For many years before the Railways were privatised, it was possible to purchase a ranger ticket which covered the North Essex and Anglia areas.

When Network SouthEast and Regional Railways came under different management this ranger disappeared, and as privatisation kicked in services south of Ipswich came under management of First Great Eastern and those north of Ipswich by Anglia Railways.

Anglia kept their ranger, marketed as Anglia Plus, which to this day still exists however no similar tickets were available on Great Eastern. Since the companies merged back into One in 2004 there has been no effort to either introduce a similar ticket on the lines south of Ipswich or extend the existing Anglia Plus Scheme.

The North Essex Ranger Idea

The North Essex Ranger idea being proposed by this site covers the area between Chelmsford in the south and Ipswich in the North and covering all branches of the Great Eastern Main Line.

 

The Ticket would be a permanent ticket and allow unlimited travel in the area off peak (after 10am weekdays) and anytime at weekends or Bank Holidays.

Suggested price of the ticket would be £12 for Adults (with upto 4 accomptioned children at £2 each) or £6 for under 16s on their own - matching the price of the Anglia Plus Ticket north of Ipswich.

As with the Anglia Plus it could work in partnership with the local buses in the Chelmsford, Witham, Colchester and Ipswich areas. It would also provide a chance for the local Community Rail Partnership to advertise their lines and associated attractions under one good value fare to help fill the many empty seats which exist on the branches in this area off peak.

With frequent and good quality services on all the branches in this area, National Express East Anglia could really help make a difference whilst promoting the branches in the North Essex Area.

Such marketing is already done in Suffolk and Norfolk - now its time for North Essex to benefit.

Have your say on this idea below - do you have any other idea for similar scheme, or have you managed to get your local TOC to implement something simiar? Tell us here!: