Greater Anglia

Greater Anglia
	Greater Anglia Class 720 and Class 745 units at Ipswich
Overview
Franchise	East Anglia 12 October 2025
Main regions	East of England; Greater London
Fleet	Class 720 Aventra; Class 745 FLIRT; Class 755 FLIRT;
Stations called at	150
Stations operated	134
Parent company	DfT Operator
Headquarters	London
Reporting mark	LE
Predecessor	Greater Anglia
Other
Website	www.greateranglia.co.uk

GA Trains Limited,^[1] trading as Greater Anglia, is a British state-owned train operating company that provides commuter and inter-city services from its Central London terminus at Liverpool Street station to Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk and parts of Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire, as well as many regional services throughout the East of England.

It took over the services of the operator of the same name from Transport UK Group and Mitsui & Co on 12 October 2025.

History

In the lead-up to the 2024 United Kingdom general election, the Labour Party of Keir Starmer committed itself to bring the passenger operations of the British rail network back under state ownership.^[2]^[3] Following its election win, the government introduced the Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Act 2024 that received the royal assent in November 2024.^[4]^[5]

In December 2024, it was announced that Greater Anglia's contract would be terminated after the Department for Transport activated a break clause, with DfT Operator taking over services on 12 October 2025.^[6]^[7]^[8]

Services

As of October 2025, the following services, inherited from Greater Anglia's predecessor, operate during the off-peak period, Monday to Friday:^[9]

Inter-City

Route	tph	Calling at
London Liverpool Street – Norwich	2	Stratford^[a] (1 tph), Chelmsford (1 tph), Colchester, Manningtree, Ipswich, Stowmarket (1 tph), Diss Services call at either Chelmsford, or Stratford and Stowmarket.

Great Eastern

Great Eastern Main Line
Route	tph	Calling at
London Liverpool Street – Ipswich	1	Stratford, Shenfield, Chelmsford, Beaulieu Park, Hatfield Peverel, Witham, Kelvedon, Marks Tey, Colchester, Manningtree
Shenfield–Southend and Crouch Valley lines
Route	tph	Calling at
London Liverpool Street – Southend Victoria	3	Stratford, Romford (2 tph), Shenfield, Billericay, Wickford, Rayleigh, Hockley, Rochford, Southend Airport, Prittlewell
Wickford – Southminster	3⁄2	Battlesbridge, South Woodham Ferrers, North Fambridge, Althorne, Burnham-on-Crouch
Braintree branch line
Route	tph	Calling at
London Liverpool Street – Braintree	1	Stratford, Shenfield, Ingatestone, Chelmsford, Witham, White Notley, Cressing, Braintree Freeport
Gainsborough line
Route	tph	Calling at
Marks Tey – Sudbury	1	Chappel & Wakes Colne, Bures
Sunshine Coast Line
Route	tph	Calling at
London Liverpool Street – Colchester Town	1	Stratford, Shenfield, Chelmsford, Beaulieu Park, Witham, Kelvedon, Marks Tey, Colchester
London Liverpool Street – Clacton-on-Sea	1	Stratford, Shenfield, Ingatestone, Chelmsford, Witham, Colchester, Hythe, Wivenhoe, Thorpe-le-Soken
Colchester – Colchester Town	1	Shuttle service
Colchester – Walton-on-the-Naze	1	Colchester Town,^[b] Hythe, Wivenhoe, Alresford, Great Bentley, Weeley, Thorpe-le-Soken, Kirby Cross, Frinton-on-Sea
Mayflower line
Route	tph	Calling at
Manningtree – Harwich Town	1	Mistley, Wrabness, Harwich International, Dovercourt Services in partnership with Stena's Dutchflyer service. Additional irregular services to Harwich through Dutchflyer are provided from London Liverpool Street, Cambridge, and Lowestoft.

