RAIL bosses have confirmed there will be additional services added in south Essex after the Government’s work from home order came to an end.

The order was removed along with other Plan B restrictions last week.

Both c2c and Greater Anglia had reduced the number of services last month in response to a fall in passenger numbers caused by the number of people working from home.

But with the number of commuters increasing again, both c2c and Greater Anglia say changes will be made to the timetable:

C2c

In a statement last week, c2c said it was already adding an additional service on the Tilbury and Rainham lines.

But more services will be added from Monday (February 7), with the ‘recovery timetable’ put in place last April brought back.

Trains that were originally 12 carriages long will also be reinstated.

They were cut down to eight last month as part of the reduced timetable.

C2c said in a statement: “Since Monday 17 January we have been operating a reduced weekday timetable.

“This has enabled us to maintain a reliable service while staff sickness rates have been high.

“It has also allowed us to save taxpayer money when passenger demand was significantly reduced.

Since the Government announced the end of the work-from-home instruction, we have been monitoring passenger demand closely.

“ As more people are now commuting again than were in early January, we will restore more services at peak times.”

Full details of the recovery timetable are available on the c2c website.

The weekend timetable will remain unchanged.

Greater Anglia

In an announcement today, Greater Anglia revealed it will also be adding more services from Monday (February 7).

More trains will be added to key routes in the east, including those running to and from Southend Victoria, the firm said.

Greater Anglia says commuter numbers are expected to reflect widely reported changes to working patterns, with people doing a mixture of working from home and going into the office, and mid-week days being the most popular for travel.

Managing director Jamie Burles said: “We’re pleased to be to welcoming customers back, whether they’re travelling to work or school and college, or for a fun leisure trip. We’re aiming to match the number of services we run to the number of passengers using them.

“We want to provide a safe, reliable and punctual service for our customers, but we also want to provide the best possible value for taxpayers as we are now funded entirely by the government and so ultimately taxpayers.

“Throughout the pandemic, we have altered our services depending on passenger numbers and government guidance.

“Although like everyone we hope the pandemic is nearing an end and that we are approaching a more normal period, we will continue to monitor passenger numbers and make any further adjustments to our services if necessary.

“It’s safe to travel on our trains, even when it’s busy, as we have good ventilation on board and we will continue with our enhanced cleaning and sanitisation.

“We’re asking passengers to continue to wear face coverings on our trains and stations, following government advice to wear them in busy places.

“We look forward to seeing more and more people travelling by train again over the months ahead and to providing the best possible service for them.”

Greater Anglia’s weekend timetable remains unchanged.