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Rail route to Felixstowe set for upgrade

[ September 27, 2017   //   ]

Network Rail has unveiled plans to increase capacity on the branch line between Ipswich and the port of Felixstowe. The £58million project will allow the number of trains serving the UK’s busiest container port to increase from 33 to 45 a day late 2019.

Work on the project, which will include new track include a mile-long passing loop at Trimley and bridges to allow the closure of six level crossings, is expected to start in early 2018.

However, the local council has voiced concern over the design of one of the proposed bridges.

The news was welcomed by Philippa Edmunds , manager of lobby group Freight on Rail, who predicted that the additional train services would “be filled almost immediately”. She said that shippers have been demanding additional rail services on the parallel rail route to the A14 corridor for years.

She added: “Research carried out earlier this year for Freight on Rail, sponsored by the Department for Transport (DfT), showed that the A14 corridor from Felixstowe had up to 6,500 of the largest HGVs on the corridor each day – 10-17% of all traffic. These additional rail services will remove another 840 large HGVs each day off the route.”

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