Railfreight Boost for East of England as Ipswich Rail Link gets Green Light

The East of England has received a major boost with improved railfreight, an increase in capacity on the West Coast Main Line through Hertfordshire and an easing of pressure on the A14. The Secretary of State for Transport has now approved Network Rail's scheme to remove a major bottleneck near Ipswich on the cross-country Felixstowe to Nuneaton rail route.

As a result freight trains carrying shipping containers will be able to travel more directly from the Port of Felixstowe to destinations in the West Midlands, North-West England and Scotland. They will no longer have to be routed through North London and then up the crowded West Coast Main Line where they conflict with the busy commuter traffic.

Known as the Ipswich Chord this new link (or 'chord') will ultimately take up to 750,000 lorry journeys off the roads every year. A curved one mile stretch of new track will be built north of the Ipswich goods yard to link the East Suffolk Line and the Great Eastern Main Line.

The Chord will be an important part of Network Rail's strategic railfreight network. It complements other work on the cross-country route, including the completion in 2011 of an increased loading gauge to take bigger containers on the route, the ongoing construction of two passing loops at Ely and a flyover north of Nuneaton station.

Preparatory work has already started, with major works to begin in autumn 2012. Work will be completed in early 2014.