Greater Anglia is celebrating Pride Month 2024 and is inviting those heading to parades and festivals across East Anglia and London to let the train take the strain.
The operator, which runs trains from London to Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Suffolk, and Norfolk, has stations close to where a number of the key events will be held, enabling everyone to celebrate across the region.
These include:
- Suffolk Pride Fringe Festival (centred around Ipswich) (Friday 31 May to Sunday 30 June)
- Cambridge Pride (Saturday 15 June)
- Essex Pride (Chelmsford) (Saturday 22 June)
- London Pride (Saturday 29 June)
- Southend Pride (Saturday 13 July)
- Norwich Pride (Saturday 27 July)
- Ely Pride (Saturday 3 August)
- Colchester Pride (Saturday 17 August)
Greater Anglia passengers will be able to take advantage of weekend rail travel free of disruptive engineering works on the main line between Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, and London Liverpool Street this summer.
Passengers using the Great Eastern Main Line between Norwich, Ipswich, Colchester, and London Liverpool Street will benefit from normal Saturday and Sunday frequencies and journey times, while major works on the main line are paused on this route by Network Rail over the summer, with weekends clear of any significant service alterations up to and including the weekend of 31 August/1 September.
Two routes will see longer journey times due to engineering work – customers travelling to Cambridge Pride on 15 June should be aware that due to the new station being built at Cambridge South, buses will replace trains between Audley End and Cambridge North, with a frequent train service between Cambridge North and Cambridge.
Anyone travelling to London Pride on 29 June should note that buses replace trains between Bury St Edmunds and Cambridge North / Ely – but trains will be running between Cambridge North and Cambridge, Ipswich and Bury St Edmunds, Cambridge and Newmarket, and Ely and Peterborough. Further information is available on the Greater Anglia website.
Over the course of June, Greater Anglia staff will proudly hang flags and bunting at Sawbridgeworth, Shenfield and Stansted Mountfitchet stations, along with the Norwich depot, as part of this year’s celebration.
The celebrations for Pride month come just months after the company launched its Pride livery train at Norwich station in April, with the regional train primarily operating on local routes. Greater Anglia also unveiled a Pride livery train that runs on its commuter routes to and from London Liverpool Street in July 2023. The liveries, which are on the trains permanently, are now visible across the majority of the company’s network.
The commuter train’s livery unveiled at Liverpool Street in July 2023 (credit: Greater Anglia)
The idea was sparked by members of the Affinity colleague network group, which acts as a support community around the topic of sexuality and ensures the company is as inclusive as possible.
Lee Ivor Smith, Head of Customer Service South and Executive Sponsor of Affinity group, said:
“It is lovely to travel around our network and see the Pride flags and bunting up to celebrate acceptance and continue to bring communities together throughout June, not to mention our two permanent liveried trains too.
“We hope it helps spread the message the railway is here for everyone and that everyone has fun on their way to the parades and celebrations over the summer.”
Martin Moran, Greater Anglia’s Commercial Director, said:
“Our staff always are passionate around events and festivals and Pride is no exception.
“We are really looking forward to welcoming our customers on board, transporting them to and from the many Pride parades, festivals, and celebrations taking place across our network this summer.”
Looking more widely, Greater Anglia offers a range of Advance fares that offer customers savings of between 60% and 70% on the standard walk-up prices, plus 2FOR1 on entry to many top attractions in London and East Anglia.
The train operator also has a range of great value fares which are available all year round, including Duo, for two people travelling together, GroupSave for people travelling in a group of three or more, a special London evening out fare for those staying overnight in the capital and a Club 50 discount for those aged 50 and over.
For the best value fares, passengers should book in advance and the earlier customers book, the more they can save.
In addition, Greater Anglia has recently announced that passengers travelling on the Great Eastern Main Line will be able to upgrade to First Class from as little as £13, courtesy of the revolutionary rail ticket app Seatfrog.
For more information on these and other offers visit www.greateranglia.co.uk/offers/
For more information on ticket fares and timetables visit www.greateranglia.co.uk.
Image credit: Greater Anglia
