With the rise of mobile ticketing and an ever-increasing reliance on screens, why have Greater Anglia removed the ability to plug in electronic devices on some of their trains?

East Anglian Daily Times: Some refurbished Greater Anglia trains do not give passengers the option to charge their electronic devices Picture: NATALIE SADLERSome refurbished Greater Anglia trains do not give passengers the option to charge their electronic devices Picture: NATALIE SADLER (Image: NATALIE SADLER)

Passengers heading between Norwich and the capital enjoy the ability to plug in and charge their devices for the entirety of their journey on intercity trains, while refurbished and older stock on the network do not offer the modern-day service.

The provider announced the introduction of newly-refurbished Class 321 trains in December 2017 in a bid to give commuters a more reliable service, but many plug sockets on board were - and still are - covered up.

According to a spokeswoman for Greater Anglia, this is due to the trains having "unreliable" electricity supplies, which she said would provide a "frustrating" service for customers.

One commuter said this week: "I got on in Norwich and planned to charge my phone on the way back to Ipswich, but the socket had a blanking panel over it.

"It is so frustrating, because when I booked the train it asked what my preferences were and I specifically picked a seat next to a plug socket because I knew my phone would be dead after a day in meetings.

"I had a call come through which I had to reject because my ticket was on my phone and I needed to preserve the charge."

Thankfully, new trains are set to replace old stock across the rail provider's network, with the roll-out of 169 new trains having begun in September.

The spokeswoman added: "Our new trains will be fitted with both three-pin plug and USB sockets for customers to charge their devices."