus the Marks Tey to Sudbury line, averaged 95%. Intercity services between Norwich, Ipswich, Colchester, Chelmsford and London averaged 94.2%.
Annual results of 95% or more were achieved on seven routes:
Norwich to Great Yarmouth: 98.4%
Marks Tey to Sudbury: 98.1%
Norwich to Lowestoft: 97.5%
Norwich to Sheringham: 96.2%
London to Colchester/Clacton: 96%
London to Southend Victoria: 96%
Ipswich to Felixstowe: 95.1%
Using the more challenging “Time to 3” performance metric, which measures the arrival within three minutes of every single train at every single station it serves, Greater Anglia’s annual performance is 93.9%.
In addition, figures published by the Office of Rail and Road showed Greater Anglia was the best-performing “on time” operator in the UK for the October to December 2024 period. It was the seventh quarter in a row that Greater Anglia had delivered the best punctuality results nationally.
The operator’s managing director, Martin Beable, said: “We are pleased to be maintaining the consistently high levels of punctuality, for our customers and stakeholders across East Anglia, that have seen us be the best performing train operator in the UK for over two years now.
“I would like to pay tribute to the entire team at Greater Anglia. Delivering such impressive results on an ongoing basis is down to the dedication and commitment of my colleagues right across the organisation, be they in operations (such as drivers and conductors), train maintenance (such as our engineering and cleaning teams), customer service (such those working at stations or in on-board catering), or our business support and management teams.
“We are committed to keeping up these very high standards of performance, to complement the transformation in the journey experience brought by our new trains, with their greater comfort, better facilities, including plug/USB points and Wi-Fi, increased seating capacity and better accessibility.”
Greater Anglia has also won three rail industry Golden Whistles Awards for performance for three years running; was named Passenger Operator of the Year at the National Rail Awards 2024 for the second time in three years; Train Operator of the Year at the Rail Business Awards 2025 for the third time in six years, as well as being runner up in the other three years; and Operator of the Year at the Spotlight Rail Awards 2025.
