Greater Anglia’s Better Transport Week Sustainability Update

To celebrate Better Transport Week, Greater Anglia is taking a look at how the railway helps connect communities and bring people together. Aside from walking or cycling, rail is the most sustainable mode of transport. In this blog, we speak with Nir Barak, who works as Environment and Energy Manager for Greater Anglia.

How many miles, on average, does a Greater Anglia train travel?

Between 2024 and 2025, Greater Anglia train fleets travelled more than 9,000,000 (Nine Million) miles through overhead electrification.

The operation consumed over 25 million kW of energy, but thanks to the regenerative braking systems fitted to our trains, over a fifth of this was delivered back to the overhead lines.

On average, leaving your car at home and taking the train cuts carbon emissions by two-thirds.

How much energy do passengers consume?

Last year, Greater Anglia customers cumulatively travelled almost 300 million kilometres. The amount of energy consumed per passenger was 0.10 kWh.

What about the impact of the train on the environment?

In terms of waste, in the last year, the train operator confirmed 100% of the waste was diverted from landfill.

Moreover, we managed to recycle and re-use 86.77% of materials, while 35.9% of the material was converted into energy.

Across 2024/25, Greater Anglia saw a reduction of nearly 5% from the previous years in terms of potable water usage.

We have also worked to achieve a reduction of 13.31% in electricity consumption, and 10.6% in gas consumption, since the previous year.

We are currently working to make our stations more energy efficient and value the contribution that station gardens and floral displays can make to supporting biodiversity locally. We partner with the region’s Rail Partnership Group and the Wildlife Trusts to identify wildlife-friendly stations and formally recognise the achievements of our volunteer ‘station adopters’ who create them.

How many Greater Anglia stations have already been adopted?

Greater Anglia has 134 stations on the network and only 6 of them do not have adopters.

33 of the stations including Ingatestone, Reedham and Rochford have already been accredited ‘Wildlife Friendly’ for their biodiversity benefits.

Are there going to be more stations accredited ‘Wildlife Friendly’?

12 stations will receive the accreditation as ‘Wildlife Friendly’ by the end of the year and 10 more locations are planned to be assessed next year.

Are there any other ways you help connect the railway to the community?

Accessibility is very important for us at Greater Anglia, and it helps to connect us with the communities on our network.

During 2024/25, almost 11,000 assistances were provided by the 373 customer assistant colleagues across our network.

The highest number of assistances provided in one day was recorded on the December 23, 2024, where 667 passengers were helped across our network.

In September 2024, Greater Anglia was the first company within the transport sector to be certified by the British Standard Institution inclusive service Kitemark, as part of the overall compliance with ISO 22458. This is an international standard that aims to increase positive outcomes for vulnerable consumers and reduce the risk that they will experience harm.

Better Transport Week runs between Monday 16 and Sunday 22 June. It is a national celebration of sustainable transport and aims to promote the wide range of benefits of public transport, shared mobility, walking, and cycling to the public and encourage more people to travel sustainably.