Greater Anglia

Greater Anglia is the railway company that will succeed National Express East Anglia as the operator of the Greater Anglia Franchise in 2012. Its parent company is Nederlandse Spoorwegen subsidiary Abellio.

Franchise
The government announced Abellio Greater Anglia Limited as the winning bidder on 20 October 2011, beating off competition from the other two shortlisted companies, Eastern Railway Limited (from the Go-Ahead Group) and Stagecoach Anglia Trains Limited (from the Stagecoach Group). The franchise will start on 5 February 2012, lasting for 29 months (until September 2014). While short, the franchise will operate during the 2012 Olympics.

The subsequent franchise is expected to be awarded for 15 years.

Planned improvements
A number of improvements are planned during the franchise period.
 * Better station & ticket facilities and improved passenger information
 * Text messaging service to keep passengers informed if disruptions occur
 * New information desks at major stations
 * Extending Oyster Pay As You Go between Liverpool Street and Shenfield / Hertford East
 * Mobile phone and print-at-home ticketing facilities.
 * 600 car park spaces
 * More cycle storage facilities
 * Deep cleaning of stations and trains.
 * Bus service between Audley End and Saffron Walden
 * New ticket gates at: Billericay, Brentwood and Chadwell Heath before the Olympics.

Services
Greater Anglia will continue operating National Express East Anglia's old services. Off-peak weekday services are shown below:

Livery
Greater Anglia will re-paint 1/3 of their stock a neutral colour for re-painting for the following longer franchise.Class 321s, 315s, 153s and 156s will be among the 1/3 due for painting and heavy maintenance work. The re-paint will be similar to the current class 321s.

Stansted Express
Greater Anglia will be operating a Stansted Express sub brand Express Rail Air Link Service between Liverpool Street and Stansted Airport.

Planned rolling stock
The company will operate a fleet of Class 153, 156 and 170 DMUs for the local lines, with Class 315, 317, 321, 360, 379 EMUs for the mainline commuter services, and Class 90 locomotives with Mark 3 coaching stock for the intercity services. Greater Anglia is not have any plans to introduce new trains due to the short nature of the franchise.