20 October 2011." target="blank" class="mouse" >This franchise was to be a short contract following the termination of the National Express East Anglia franchise earlier than had been expected.
Greater Anglia was intended to be a holding franchise, covering a period in which a number of other franchises were to come up for renewal.
As first planned, the franchise would have run for just 17 months, but the proposed contract period had already been extended to 19 July 2014 before Abellio was announced as the winner on 20 October 2011.
