More services and longer trains - including on Ipswich and Colchester lines - unveiled by Greater Anglia for summer

Greater Anglia will be adding more services to its lines this summer - including extra trains - in a bid to support holidaymakers travelling throughout the region.

From May 15, Intercity services between Norwich and London will be available every half-hour until 9pm on weekdays, and every hour after that time.

They will be provided half-hourly all day on Saturday, and mostly hourly on Sunday.

Additional services, and longer trains, will be on offer between Ipswich, Colchester, Clacton and Walton, Harwich, Braintree, Chelmsford, Southend Victoria, Southminster and London Liverpool Street.

Following the completion of platform extension works later in the year, new and longer train services will be provided on routes between Cambridge, Bishop’s Stortford and London Liverpool Street and on the Hertford East line.

Rural services will continue as normal between Norwich and Lowestoft, Cambridge and Stansted Airport, Sheringham, and Great Yarmouth.

There will also be rural services between Ipswich and Cambridge, Felixstowe, Lowestoft and Peterborough, as well as between Marks Tey and Sudbury.

Extra services will operate between Norwich and Great Yarmouth on Saturdays from May 21 to September 10, and in weekdays from July 18 to September 2.

In all, it is hoped the latter services will provide over 66,000 extra seats for holidaymakers at the height of summer.

Between May 15 and September 11, earlier Sunday services are to be offered between Ipswich and Peterborough, leaving Ipswich at 7.55am and returning from Peterborough at 9.50am.

Greater Anglia's managing director, Jamie Burles, said: "We're making a number of service improvements in our May timetable changes.

"We've been monitoring our passenger numbers and listening to customer feedback, so we're increasing services or running longer trains where possible and appropriate - building on our actions over recent months, where we've been adding extra capacity in line with increasing demand.

"The pandemic has changed our railway. We have a different contract with the Government which is wholly funding us.

"It's important that we provide the best possible service to our customers and also value for money for taxpayers.

"Over the coming months, we'll see even more of our new longer trains with all mod cons replace our older trains on commuting routes into London, which will lead to more seats available for our customers and a much-improved travelling experience.

"New trains already in place on our Intercity, Stansted Express and regional services have markedly improved service standards on those routes - including helping us to achieve record-breaking punctuality.

"We'll continue to monitor passenger numbers and make further adjustments as necessary, always seeking to run a very good service and to encourage more customers to take the train."