14.07.12
UK freight receives £11m funding for capacity
The European Commission has announced £11m funding towards three projects to improve freight in the UK.
The successful bid means the TEN-T agency will award £4m towards electrification in the North West, £4m to increase capacity on the West Coast Main Line and £3m for freight loops near Ely.
The first project is to electrify the line between Liverpool and Manchester, with 25kv overhead power delivered to the following routes: Huyton to Wigan, Preston to Blackpool and Manchester to Preston via Bolton.
The route from Southampton to the WCML is being improved to increase capacity and provide new cranes at the port. The project will offer gauge clearance for large 9ft6 containers and longer loops to allow longer trains.
For the third project, 775-metre freight loops will be installed to increase capacity, improve reliability and allow longer trains to be run on the Felixstowe to Nuneaton route.
Network Rail’s director of freight, Tim Robinson, said: “Freight haulage is the lifeblood of our economy and this investment will give a boost to our efforts to encourage more of it onto the railway. As well as being the most environmentally-friendly way of transporting cargo, by moving more freight onto our rail network we can free capacity on other transport modes and keep the UK moving.”
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