NRA Fleet Achievement of the Year 2024: Greater Anglia

The Fleet Achievement of the Year award in the 2024 National rail awards went to Greater Anglia for its fleet transformation.

Highly Commended: One Big Circle and Angel Trains (AIVR Smart Fleet).

The judges said Greater Anglia was the “hands down” winner for Fleet Achievement of the Year owing to the strong focus on passenger benefits and high degree of coordination between operations and engineering teams during the operator’s fleet replacement programme.

They said the introduction of more than 1,000 new vehicles built by Stadler and Alstom was a “major logistics exercise implemented well” following last year’s completion of the staged introduction of new trains on all routes.

The headline franchise commitment from Greater Anglia has led to all London-Norwich inter-city trains and Stansted Express services being replaced by 12-car Class 745 electric multiple units. Outer suburban services have been replaced by five-car high density ‘720s’ while all regional and branch services have been taken over by three- and four-car Class 755 bi-mode units.

The bi-modes are said to be quiet when in diesel mode and have been “future-proofed” to accept new battery technology in due course. Traction changes take place on the move and branch line services can also receive hotel power when stabled to reduce pollution at major stations.

The 100mph bi-modes have the added bonus of being able to operate inter-city services on alternative electrified and non-electrified routes during engineering possessions.

As well as providing more capacity, all new trains feature plug and USP points, wi-fi, air conditioning, additional cycle space and, in the case of Stadler’s low-floor units with retractable steps, greater accessibility.

The judges noted that most displaced electric multiple units have been scrapped due to “the lack of coherent electrification programme in the UK”. However, the replacement of Class 156 and ‘170’ diesel multiple units has provided major capacity uplifts for other operators including East Midlands Railway, which previously operated local services in Lincolnshire with a single-car Class 153.

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.