Greater Anglia and Network Rail build back greener on the rail network

Modern tech delivers a better service for passengers and cuts emissions, while biodiversity drive creates havens for wildlife next to railway lines across the network.

Rail Minister Chris Heaton-Harris is visiting sites across the East of England today (6 August 2021) to see the extensive work undertaken by Network Rail and Greater Anglia to build back better and greener across the network.

The work, supported by the Department for Transport (DfT), has seen the number of train delays halved in Clacton and new ticket gates are helping to speed up journeys at Liverpool Street station.

A £37 million project, funded by DfT, to upgrade tracks, overhead lines and signalling in the Clacton area was completed in March this year. The new, modern tech replaces a decades-old system and is already delivering a better service for passengers, with time lost to delays in each direction cut by between a third and a half since work finished.

Greater Anglia’s biodiversity drive involves the train operator’s volunteer station adopters ramping up efforts to increase the level of flora and fauna and provide havens for wildlife next to the railway line across its network. This helps stations to become an even more valuable part of their communities, supporting the sustainable development and environmental health of their area.

The adopters now collectively manage such a large area – the equivalent of 5 Olympic-sized swimming pools – that Greater Anglia has pledged all 56 station gardens to the WildEast initiative, a local movement committed to returning 20% of East Anglia back to nature.