Keeping rail branch lines in East Anglia thriving was the focus at Greater Anglia’s annual community rail conference held recently.
Community Rail Partnerships, station adopters, local authorities and other organisations from across East Anglia came together with Greater Anglia (GA) representatives at the annual GA Community Rail Conference on 21 November to discuss how to ensure the continued success of the region’s rail branch lines.
The event involved discussion on improving rail services for the benefit of local communities, a talk about community rail by Paul Webster of the Community Rail Network, a Greater Anglia business update, feedback and updates from the region’s Community Rail Partnerships, and a presentation highlighting the contribution of over 330 station adopters who help to improve their local stations under Greater Anglia’s Station Adoption scheme.
Jonathan Denby, Greater Anglia’s Head of Corporate Affairs, said:
“Community rail initiatives help to bring railways closer to the communities they serve, encouraging more people to take the train and supporting local communities by making it easier for residents to travel, for work, learning, shopping or leisure, and for visitors or tourists to get around, with benefits for the local economy.
“We will continue to build on our strong track record of partnership working, which has seen community rail lines become more and more popular with customers, whilst train services and stations have become more integrated with local communities’ needs, with more frequent services, all year round.
“Over the last year, we have continued to put funding and resources into working with our community rail partnerships, as well as providing a high level of support for our station adoption programme, which continues to have tremendous success, with 130 stations now adopted and over 330 involved across the Greater Anglia network.
“During the year our station enhancements have also continued apace, with improvements to our station buildings, car parks and cycle facilities, while train performance continues at record levels, with GA the most punctual operator in the UK since April 2023.
“We’ve also been pleased to use our Customer and Community Improvement Fund to help enable further local improvements, in line with local needs.”
He added: “A huge thanks to all involved for making the conference such a positive, effective event with clear goals and a shared desire to ensure our local lines continue to thrive and maximise the ongoing impact of the exciting transformation delivered by the introduction of our new trains.”
To date, in Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk, and Suffolk, partnership working has helped to boost tourism and local economies and improve health and well-being through the production of local area guides, guided walks, special event trains, volunteering initiatives, community art projects, wildlife initiatives, partnership initiatives to deliver service improvements and station upgrades and wider community involvement schemes.
Image credit: Greater Anglia