West Anglia

West Anglia Main Line
Route	tph	Calling at
London Liverpool Street – Cambridge North	2	Tottenham Hale, Cheshunt, Broxbourne, Harlow Town, Harlow Mill (1 tph), Sawbridgeworth (1 tph), Bishop's Stortford, Stansted Mountfitchet ( 1 tph), Elsenham (1 tph), Newport (1 tph), Audley End, Great Chesterford (1 tph), Whittlesford Parkway, Shelford (1 tph), Cambridge Harlow Mill, Sawbridgeworth, Stansted Mountfitchet, Elsenham, Newport, Great Chesterford, and Shelford are all served by the same trains.
Stratford – Meridian Water	2	Lea Bridge, Tottenham Hale, Northumberland Park
Stratford – Bishop's Stortford	2	Lea Bridge, Tottenham Hale, Northumberland Park (1 tph), Enfield Lock (1tph), Waltham Cross (1 tph), Cheshunt, Broxbourne, Roydon, Harlow Town, Harlow Mill (1 tph), Sawbridgeworth Northumberland Park, Enfield Lock and Waltham Cross are served by the same trains.
Hertford East branch line
Route	tph	Calling at
London Liverpool Street – Hertford East	2	Hackney Downs, Tottenham Hale, Ponders End, Brimsdown, Enfield Lock, Waltham Cross, Cheshunt, Broxbourne, Rye House, St Margarets, Ware

Regional

Felixstowe branch line
Route	tph	Calling at
Ipswich – Felixstowe	1	Westerfield, Derby Road, Trimley
East Suffolk line
Route	tph	Calling at
Ipswich – Lowestoft	1	Woodbridge, Melton, Wickham Market, Saxmundham, Darsham, Halesworth, Brampton, Beccles, Oulton Broad South
Ipswich–Ely line
Route	tph	Calling at
Ipswich – Cambridge	1	Needham Market, Stowmarket, Elmswell, Thurston, Bury St Edmunds, Kennett (1 tp2h), Newmarket, Dullingham (1 tp2h) Kennett and Dullingham are served by alternate trains.
Ipswich – Peterborough	(1 tp2h)	Stowmarket, Bury St Edmunds, Soham, Ely, Manea, March, Whittlesea
Bittern Line
Route	tph	Calling at
Norwich – Sheringham	1	Salhouse (1 tp2h), Hoveton & Wroxham, Worstead (1 tp2h), North Walsham, Gunton (1 tp2h), Roughton Road (1 tp2h), Cromer,^[b] West Runton Trains alternate between serving Worstead, or Salhouse, Gunton, and Roughton Road together.
Wherry Lines
Route	tph	Calling at
Norwich – Great Yarmouth	1	Brundall Gardens, Brundall, Lingwood, Acle 2 Trains per day run via Berney Arms, calling at Cantley, Reedham, and Berney Arms in lieu of Lingwood and Acle.
Norwich – Lowestoft	1	Brundall (1 tp2h), Buckenham (1 train per day), Cantley (1 tp2h), Reedham (1tp2h), Haddiscoe (1 tp2h), Somerleyton (1 tp2h), Oulton Broad North Trains alternate between stoppers or only calling at Oulton Broad North
Breckland line
Route	tph	Calling at
Norwich – Stansted Airport	1	Wymondham, Spooner Row (2 train per day), Attleborough, Eccles Road (2 train per day), Harling Road (2 train per day), Thetford, Brandon, Shippea Hill (1 train per day), Ely, Cambridge North, Cambridge, Whittlesford Parkway, Audley End

^ Pick up only northbound, set down only southbound
^ ^a ^b Trains reverse

Stansted Express

Greater Anglia operates the Stansted Express sub-branded airport rail link between Stansted Airport and London Liverpool Street.^[10] As of May 2025, Stansted Express' off-peak services Monday to Friday are:^[9]

Route	tph	Calling at
London Liverpool Street - Stansted Airport	4	Tottenham Hale, Harlow Town (2 tph), Bishop's Stortford (2 tph), Stansted Mountfitchet (1 tph) Services alternate between Harlow Town and Bishop's Stortford; with Stansted Mountfitchet being served by Bishop's Stortford services (Northbound), or Harlow Services (Southbound).

