5th February 2010

Nuneaton link comes closer

Network Rail has at last committed the £50m needed to do the first tranche of work upgrading the Ipswich to Nuneaton railway line.

Not such boring stuff, either.  With a relatively small amount of money, 2,000 lorry journeys will be moved to rail, doing much to clear the congested A14 and something to help the environment.

There is still more to do.  Although some work is being done on the stretch between Ely and Peterborough to increase capacity, if this route is to remove all the freight that currently goes via London to the north-west then further investment is required.

Why is this important?  Because the more freight trains we get off the tracks to London, the more passenger trains can run - and faster.

What's with the pigs?  Well, the vital link by the Hadleigh Road that means trains don't need to reverse into Ipswich Station goes over the site of the old Harris Bacon factory - hence why this little strip of track is called the Harris bacon cord.  Hat-tip: Paul Geater!