Rail passengers will benefit from more trains and over 100,000 extra seats per week when Greater Anglia’s summer timetable comes into effect on Sunday 21 May.

On the same day, the region’s brand new station, Cambridge North, will also open.

The extra seats will be available on services between Cambridge and London, Hertford East and London, Stansted Express services between Stansted Airport and London, Bishop’s Stortford and Stratford, Southend Victoria and London and between Ipswich, Harwich International, Colchester Town, Chelmsford and London, with an extra four carriages added to over 80 services each weekday.

The train operator has recently hired 22 additional trains to use to add extra carriages to some existing services – mostly at peak times – and to run some additional trains.

The extra trains, 12 Class 317s and 10 Class 321s, will also be used to enable Greater Anglia to install wi-fi on more of its trains and undertake a new programme of initiatives to improve train reliability.

In addition, extra summer Sunday services will operate on the Norwich, Ipswich and Colchester to London route and between Norwich and Lowestoft, Ipswich and Peterborough and Ipswich and Felixstowe, as well as additional summer services on Mondays, Fridays and Saturdays on the Norwich to Great Yarmouth line.

There will also be new stops in the summer timetable at the brand new station, Cambridge North, which offers direct services to London, Norwich and Ely, with convenient connections to many other destinations.

The new station has easy public transport access to the Cambridge Science Park and a six-minute rail journey into the city for people living north of Cambridge.

Andy Camp, Greater Anglia’s Commercial Director, said, “As demand continues to grow we are delighted to be able to offer over 100,000 extra seats on our services this summer. These seats will mostly be available during the peak travelling periods to ensure a more comfortable journey for the 1 million passengers we serve every week. We are also operating many additional summer services, enabling great days out for both residents and visitors to East Anglia alike during the summer months.”

The new summer timetables can be found at greateranglia.co.uk

Extra seats will be available:

Ipswich, Colchester Town, Chelmsford, Southend Victoria – London Liverpool Street

An additional 300 seats per service (5,700 per day, 28,500 per week Monday – Friday) on these services:

06.00 Southend Victoria to Liverpool Street

06.11 Southend Victoria to Liverpool Street

06.19 Colchester Town to Liverpool Street

06.29 Ipswich to Liverpool Street

08.30 Chelmsford to Liverpool Street

08.30 Southend Victoria to Liverpool Street

09.30 Ipswich to Liverpool Street

14.50 Southend Victoria to Liverpool Street

15.30 Southend Victoria to Liverpool Street

17.25 Southend Victoria to Liverpool Street

07.05 Liverpool Street to Southend Victoria

07.20 Liverpool Street to Southend Victoria

08.01 Liverpool Street to Ipswich

09.55 Liverpool Street to Southend Victoria

16.10 Liverpool Street to Southend Victoria

16.40 Liverpool Street to Southend Victoria

17.40 Liverpool Street to Colchester Town

18.20 Liverpool Street to Harwich International

18.35 Liverpool Street to Southend Victoria

Cambridge – London Liverpool Street