Greater Anglia has completed the deployment of new longer trains on the Hertford East line, with nearly two-thirds more seats than the old Class 317 trains they replaced.

Ahead of the new trains being introduced Greater Anglia and Network Rail had to lengthen the platforms at Hertford East, Ware, Broxbourne and Stratford, with 17 days of work during August. However, not all the stations are long enough for the new trains, so for the first time on this part of the network, they will be introducing selective door opening. This routine feature elsewhere means some doors, typically at the rear of the train won’t open at all stations.

Stations where trains will be longer than the platforms on the Hertford East/Bishops Stortford to Stratford/London Liverpool Street lines are: St Margarets, Rye House, Harlow Mill, Roydon, Waltham Cross, Enfield Lock, Brimsdown, Ponders End, Meridian Water, Northumberland Park, Tottenham Hale (platform 2), Lea Bridge and Hackney Downs.

It’s however notable that Meridian Water is too short for the new trains and that doors in just the front seven carriages will open, as that’s a brand new station that only opened a few years ago.

Greater Anglia has produced posters for each station affected to show customers where to get on or off the train depending on their journey. There will be announcements on trains and graphics on passenger information screens on trains and platforms to show passengers which carriage they should travel in.

On ten-carriage trains – which are made up of two five-carriage trains joined together – wheelchair-users should let the member of staff who is assisting them know where they’re getting off to ensure they can get off at their destination. The wheelchair area has a blue stripe with a wheelchair icon on the outside of the train so people can see at a glance where it is.

Ten carriage trains also have two bike areas for full-size bikes in each five-carriage train, so cyclists should use the right half of the train so they can take their bike off the train at their destination. Cycle areas are marked with a green stripe with a bike icon on the outside of the bike.

All of Greater Anglia trains in passenger service in Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire and West Essex are new longer trains with more seats, plug and USB sockets, wifi, air conditioning and better passenger information screens. They also have much better facilities for disabled customers, including wheelchair areas with seating for non-wheelchair users too so families and friends can travel together and an accessible toilet on every train – two on ten-carriage trains.

The new trains also have many more environmental features including regenerative braking which puts electricity back into the network during braking and lighter, more aerodynamic chassis which make trains more energy efficient.