background of ongoing rail strikes on a national level, Greater Anglia conductors voted in favour of going on strike in a dispute over planned ticket office closures and the planned introduction of more widespread driver-only operation on the Greater Anglia network. On numerous occasions since October 2017, industrial action has been taken by portions of the company's employees, and the principal matter of dispute has seen no effective resolution. The National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) has accused Greater Anglia of conducting alleged strike-breaking tactics and claimed that its use of stand-in conductors led to passengers' safety being jeopardised. The dispute between Greater Anglia and the RMT continued into 2018, with further strikes threatened during the summer that affected around 40 percent of the operator's services. On 19 July 2018, the RMT announced members had voted 9 to 1 to accept a deal that would keep guards on trains, and halted the expansion of driver only operation. Greater Anglia is one of several train operators impacted by the 2022–2023 United Kingdom railway strikes, which are the first national rail strikes in the UK for three decades. Its workers are amongst those who are participating in industrial action due to a dispute over pay and working conditions. Franchise commitments Greater Anglia franchise (2012–2016) A number of improvements were planned during the first franchise period (20122016) which included: Improved station and ticket facilities and better information for passengers; A text messaging service to keep passengers informed of any disruptions; Extending Oyster card pay-as-you-go capabilities between London Liverpool Street and Shenfield / Hertford East; Mobile-phone and print-at-home ticketing facilities; 600 extra car park spaces at stations; Additional bicycle storage facilities; New automatic ticket barriers at Brentwood (no automatic ticket barrier was installed by Abellio Greater Anglia and management of the station later passed to TfL Rail). East Anglia franchise (2016–2025) The following improvements have been planned as part of the Abellio bid for the East Anglia franchise (20162025): Replacement of the entire current fleet, with 1,043 new vehicles by September 2020 to run on the Regional, Intercity, Dutchflyer, Stansted Express, West Anglia and Great Eastern routes: Extensive refurbishment of some of the existing vehicles, prior to replacement; Raise Public Performance Measure scores to at least 92.9%; Two weekday trains operating between Norwich and Ipswich to London with a journey time of 90 min and 60 min respectively; Free wifi on