Interim rail timetable for West Norfolk operator could run for several months

Further timetable changes on West Norfolk’s rail line, planned for later this year, have been put on hold.

Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR), the parent company of Great Northern which runs most services to and from the borough, is one of eight operators which has scrapped plans to move to a winter timetable in December.

The decision comes on the eve of the introduction of a new interim schedule which bosses say will tackle the repeated disruption faced by passengers in recent weeks.

Officials from the Rail Delivery Group, the body which represents train operators, say they are learning the lessons of what went wrong from the most recent timetable change in May.

Chief executive Paul Plummer said: “After careful consideration, Network Rail and train operators are acting now to make sure people get a reliable service when the December timetable is introduced, which means some improvements will be delivered more slowly than originally planned.”

Great Northern will be running an interim timetable from this Sunday, July 15, until further notice in a bid to stabilise the service.

The switch comes amid growing pressure on the company and claims GTR could lose its franchise altogether if the situation doesn’t improve.

A spokesman said the company is now hoping to run the full May timetable from December, but would only add services before then if it could do so reliably.