Cancellations after new train’s speedometer fails
A faulty speedometer on one of Greater Anglia's new trains caused one of several cancellations this morning. Picture: Stuart Anderson - Credit: Archant
Frustrated travellers faced further woes on Greater Anglia trains today as train faults led to major cancellations on the East Suffolk line.
Passengers had boarded the 7.07am service from Britain's most easterly point to Ipswich to be told there were delays due to a fault with the train, the driver reportedly calling Greater Anglia to see if the problem could be rectified.
About 10mins later, an announcement was made on board to say it was being classed as a train "failure" because of problems with its speedometer.
More trains were cancelled later in the morning and into the lunchtime period.
The trains were only brought into service on the East Suffolk Line this month, with passengers told they would be more comfortable and reliable than the dated diesel trains they were replacing.
Passengers from Lowestoft were advised to travel south via Norwich - but those using other East Suffolk Line stations were left needing to make their own arrangements.
Today's issues are the latest in a long line of problems on the Greater Anglia route in recent weeks.
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The company ran out of trains earlier this month when it handed back two-thirds of its old diesel fleet at the end of November to a leasing company.
New trains had entered service but not all were cleared to run on rural routes, while concerns about signalling led to many being cancelled. The East Suffolk Line, for example, ran a two-hourly service for about a week, instead of its usual hourly service.
Timetables slowly started to return to normal, albeit with some cancellations - but trains are still not running between Ipswich to Peterborough due to signalling problems.
