The fall and rise of Abellio Greater Anglia - Once the UK's worst train company?

Рет қаралды 9,759

Күн бұрын

Пікірлер: 90

@Vanmanyo 6 ай бұрын

Hi - thanks for watching this video! If you're a regular to the channel I will be taking a 2 week break for some exams but then I'll be back with another mini series - any guesses?

@Mythical_Squid 6 ай бұрын

good luck with exams

@lonun67 6 ай бұрын

Good luck with your exams. Maybe Intercity East Coast mini series?

@metrebot 6 ай бұрын

Good luck with the exams :)

@Serailchannel 6 ай бұрын

Good luck for your exams

@Andrewjg_89 6 ай бұрын

Good luck with the exams.

@jameswright7284 6 ай бұрын

Weird to think that the Class 379s are retuning to East Anglia but with Great Northern will deffo be happy to see them used to enjoy them on my commutes to and from Cambridge

@Vanmanyo 6 ай бұрын

More weird that they were taken out of service in the first place! The fact 321s lingered until 2023 whilst the much newer 379s stayed in storage should be crime - this is perhaps the largest argument to remove ROSCOs like Porterbrook; think about how much easier it would be to get stock back on the rails and reuse older stock like the RENTUS 321s! Personally though I'm not sure which side of the fence I'm on regarding ROSCOs but is an interesting debate for sure - I'll need to head back to Anglia to go on the 379s when they come into service, last Electrostar class I need to tick off :D

@Andrewjg_89 6 ай бұрын

Yeah that’s what I have heard. Nice to see the Class 379s back instead of sitting there in storage doing nothing and rotting away.

@joshuw1004 6 ай бұрын

i use greater anglia weekly for the past 10 years and i have definitely seen massive improvements and i would say its the best toc if not top 3

@Vanmanyo 6 ай бұрын

Agreed - very reliable and have a pretty good fleet!

@joshuw1004 Ай бұрын

@@Vanmanyosuch a good fleet love those flirts especially when you get an intercity with first class on Stansted express

@TheCaptainLion 6 ай бұрын

loved this whole series, especially as someone who lives in Australia and loves railways. I do have a soft spot for Greater Anglia when I used to live out that way when I spent 12 months living in the UK back in 2015 (loved the Class 170's), and I only ever had one problem with Greater Anglia in that time.

@Vanmanyo 6 ай бұрын

Thanks for watching this I do hope you stick around! GAs class 170s were very wellr refurbished - I have fond memories of them with TFW however they've now gone over to EMR where they're being refurbished again!

@Andrewjg_89 6 ай бұрын

Greater Anglia is still the longest serving train operator in the East of England. And with new trains that have entered service couple years ago to replace the older trains. I have seen lots of changes and experiences with Greater Anglia and they still do provide good train services. And they have been going up and down since they were managed by Abellio.

@aplane9625 24 күн бұрын

Tbh GA is and will no longer be the same in my opinion

@martinbalmforth2665 6 ай бұрын

The 755s allow 100 mph running when under the wires, and are superb for me, being in a wheelchair now, and the extension of the previous 1001 Ips-Pbro starts at Felixstowe makes the service damn near perfect for me. Unlike many TOC’ they looked at their issues, listened to passengers, and overhaulled everything. Hiring the tractors from DRS to do the Yarmouth run brought extra passengers from not just the UK, to ride the service. I just wish that other ops thought about level boarding, the IET 800 series are little better than a mk3, needing the huge ramp and station staff to help, with the Flirt, I can wheel myself on and off. Well done Greater Anglia

@kaitlyn__L 29 күн бұрын

Been jealous of the Flirts since Anglia, Wales, and now IIRC Merseyrail getting them. I use a wheelchair too and level boarding is severely neglected. The new Glasgow Subway trains are meant to be more wheelchair accessible, but the old ones had basically no gap from the platform while the new ones have about an inch! Also their new wheelchair zones are, in some ways, worse than just sitting across one door in the old trains - mainly in that they make us contort to find a grab rail instead of just having one in front. A clear case of designers going "yeah, that looks right for wheelchairs" without testing them on enough users. (Probably because only one or two other stations besides St Enoch even have lifts.)

@Electrostarboi207 2 ай бұрын

I like that c2c one of the biggest railway glow ups of the early 2000s The LTSR was once called the misery line and the rebranding *almost* fixed everything

@dawezer 6 ай бұрын

Have absolutely loved every episode of this ❤ as an irish citizen the great detail about what is going on over there is much appreciated

@Vanmanyo 6 ай бұрын

Thanks so much! I appreciate your support too and hope you're looking forward to the next mini series I have planned 😄 - you'll find out soon 😀

