To mark the completion of its service upgrade and improved West Anglia timetable, National Express East Anglia (NXEA) has named two of its new Class 379 trains in ceremonies at either end of the West Anglia route at London Liverpool Street and Ely stations.
The new timetable for NXEA’s West Anglia network commenced on Sunday 11 December 2011, increasing seating capacity by almost 20% through the addition of 5,500 more seats at peak travel times.
The timetable is designed to deliver the maximum customer benefits of NXEA’s £155m investment in a fleet of 30 brand new Class 379 trains introduced this summer.
An additional £30m has been invested in lengthening platforms to cater for future growth, increasing car parking capacity and in new carriage washers as part of the company’s Service Improvement Plan.
The first ceremony was held at Liverpool Street when a Class 379 train was named ‘The West Anglian’ by Jules Pipe, Chair of London Councils and Mayor of Hackney, recognising the important contribution made by the West Anglia Routes Group, a consortium of local authorities and stakeholders who have worked with NXEA in the development of the timetable improvements.
This was followed by a ceremony at Ely station with the naming of a second Class 379 train ‘Ely Cathedral’ by the Acting Dean of Ely Cathedral, Canon David Pritchard.
The ceremony at Ely featured a live performance at the station by the Cathedral’s Choristers.
Andrew Chivers, Managing Director, National Express East Anglia said:
“The timetable improvements for West Anglia route customers, completes the £185m investment we have made though our Service Improvement Plan, in partnership with the Department for Transport.
“We’ve provided 188 new and additional vehicles for East Anglia including 120 new carriages on our Stansted Express and West Anglia route, increasing the number of seats for our customers using services into London Liverpool Street by almost 20%.”
Customers can obtain full details of the new West Anglia route timetable, including specific information on journey improvements from their local station or here.
