Extra trains are being brought in on the main line between Ipswich and London in a bid to maintain services while an upgrade is carried out.

Greater Anglia is hiring 10 further Class 321 electric units to operate on the main line between London and Ipswich, Colchester, Clacton and Southend Victoria.

The initial hiring period will ensure services are covered while part of the company’s existing fleet of these trains is upgraded with air conditioning, wi-fi, and new seats and carpets.

But eight of the trains will be retained once all the upgraded trains have returned. They will be used to increase capacity on peak-hours services.

Greater Anglia’s Managing Director Jamie Burles said: “I’m pleased to announce that while we continue the major upgrade of our Class 321 fleet, the procurement of ten additional trains will help to maintain service reliability and ensure that peak time trains have the correct number of carriages, and therefore seats, to help ensure that commuters experience a comfortable journey.”

Once the refurbishment programme is complete, the additional trains will be used to provide extra seats at peak times.

These enhancements will then be followed by Greater Anglia’s transformation programme to replace its entire train fleet with brand new, state of the art trains during 2019/20.

The upgrade work is expected to be completed by June 2018 and will see 30 of the trains given a new lease of life.

But they will only work in East Anglia for about two years – Greater Anglia’s entire train fleet is due to be replaced with brand new trains between 2019 and 2020.

Eventually these suburban trains will be replaced by new “Aventra” trains which are due to be built by UK train builder Bombardier in its Derby factory.

Once the brand new trains have arrived, these electric units are expected to be sent to other parts of the country.