NRA Passenger Operator of the Year award 2024: Greater Anglia

The Passenger Operator of the Year award went to Greater Anglia in this year's National Rail Awards.

Arriva Rail London and Lumo were recognsied with Highly Commended.

Greater Anglia has regained its crown as Passenger Operator of the Year after winning the category in 2022 and being highly commended last year.

The judges said they “quickly agreed” on the strength of the entry from an operator that “continues to improve its operation and customer service” since completing the replacement of its entire fleet in 2023.

Some £1.4bn has been spent since 2016 to order more than 1,000 new vehicles including Class 745 electric multiple units from Stadler to serve inter-city routes between London and Norwich and Stansted Express services.

Class 755 bi-modes have been introduced on non-electrified routes including the Wherry Lines and Ipswich-Ely while Class 720 EMUs from Alstom now ply their trade on routes including London-Cambridge North, the Crouch Valley Line and branch lines to Braintree and Hertford East.

The judges said the low-floor Stadler fleet had “transformed” the travel experience on regional routes while Greater Anglia had “responded well to criticism” of the lack of tables on its Stansted Express route by making modifications.

The performance of the operator, which changed hands from Abellio to a management-led buyout by Transport UK Group in February 2023, was also praised after Greater Anglia came top for punctuality (86.2% on-time arrivals) between April 2023 and March this year, a 4.5 percentage point increase on the corresponding period for 2022-23.

The judges added: “Operational performance improved during the year despite the ramping up of Stansted Express services to 4tph all day. It has ended the year top of the league table for on-time, Time-3 and PPM, and is aiming for Net Zero status by 2031. Staff engagement is good.”

Greater Anglia carried 76.4m passengers in 2023-24.

Go to our results story for a list of all the winners at the 2024 National Rail Awards, together with more pictures from the event at the JW Marriott Grosvenor House hotel, Park Lane, London on 12th September.