@Locomattive8572 4 ай бұрын

Great video, I really enjoyed it. But can I add. The 755 and 745 roll out wasn’t that smooth. They were incredibly unreliable to start with. Loads of IT issues. The FLIRTS gained the nickname “Basils” after a driver reenact Basil Fawltys ‘dam good trashing’ on one that had broken at Cromer. The crash on the crossing you mention was a near miss, not crash. It was because the for-mentioned IT issues. A train approaching a crossing had a GPS failure, and the new wheel profiles on the 755s (to minimise leaf issues) meant the crossing at Rakeheath lost train and opened the gates as the train approached.. The new profile also meant the fail safe treadle wasn’t activated. A car missed being hit by a fraction. There cab footage of that near miss is on the RAIB’s KZbin channel. Until Network Rail moved the treadles and the IT issues were fixed. 755s had to take all crossings at 20mph, which massively increased journey times. There was also issues with the bimode switching. One Saving grace was most these issues happened in the peak of the pandemic meaning it didn’t affect as many as it would have normally. The 755s role out was hindered too, by the 170s and 156s being moved off the franchise before the 755s issues had been ironed out. Many passengers also complained that 745s were very uncomfortable compared to the MK3s. However, The Basils, have gone on to be very successful units. From space and comfort point of view, they have been a huge upgrade on local services, though I’d personally say a 170 was more comfortable. GA and Network Rail also did a lot of work on East Suffolk line, reinstalling some of the double track sections and stations. Plus work at Sheringham to extend, widen and decrease the angle I’ll ramp in the platform to allow 4 car trains to fit in platform and wheel chairs to fit. The short length and width of platform being a legacy of the fact Cromer to Sheringham (the last surviving section of the Midland & Great Northern Joint Railway) was supposed to close a year after the Sheringham to Melton Constable had in 1964. To save money, BR closed station the Victorian station as this would allow them to close the level crossing, signal box and avoid the upkeep of a reasonably large Sheringham station. So as temporary measures, they built a temporary station across the road from the original station that was long enough for 101 or 105 unit. However the Cromer to Sheringham section was reprieved when it became the first “community railway” in the UK. This also laid the way for Sheringham to become the headquarters of the North Norfolk Railway.

@Vanmanyo 3 ай бұрын

Thank you! Very insightful comment with lots on the FLIRTs, so thanks for that! I really like them to be honest so I'm glad they have all their teething issues sorted!

@annabelholland 5 ай бұрын

I remember when those old Greater Anglia itntercity trains had slam doors until c. mid 2019. I am a little sad that we removed them from the UK network, but I see that they do not comply with PRM TSI (in other words, the railway accessibility regulations) and the fact that Scotrail and GWR had to remove them and add sliding doors to their old Mark 3 HSTs making them PRM complaint. I also remembered when they added Abellio in front of it, only to be removed again a few years later. Now that GA has modernised its fleet, it's much better than the line from Norwich to Sheringham is now above pre pandemic levels and now has bi mode trains which runs diesel from Norwich to Ely and electric from Ely to Cambridge/Stansted and sometimes from Norwich to London.

@Vanmanyo 5 ай бұрын

I had a summer holiday near Gunton on the line to Sheringham and went across Anglia on GA on a rover ticket. Honestly thought the services were very good and had great stock! As an enthusiast it's sad to see trains like the slam door sets go but you have to appreciate the benefits these new trains bring!

@KennySC 6 ай бұрын

Great conclusion to your Anglia mini-series!

@stationshunter 6 ай бұрын

Now we charging to the next mini series.

@Vanmanyo 6 ай бұрын

*In two weeks !

@LondonBusAnnouncements 6 ай бұрын

Greater Anglia is one of my favourite operators! The Mobile app is fantastic and easy to use I use to book most of my tickets when travelling inside and outside of their network. Personally feel GA should be the template for most operators across the country. The works they have done to refurbish stations is great! The 755 and 745 are excellent. My only negative would be Stansted Airport ticket checks, they really need to install ticket barriers. Instead they seem to be hellbent on catching out tourist who use contactless/Oyster to travel to the airport

@HesterClapp 5 ай бұрын

I live on the WAML I find it hard to believe GA were one of the worst in the country! Sure, the 317s were getting a bit old, but the 379s and the extra platforms at Cambridge were a nice treat, they took good care of what they owned, generally ran pretty punctually and were barely ever overcrowded. And now with the gorgeous modern fleet and plentiful capacity, I have almost zero complaints for them!

@daliverpoolfan69 6 ай бұрын

Also, there is the new beaulieu park station being built between Chelmsford and Hatfield peveral that should be ready next year

@Anonymoususer_8823 6 ай бұрын

I do like Greater Anglia and I have been on the Class 745, Class 755 FLIRTS and Class 720 Aventras that came into service couple years ago. Greater Anglia should stop using Class 745/1s on the London-Norwich route as they are mainly used on Stansted Express services. And the Class 379s are now going to Great Northern to replace the Class 387s. With the Class 360s now with East Midlands Railway and Class 170 also with EMR.

@callumwilliamson31 6 ай бұрын

you got somethingwrong that 755 never plowed into the car it missed it by seconds

@Vanmanyo 6 ай бұрын

Ah yes that is true - apologies!

@callumwilliamson31 6 ай бұрын

@@Vanmanyo no worries man great vid tho i enjoyed it

@Anonymoususer_8823 6 ай бұрын

And with the Class 379 Electrostars now gone for storage and to be transferred to Great Northern later this year. My suggestion would be for Greater Anglia to keep the Class 379s and the Class 360/1s cascaded to EMR.

