08/04/2026
Following concerns raised by local commuters about the December timetable changes, we’re pleased to see improvements now being delivered after sustained pressure.
Well done to Cllr Salvatore Pagdades for taking the fight directly to Greater Anglia and pushing for better services for our town.
We will always stand up for Sawbridgeworth and make sure your voices are heard.
🚝 GREATER ANGLIA TIMETABLE CHANGE 🚨
Following weeks of correspondence from myself with Greater Anglia, they have finally reinstated some trains originating from Stansted Airport and stopping at Sawbridgeworth on the way to Tottenham Hale and Liverpool Street on morning peak services.
💭 Let me know what you think of the new timetable changes?
I am sharing this response from Monday from Greater Anglia following a letter from Sawbridgeworth Town Council (originally sent to them on 25th February):
Thank you for the letter received, dated 25th February 2026 with reference to the impact of the December 2025 timetable changes on commuters travelling from Sawbridgeworth and neighbouring stations on the West Anglia route into London Liverpool Street.
Firstly, please accept my sincere apologies for the lack of response until now. Unfortunately, the correspondence was not passed through to our team to enable us to respond.
We have previously written to Councillor Pagdades with reference to the change of timetable implemented in December 2025. As explained in the correspondence dated 6th February, we undertook a 4-week monitoring period to see exactly how travel patterns had settled down with the new timetable, noting that:
the festive period does not provide an accurate picture, with all the holiday changes and people away from work
it always takes a few weeks for passenger travel patterns to reach a consistent trend after a timetable change
there’s a need to assess how timetable works both in normal periods and the effect or not of any disruption on train capacity patterns
It is also important to note that timetabling over such a busy section of line is extremely complex, and in addition, it is further complicated by the constrained nature and capacity of the West Anglia route. We do our best to try and meet the demands and expectations of all our customers but, unfortunately, those aforementioned constraints mean that in certain circumstances we cannot meet all individual needs.
Turning back, then, to the specifics of the morning peak services from Sawbridgeworth station, in December 2025 the whole of the West Anglia timetable was revised to both further improve performance and to align with the major revision of the East Coast Main Line timetable - while at the same time making provision for services to call at Cambridge South when it opens later this year. As part of this process, we also needed to ensure our train times and those of Great Northern/GTR integrated effectively and operated smoothly together.
In trying to balance all these issues and ensure the timetable was as effective and as robust as possible some of the timings changed, including the withdrawal of stops at Sawbridgeworth on services starting from Stansted Airport, to be replaced by stops on services starting from Cambridge.
Given the need to let services and travel patterns settle, we then undertook a review in late January and much of February of passenger demand and train capacity (as mentioned above) to identify the established demand/patronage profile.
Although in many cases travel patterns had settled and there was seating capacity on almost all trains at Sawbridgeworth, we did feel there was the opportunity to look at some adjustments and respond further to some of the feedback we had received.
We therefore worked on some positive alterations, with several proposed changes as part of a bid to Network Rail (who approve timetables) for December 2026, which was theoretically the earliest major change opportunity.
However, through some effective collaborative work with Network Rail we were able to pull them forward as late notice changes for the May 2026 timetable change but, better still, some proactive short term planning work means these improvements will start from Tuesday 7 April.
The changes will see Sawbridgeworth stops removed from the 'Fast' Cambridge services, and put into some Stansted Airport to Liverpool Street Stansted Express services, calling at Sawbridgeworth at 20 and 50 past the hour, similar to the May 2025 timetable.
We believe these changes should work well for Sawbridgeworth customers. We’re sorry that some of the December 2025 changes weren’t ideal for some passengers, but it is a very difficult balancing act on a very busy, very constrained route where many passengers and locations’ aspirations are conflicting and contradictory, so it is often not possible to devise a timetable that is ideal for absolutely everyone.
Nevertheless, we always listen, monitor service patterns and performance, and look to tweak, if practical and appropriate, to provide the best service balance possible – which is what we are pleased to report we have done in this instance.
In closing, I hope that this reply helps to provide answers as to why the changes were put in place, the monitoring we undertook to assess their impact and the amended plans we are now implementing to improve the situation for Sawbridgeworth passengers, which we think we will address their concerns. However, should you require any further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Thank you for taking the time to get in touch.
[ENDS]
