25.03.14
Freight industry celebrates as first train tested on Ipswich Chord
GB Railfreight has tested the first freight train on the Ipswich Chord, which is due to open commercially on 31 March.
The chord forms an important part of Network Rail’s strategic freight network – a programme of investment to improve freight capacity across Britain’s railways. The total cost of the chord was £59m and the project was co-financed by the European Union Trans European Transport Network (TEN-T). It forms part of the wider Felixstowe to Nuneaton Freight Capacity Upgrade.
John Smith, managing director of GB Railfreight, said: “Being the first company to test trains on the line is testament to our support for the project and reflects our intentions to work with the government to promote other ambitious developments across the freight network in order to support the growth of rail freight.
“We thank the government for investing in the chord as it represents an important development for the rail freight industry, and allows us to assist the government in its drive to take lorries off of our road network.”
The Ipswich Chord will allow operators to directly access the Midlands from the Port of Felixstowe without having to go via London, and eliminates the need to change direction at Ipswich goods yard. This will bring significant benefit to the freight industry as capacity is freed up on the network, journey times are reduced and longer trains can be run.
More about the new chord here: http://www.railtechnologymagazine.com/Rail-News/new-ipswich-chord-to-increase-uk-freight-capacity
(Above: Library image showing the location of the link)
Maggie Simpson, executive director of the Rail Freight Group, said: "The completion of this project is a major milestone in the upgrade of the Felixstowe to Nuneaton route, and a major engineering triumph for Network Rail and their contractors. We must now press forward with projects to upgrade and electrify the rest of the route, to create a new fit-for-purpose freight corridor from the port."
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