GREATER Anglia (GA) has been named Passenger Operator of the Year at the National Rail Awards 2025. It is the second year running the company has received the accolade, and the third time in four years, having won the award in 2022 and 2024 (as well as being runners up in 2023). The citation said “All the judges agreed that this is a TOC at the top of its game but one that has not rested on its laurels. The series of initiatives designed to improve the customer experience across the board, and to drive organic growth, are to be commended.”

Greater Anglia has been the most punctual operator in the UK since April 2023 with annual performance currently at 93.7% using both the long-standing public performance measure (which measures arrival at destination within 5 minutes) and 92.8% using the more demanding “Time to 3” metric (which measures arrivals of every train at every station it serves). Its best performing routes are even achieving annual performance of between 96.0% and 98.5%.

The company has transformed travel across its network, replacing its entire fleet, with brand new, state of the art, more comfortable trains, with Wi-Fi, plug points, USB points, air conditioning and improved accessibility. They also offer more seats, provide better reliability and service resilience, and have enabled additional services and quicker journey times to be introduced across its network – plus new, direct services, such as from Norwich to Stansted Airport.

Over the last year, it has been making further improvements with ongoing station upgrades, adjusting timetables in line with increasing passenger demand, installing tables on its Stansted Express trains, appointing a Partnerships Manager to help enhance integrated transport links and delivering a positive impact from its new Customer and Community Improvement Fund – supporting small scale projects, that benefit the railway and the local community, right across the GA network.  It has also been making local improvements driven by its “We’re All Ears” customer feedback scheme, which encourages passengers to highlight specific areas where other initiatives can help provide a better service.

At the annual awards event last week, GA was also highly commended in the Great Place to Work award and the Small Station of the Year Award for Bures, as well as being finalists in Small Station of the Year for Chappel and Wakes Colne and Medium Station of the Year for Bury St Edmunds. 

Martin Beable, Managing Director, Greater Anglia said:

“Everyone at Greater Anglia is really proud to have won the Passenger Operator of the Year award for the second year running and third time in four years. All across our company, colleagues are passionate about doing their best for the customers and communities we serve. With excellent performance, a commitment to customer service, high quality new trains, and effective partnerships with other rail industry organisations and wider stakeholders, we’re fully focused on maintaining our high standards.

“We were also pleased to see further recognition with our commendations in the Great Place to Work award and for Bures in the Small Station of the Year Award.

“We are grateful to key partners, such as Network Rail, the Department for Transport, Stadler, Alstom, our community rail partnerships, our station adopters, other rail industry organisations and regional stakeholders, who all play a key role in helping us provide a high-quality service. We will continue to work to keep up our high standards and keep on improving – always focused on delivering the best train service we can for customers, communities, and wider stakeholders across our region.”