Abellio Greater Anglia’s Mark III refurbishment programme continues to run to timescale with the first complete set (9 carriages) expected to be rolled out in quarter 2 of this year and the refurbishment being fully completed in quarter 3 of 2016. The refurbishment includes new seat covers, new carpets and new tables, new lighting, new controlled emission toilets, plug points, a complete interior and exterior repaint and an additional 1,600 seats per day.
Network Rail’s consultation on its Anglia Route Study closed on 3 February. The final route study is due to be published in June 2015. The consultation on Network Rail ‘Improving Connectivity’ report (a methodology for a different way of planning the railway) has now closed. Network Rail is running a workshop on their proposed methodology.
The DfT is currently consulting on the specification for the longer-term Greater Anglia franchise which commences in October 2016. This consultation ran until 16 March 2015. DfT had arranged a bidders day at Norwich City Football Club for 5 March.
New Anglia LEP will shortly be publishing a revised version of the Rail Prospectus for East Anglia, which was originally published in 2012. This refresh has been led by Chloe Smith MP. The priorities for rail across East Anglia have been reviewed and updated and the scope of the Prospectus has been widened to include Hertfordshire’s rail priorities. The final version of the prospectus will be used to support the response to DfT’s consultation on the long-term franchise and we expect the new Prospectus will be launched towards the end of March.
