Figures released by Greater Anglia (GA) today (Monday 20 April) highlight continuing excellent punctuality results being delivered for customers across East Anglia, with GA one of the best performing train operators in the UK for over 3 years now.
Annual performance for the 12 months to 31 March 2026 using the demanding Time to 3 (T-3) metric, which measures the arrival within 3 minutes of every single train at every single station it serves, is at an impressive 91.84% -– despite a very busy regional network and increasing challenges from extreme weather. This is currently the second highest annual T-3 average nationally, just behind c2c on 91.86%
The historically high results, being delivered by the train operator for over six years now, include: annual performance (again using the T-3 metric) for Great Eastern services across Essex, serving destinations such as Southend, Chelmsford, Braintree, Colchester, Clacton, Harwich, and up to Ipswich in Suffolk at 92.8%; rural services across Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, plus the Marks Tey to Sudbury line, averaging 93.0%; intercity services between Norwich, Ipswich, Colchester, Chelmsford and London averaging 88.9%; West Anglia services to destinations including Hertford East, Harlow, Bishops Stortford, Cambridge, and Ely averaging 91.1%; and Stansted Express services at 89.8%.
Exceptional annual T-3 results of 93.0% or over have been achieved on seven routes:
- Norwich to Great Yarmouth: 98.0%
- Norwich to Lowestoft: 97.5%
- Marks Tey to Sudbury: 96.0%
- Norwich to Sheringham: 95.9%
- Ipswich to Lowestoft : 94.8%
- Ipswich to Felixstowe: 94.1%
- London to Colchester/Clacton: 93.2%
GA also has the highest national annual average using the ‘On Time’ measure at 80.4%, the highest score on the long standing Public Performance Measure (which measures arrival at destination within 5 minutes) with an annual average of 93.2% and the second lowest rate of cancellations at 1.7% (just behind c2c on 1.6%).
With GA and c2c both now part of on an integrated railway in East Anglia, along with Network Rail Anglia colleagues, it illustrates the very strong performance being delivered in the region, as the organisations work ever more closely together.
The higher performance levels are due to a combination of three main factors – sustained joint work by Greater Anglia and Network Rail to improve performance standards; the better performance provided by the new Greater Anglia trains, which have been phased in over the last 6 years and now operate all Greater Anglia services; and work by Network Rail to improve rail infrastructure reliability.
Commenting on the performance results, Jay Thompson, train service delivery director at Greater Anglia, 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 one of the best performing train operators in the UK for over three years now (and top on a number of measures).
“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, and looking to improve still further and provide even more consistent 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.”
Image credit: Greater Anglia
