26.11.10
Green light for Anglia rail upgrade
The Department for Transport has given the green light for the Felixstowe to Nuneaton rail freight upgrade.
At the moment, Anglia’s freight trains have to travel down the busy Great Eastern main line and through London to reach the north. Once Network Rail’s upgrade of the line from Felixstowe to Nuneaton via Ipswich, Ely and Peterborough is complete in 2014, the route will provide more direct journeys for freight trains travelling from the Port of Felixstowe to the midlands, north-west and Scotland, and the potential for faster freight journeys to Yorkshire.
The project will help take around 750,000 lorries off Britain’s roads by 2030, reducing traffic congestion, improving road safety and reducing carbon emissions by around three-quarters.
Network Rail is developing its designs for the double-track Ipswich Chord and will continue its consultations with the public in early February next year. Should the scheme receive approval, work will start in 2012 and be complete by March 2014.
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