Further Improvements for Railfreight near Soham to take traffic off A14

April 3rd, 2012

Two 775-metre passing loops are now being added to the single line rail track between Ely and Soham. These loops will improve the frequency of trains, and especially of freight trains, between Felixstowe and Nuneaton and are expected to be completed by Summer 2013.

Meanwhile the Coalition Government is considering the Initial Industry Plan which proposes a series of improvements to the rail network across the East of England Region between 2014 and 2019. One of these improvements is for the 6-mile length of track between Ely and Soham to be doubled and approval for this was announced last December. The two passing loops are being constructed in such a way that it will be simple for them to be incorporated into the new double track later.

These improvements, together with a crucial stretch of new track in Ipswich and bridgework and new track in Nuneaton, are designed to enable the new larger-size shipping containers to be moved by rail directly from the east coast ports to the Midlands, the North West and the West of Scotland.

Altogether, all the improvements are expected to take 750,000 lorry movements off the roads every year - equivalent to 2,000 a day. A 74% reduction in the carbon dioxide emissions of the associated transport movements is expected and the main route to benefit will be the A14.