The Anonymous Widower

Why Are Greater Anglia Replacing Class 379 Trains With New Stadler Class 745 Trains?

On the West Anglia Main Line, Greater Anglia are replacing ten twelve-car Class 379 trains on Cambridge and Stansted Airport services with ten twelve-car Class 745 trains.

In some ways this is a bit puzzling as the Class 379 trains were only built in 2010-2011 and with the same number of trains, they will probably only be able to run the same level of services between Liverpool Street, Cambridge and Stansted Airport.

Effectively, Greater Anglia have reorganised their fleet which currently is rather diverse into just two train types.

• Stadler Flirts – Electric Class 745 and bi-mode Class 755 trains.
• Aventras – five and ten-car Class 720 trains.

This probably gives tremendous advantages to Greater Anglia in terms of train operation and maintenance and staff utilisation and training.

It also means that as the trains have been specified at the same time, the passenger experience will be similar.

The interiors of the two Stadler Flirts will probably be identical and this must be something the operator will exploit.

Liverpool Street To Ipswich and Norwich

Greater Anglia are saying that they will run three Class 745 services between Liverpool Street and Norwich every hour in ninety minutes. These Great Easstern Main Line services will also do the shorter Liverpool Street to Ipswich journey in sixty minutes.

Greater Anglia have also said they will run a fourth service in each hour to Ipswich. They have also said that some of these extra Ipswich services would be extended to Lowestoft. As the East Suffolk Line is not electrified, the services would require a bi-mode Class 755 train.

When running between Ipswich and Liverpool Street, the Class 755 train would be identical in performance and experience to its electric big sister.

One advantage of the electric and bi-mode trains being the same, is that on electrified routes in the event of a Class 745 train being unavailable, two or even three lass 755 rains could deputise.

Perhaps the only difference would be the lack of a buffet.

Greater Anglia could also use the Class 755 trains to provide a direct Liverpool Street to Bury St. Edmunds service, if they felt the need was there.

Liverpool Street To Cambridge And Stansted Airport

Just as I believe they will be mixing the Class 745 and Class 755 trains on the Great Eastern Main Line, Greater Anglia have said they’ll be mixing the two types on the West Anglia Main Line.

An hourly Norwich to Stansted Airport service will be introduced using a Class 755 train.

Additional Class 755 Services

Greater Anglia have ordered fourteen three-car and twenty-four four-car Class 755 trains, which is a lot more trains than they use at present for the routes.

So in addition to increasing frequencies on routes  like Cambridge to Bury St. Edmunds, Ipswich, Norwich and Peterborough are they thinking of expanding services?

In the past the following services have been run.

• Liverpool Street to Norwich via Cambridge.
• Liverpool Street to Peterborough via Ipswich
• Liverpool Street to Great Yarmouth via Norwich.

In addition, there are two services that Greater Anglia might take over from other operators.

• CrossCountry runs an hourly service from Stansted Airport to Birmingham New Street using three-car Class 170 trains.
• East Midlands Trains runs an hourly service from Liverpool to Norwich via Nottingham  using two-car Class 158 trains.

Note.

1. Both services seem to get overcrowded at times.
2. Very little of either route is electrified.
3. Liverpool to Norwich currently takes five and a half hours.
4. After Norwich-in-Ninety is achieved, it will be possible in four and a half hours via London.
5. Birmingham to Stansted Airport  currently takes nearly three and a half hours. Time can be saved by going via London.

With the opening of Crossrail and other faster services, I can see that these two routes will increasingly be important local routes, rather than ones used by masses of long distance travellers.

In the public consultation document for the new East Midlands Franchise, this is said about these services.

At the eastern end of the route, options might exist to provide direct services between Nottingham and a wider range of stations in East Anglia, such as Cambridge and Stansted Airport. Some options could also result in changes to the destinations served by the existing Birmingham to Stansted Airport service currently operated by the Cross Country franchise.

It looks to me that there will be a lot of serious discussions going on.

Conclusion

Where does this all fit with Greater Anglia and their fleet of Class 755 trains?

I just think that on some routes, they are ideal to provide new services or boost existing ones and they will give passengers the same experience as they get on the flagship London to Norwich services.

The Class 379 trains don’t give the flexibility and the homogeneous passenger experience.

August 3, 2017 - Posted by AnonW | Transport/Travel | Class 745 Train, Class 755 Train, Greater Anglia