TRAIN operator National Express East Anglia today unveiled its final timetable before handing over to new franchise holder Abellio next February.

The winter timetable, which starts on Sunday, December 11, includes an additional 06.00 service from Ipswich to London, calling at Manningtree, Colchester, Marks Tey, Kelvedon, Witham, and Chelmsford.

There will also be an additional 06.47 service from Colchester Town to London, calling at Colchester, Marks Tey, Witham, Chelmsford and Stratford.

The improvements are a continuation of of NXEA’s Service Improvement Plan, agreed with the Department for Transport, and are in addition to the changes introduced in the December 2010 timetable.

The new improvements will also see the 07.05 Clacton-on-Sea to London service call additionally at Kelvedon and the 07.29 Witham to Liverpool Street service call additionally at Stratford.

The 07.18 and 08.17 Liverpool Street to Clacton services call additionally at Marks Tey and there will be additional 09.09 Marks Tey to Sudbury and 09.29 Sudbury to Marks Tey services.

There will also be an additional 08.06 service from Liverpool Street to Ipswich, calling at Stratford, Shenfield, Ingatestone, Chelmsford, Hatfield Peverel, Witham, Colchester and Manningtree, and an additional 09.30 service from Ipswich to London, calling at Manningtree, Colchester, Marks Tey, Witham and Chelmsford.

Later in the day, the 16.44 Liverpool Street to Clacton-on-Sea/Harwich Town service will call additionally at Stratford and there will be an additional 19.32 service from Liverpool Street to Harwich International, calling at Stratford, Chelmsford, Witham, Colchester and Manningtree.

There will also be an additional 21.05 service from Harwich Town to Colchester, calling at Dovercourt, Harwich International, Wrabness, Mistley and Manningtree.

There are also a number of minor changes to train times in the December timetable and passengers are advised to check their travel details in advance.

Andrew Chivers, managing director of National Express East Anglia, said: “The timetable improvements for our mainline route customers in Suffolk and Essex completes the �185million investment through our Service Improvement Plan to increase seating capacity on our network in partnership with the Department for Transport, by providing 188 new and additional vehicles for East Anglia including 120 new carriages on our Stansted Express and West Anglia route.

“These timetable improvements mean that National Express East Anglia will be providing 11,000 more seats for our customers using services into London Liverpool Street on our West Anglia and Great Eastern mainline routes from December 2011, an increase of almost 20% in the past year.”