Abellio awarded new £1.4 billion East Anglia rail franchise deal

The new East Anglia rail franchise has been awarded to Abellio, it's been announced.

The Dutch firm have been running the Norwich to London line since 2012, but have now had their contract extended.

The new deal will run until 2025 and is worth £1.4 billion.

The service will be renamed 'Abellio East Anglia' and commuters can expect more than a thousand new carriages and faster trains.

What's been promised?

• At least four 90-minute services (2 in each direction) between London and Norwich each weekday and two 60-minute services per day between London and Ipswich

• Free Wi-Fi for all passengers on trains and at stations

• 1,043 new, state of the art carriages between January 2019 and September 2020 to support the faster timetable, with a full programme of refurbishment for the current fleet in the meantime

• Automatic ‘delay repay’ for season and advance purchase tickets

• Tough new targets for operational performance levels at 93% - up from 89.7% currently

• A host of new ticketing initiatives, starting in October 2017, including new offers for part time users and those who don’t travel every day

“This is great news not only for Abellio but for the whole of East Anglia," Managing Director of Abellio UK Dominic Booth said.

"We are pleased to become the preferred bidder to deliver a transformation in rail services across the region.

"It will enable us to build on the successes of the 2 short East Anglian franchises we have run since 2012, and we commend the DfT in running a transparent and rigorous procurement process.

"Our plans will greatly improve our customers’ experience with faster and more reliable journeys on new trains with higher frequencies and reduced journey times, to support the socio-economic well-being of East Anglia, one of the country’s most successful and fastest growing areas."