As the nights draw in, Greater Anglia has made some changes to their timetable in preparation for autumn.
In order to address leaves on the line and autumnal weather conditions, changes are being introduced on some intercity services to help ensure that passengers still reach their destination on time. The changes, which come into force every year, help allow drivers more time to brake and accelerate if compacted leaves and autumnal weather cause slippery conditions on track.
Fallen leaves pose an annual problem on the railways, sticking to track and creating a slippery layer for trains to pass over. They can affect braking distance, reduce traction and impact acceleration, meaning drivers must take extra care, slowing down early for signals and stations to avoid overshooting them. Gentle acceleration is also required to avoid wheel spin, which all combined can make for a slow journey for passengers.
Greater Anglia, working together with Network Rail, introduce similar changes every year. Intercity trains leaving Norwich, Diss, Stowmarket, Ipswich, and Manningtree before 7.30am will now depart up to five minutes earlier, Monday to Friday only, until 9 December.
This applies to five trains departing Norwich – the 05.05 (which will now depart at 05.00), 05.30 (which will now depart at 05.25), 06.04 (which will now depart at 06.00), 06.28 (which will now depart at 06.24) and 07.07 (which will now depart at 07.02).
Last autumn/winter, between 19 September 2021 and 8 January 2022, Greater Anglia recorded its best ever performance results for an autumn period and has credited its new trains improved ability to cope with autumnal conditions for driving the improvement. During this period, its overall punctuality score was 94.48%, and delay minutes were down 8%. Cancellations due to autumn weather were also down by 42% compared to 2020.
Jamie Burles, managing director at Greater Anglia said: “We are pleased to be taking action in partnership with Network Rail this autumn to help passengers continue to travel with confidence.
“We will be doing everything we can to maintain our very good recent performance during what has traditionally been seen as a difficult season for the railway.”
“We will be doing all we can, as ever, to make lives a little easier for our passengers, getting them from a to b reliably, safely, on time and in comfort.”
Image credit: Greater Anglia