@Vanmanyo 6 ай бұрын

The 360s are already with EMR and the rest of them have been scrapped or are now with another private operator for testing in Wales! GA really don't need the 379s plus it means Southern can get more stock (as they are getting some 387s from GN once the 379s come into service)

@Anonymoususer_8823 5 ай бұрын

⁠Yep. 👍

@ZLDSmogless 6 ай бұрын

I'd love to see a failed franchise on Abellio Scotrail and SPT rail. I believe they could run a better service than the current nationalised Scotrail, with the Suburban lines of Glasgow and Edinburgh-Glasgow express having every 15 minute frequency, instead of their current every half hour frequency, and sometimes having 15 minute frequency in peak times

@kaitlyn__L 29 күн бұрын

I do miss the SPT livery on the low-level trains. Though for me they come every 5 minutes. If you're after a specific line, rather than just any route into the centre, you might have to wait 10. I suppose that's urban rather than suburban rail, though. How far-out do you have to get to have half-hourly headways?

@ZLDSmogless 29 күн бұрын

@@kaitlyn__L on the Balloch, Milngavie, Sprinburn, Larkhall and Whifflet branches

@kevanhubbard9673 6 ай бұрын

I have a feeling that Central Trains and it successor,East Midlands Railway,or was it Trains?,ran some services into the Anglia area too with Liverpool to Norwich/Birmingham to Stansted servicesbut I understand that they no longer run, passengers having to change in Peterborough.

@memediatek 6 ай бұрын

Trains came first, railway second

@Vanmanyo 6 ай бұрын

Nope! EMR Still run direct Norwich - Liverpool services - for Birmingham though you do have to change at Peterborough/Cambridge!

@EarlyAccessOFFICIAL 4 ай бұрын

Cross country do a service from stansted to birmingham

@StevenWalker-jj8bf 6 ай бұрын

Hey, amazing video to watch :))))) Would you be able to do something on WMR/LNWR?

@Vanmanyo 6 ай бұрын

Thanks! I'm planning on doing something on LM soon, then I can look at doing WMR 😆 In the meantime you could check out my other similar videos - I've done one on Chiltern which is in that ballpark!

@MichaelCampin 5 ай бұрын

I take it that abellio are a Dutch company based on the logo

@Vanmanyo 5 ай бұрын

Yep they are owned by NS! I probably should have said

@taipizzalord4463 6 ай бұрын

do more of these please!

@Vanmanyo 6 ай бұрын

kzbin.info/aero/PLF06LywT25Lb5kDOUkArX3gyZ8EPZuyI1 😉

@JeSuisRene 6 ай бұрын

Aah, my local rail operator.

@Vanmanyo 6 ай бұрын

hope you liked the video!

@ludwigtails 6 ай бұрын

As much as how great the new trains are. I might be bias here but I prefer the Class 90 and Mk3 a whole lot more. And it’s a god damn shame i never get to ride behind a class 90 because it’s one of my favourite (electric) locomotives among the UK. Now no one operates them at all. And making the 745 and 755 looking utter overated even thought they have tiny buffets. From what I gather, they don’t even serve hot food there anymore so that’s a boo boo. With plus the HORRIBLE decision for adding 3+2 seatings on 720s. And also not ordering them as all 10 carriages is utter stupid. The entire GEML is full of new plastic trains and is utterly boring. Good for normal passenger services I suppose. Class 90+mk3 forever.

@Vanmanyo 6 ай бұрын

I miss 'proper' trains ☹️

@ludwigtails 6 ай бұрын

@@Vanmanyo same. Also the stadler flirts looks like trams and I hate it.

@stopthetories Ай бұрын

So glad that Greater Anglia will be kicked out and the routes taken into public hands.

@EarlyAccessOFFICIAL 4 ай бұрын

im intreguiged to see next years bid, will greater anglia reign continue???

@Vanmanyo 4 ай бұрын

Nope! Because I imagine labour will win tonight and then it'll all be nationalised!

@FarmYard-Trains 2 ай бұрын

I believe that takeover has been postponed - fine by me in this case. Others are going as usual.

@Eric_Hunt194 6 ай бұрын

"McNutley report" lol 😂

@Vanmanyo 6 ай бұрын

May have pronounced it wrong but yes this is a real thing!!! www.gov.uk/government/publications/realising-the-potential-of-gb-rail

@dylanismail6455 6 ай бұрын

Will you do something like south central next ?

@Vanmanyo 6 ай бұрын

South central as in Connex/Southern? I've already done videos on both of those operators!

@Andrewjg_89 6 ай бұрын

@@Vanmanyoc2c perhaps with a little history of LTS.

@Anonymoususer_8823 6 ай бұрын

Totally agree. Perhaps in your spare time do c2c and LTS.

@Sainsburys_Local 6 ай бұрын

they check ticket 100% Liverpool street to Norwich train Not full every hour, but it has 12 coach So I feel their business no good Anyway god bless Norwich