Tray tables are an important part of train travel – especially on those slightly longer train journeys. Greater Anglia has seemed to accept this, with a retrofit planned of tables to some of its trains.
The modification will impact the Stadler Class 745/1 trains, which are primarily used on the Stansted Express trains.
This will also benefit passengers on Greater Anglia’s intercity services between Norwich, Ipswich, Colchester, and London, as the Class 745/1 Stansted Express trains operate a few of those services each day.
Although the trains already have fold-down seat-back tables on most seats, there are currently no tables in the bays of four seats.
According to Greater Anglia, when the trains were ordered and specified, it was expected that passenger demand profiles, operating schedules and prospective rail infrastructure upgrades would mean that the trains would only operate a couple of services a day at most on the Great Eastern Main Line, as opposed to how they operate now, with them operating intercity services as well as Stansted Express shuttles.
Having a table installed – especially on a slightly longer train journey (given that Stansted Express take 47 minutes to travel between the City of London and the Airport normally), allowing passengers to use their laptops and place papers, books or drinks on tables when sat in the bays of four seats.
Greater Anglia has engaged Stadler (the train manufacturer and maintainer), to develop a scheme to install tables in all the bays of four on the Stansted Express trains, so customers will always have access to tables on intercity services once the installation programme is complete.
Timeline
The trains will have their tables fitted once an installation program has been agreed. Rather than taking the entire fleet out en mass, the tables will be fitted in a phased way – rather than taking a full train out of service for several weeks at a time with the extra challenges that would present.
You’ll see more of the fitted from this autumn onwards through to project completion, which is due by the end of 2025.
In Quotes
Martin Moran, Greater Anglia’s Commercial and Customer Service Director said:
“We are pleased to be delivering this significant upgrade, which will provide a better service for our customers, and which directly addresses feedback from passengers on the need for tables on all of our intercity services.
“We always seek to address our customers’ priorities for high service standards and ongoing improvements. Our high-quality new trains have been very well received, but this was a further enhancement which had been highlighted by many customers, so we’re glad to be able to confirm we will now be fitting tables throughout our Stansted Express trains, with benefits for both our Stansted Express and intercity customers.”
Well, that took long enough.
Given the use of the Class 745/1 fleet on over 1 hour 30 journeys between Norwich and London – as well as its bread and butter operations to Stansted Airport, not having tray tables fitted at the beginning was a major oversight.
Whilst others don’t have trays (Heathrow Express for example) passenger comfort comes to mind – given that the London to Stansted journey is one of the longer train Airport Express services in England (eg, Heathrow Express 15 minutes, Gatwick Express takes 32 minutes and the Stansted Express takes 47 minutes), thus having a place to rest a personal item becomes important.
It seems that Greater Anglia have worked out that people would like someone where place their drinks when in a group of travellers in one of these bay sets of seats.
Which I’m sure someone could have told them a lot earlier if some of their management had spent time on their trains…
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