Fleet

In October 2025, Greater Anglia inherited the following rolling stock from its predecessor.

Family	Class	Image	Type	Top speed		Number	Carriages	Routes operated	Built
Family	Class	Image	Type	mph	km/h	Number	Carriages	Routes operated	Built
Shunting locomotive
	08^[11]	N/A	Shunter	15	24	3	N/A	Stock movements	1952–1962
Electric multiple units
Bombardier Aventra	720/1		EMU	100	161	44	5	London to Cambridge North and Ely Hertford East branch line West Anglia Main Line Braintree branch line Crouch Valley line Dutchflyer Great Eastern Main Line Shenfield–Southend line Sunshine Coast Line Stansted Express (Some services)	2018–2021
	720/5					89	5		2018–2021
	720/5
Stadler FLIRT	745/0					10	12	Great Eastern Main Line	2018-2020
	745/0
	745/1					10	12	Stansted Express	2018-2020
	745/1
Bi-mode multiple units
Stadler FLIRT	755/3 755/4		BMU	100	161	14^[12]	3^[12]	Wherry Lines Breckland line Bittern Line East Suffolk line Great Eastern Main Line West Anglia Main Line Felixstowe branch line Ipswich–Ely line Gainsborough line	2018–2020
						24	4		2018–2020

References

^ GA Trains Limited Companies House
^ Labour promises rail nationalisation within five years of coming to power The Guardian 25 April 2024
^ Labour pledges to renationalise most rail services within five years BBC News 26 April 2024
^ Rail nationalisation takes a step closer under Starmer’s first major public reform in Commons victory The Independent 4 September 2024
^ Government reveals first three operators to be renationalised after law change Railnews 4 December 2024
^ South Western Railway, C2C and Greater Anglia to be nationalised in 2025 CityAM 4 December 2024
^ Operators to move in-house every three months Rail issue 1024 11 December 2024 page 14
^ South Western Railway to return to public ownership Rail Express issue 344 January 2025 page 11
^ ^a ^b "Timetables". Abellio Greater Anglia. 18 May 2025. Retrieved 27 May 2025.
^ "Stansted Express". Greater Anglia. Archived from the original on 4 December 2010. Retrieved 7 February 2012.
^ "RSS Class 08 modifications precede Anglian shunter duties". Rail. No. 825. 26 April 2017. p. 26. Archived from the original on 5 April 2023. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
^ ^a ^b "Just three diagrams left for GA 321s". Today's Railways UK. No. 254. April 2023. p. 59.

External links

Media related to Greater Anglia at Wikimedia Commons
Official website

[10] Pick up only northbound, set down only southbound

[rv-11] Trains reverse

[1] GA Trains Limited Companies House

[2] Labour promises rail nationalisation within five years of coming to power The Guardian 25 April 2024

[3] Labour pledges to renationalise most rail services within five years BBC News 26 April 2024

[4] Rail nationalisation takes a step closer under Starmer’s first major public reform in Commons victory The Independent 4 September 2024

[5] Government reveals first three operators to be renationalised after law change Railnews 4 December 2024

[6] South Western Railway, C2C and Greater Anglia to be nationalised in 2025 CityAM 4 December 2024

[7] Operators to move in-house every three months Rail issue 1024 11 December 2024 page 14

[8] South Western Railway to return to public ownership Rail Express issue 344 January 2025 page 11

[timetable-9] "Timetables". Abellio Greater Anglia. 18 May 2025. Retrieved 27 May 2025.

[12] "Stansted Express". Greater Anglia. Archived from the original on 4 December 2010. Retrieved 7 February 2012.

[13] "RSS Class 08 modifications precede Anglian shunter duties". Rail. No. 825. 26 April 2017. p. 26. Archived from the original on 5 April 2023. Retrieved 28 January 2023.

[TRUK254-14] "Just three diagrams left for GA 321s". Today's Railways UK. No. 254. April 2023. p. 59.

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