Rail passengers and businesses across Norfolk Suffolk and Essex, are today being urged to join the campaign calling on Government for greater investment in the Great Eastern Main Line.
New Anglia LEP, the region’s MPs, Chambers of Commerce, business and rail leaders are heading a Taskforce calling for a faster, more reliable service on the London to Norwich line including:
- Significant investment in track infrastructure
- Better trains and a higher quality travelling experience
- Greater capacity with more seats and more carriages
The overall goal is to achieve London to Norwich in 90, Ipswich in 60, Colchester in 40 and Chelmsford in 25 minutes.
The Taskforce will report to Government in November, making the strong economic case for investment in the line. With support for the campaign gaining momentum across the region, today the Great Eastern Rail Campaign is launched, calling on commuters, businesses and all rail users to get behind the cause and sign up to register their support via the new websiteand follow the campaign on twitter with #gerailcampaign.
Click here to register your support for the Great Eastern Rail Campaign
The campaign is already ‘backed by business’ with Norfolk Chamber members already signed up in support. These include leading businesses such as Aviva; John Lewis, Norwich; Caterham Technology; First Bus Eastern Counties; Broadland Wineries; Thermaglow and many others, as well as local authorities and businesses from Suffolk and Essex.
Mark Pendlington, chairman of New Anglia LEP and co-chairman of the Great Eastern Main Line Rail Taskforce, said: “Today is a rallying call for all those who want a better rail service across Essex, Suffolk and Norfolk. For too long East Anglia has suffered from under investment in our rail network. Let’s make our voice heard loud and clear to influence Government and get the rail service the three counties need and deserve.”
“The Great Eastern Main Line is fundamental to the region’s future growth. A better, faster service will provide vital employment opportunities for commuters, attract further inward investment, making this a much more accessible and mobile economy where it’s easier for us to do business, and boost tourism by ensuring more tourists can visit and spend their money in the local economy.”
“The Government is committed to improving train links across the UK. We need to show them how vital rail investment is for our region. The people of Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex can help us do that by signing up to our campaign today.”
Independent research suggests that significant enhancements to capacity, line speed and service quality on the GEML would bring an economic benefit of around £3.4 billion to the region.*
Jonathan Cage, Managing Director of Create Consulting Engineers and Vice President of Norfolk Chamber said: “I am fully in support of the Great Eastern Rail Campaign, investment is well overdue in the Eastern region in both rail infrastructure and rolling stock. The franchise operators do their best with aged trains, carriages and infrastructure giving them a clean and a paint every few years. However what they can’t do with paint is to increase the speed, frequency and general reliability. This needs significant investment both by the DfT and Railtrack.
Many businesses operating in today’s economic climate aim to be sustainable. They need to maximise the use of trains for long distance business journeys. It is therefore essential that trains compete with the car on price, speed and reliability. To achieve this it is imperative that we achieve the goals being set by the Great Eastern Rail Campaign.”
Today (Friday July 25th) the Taskforce is meeting in Ipswich to update stakeholders on their progress. This is the second of three wider stakeholder meetings to be held in each county prior to the November deadline. Following the meeting the Taskforce will then go to Ipswich station to hear from Abellio Greater Anglia on the progress they are making on updating and refurbishing trains with a viewing of a pilot up-graded commuter train used on the line between London, Chelmsford, Colchester and Clacton.
Key Facts
- East Anglia’s trains are some of the oldest on the network – the average age is 25.5 years
- By 2026 there will be an estimated additional 4,000 rail trips in the morning peak period on the GEML
- 30 million passenger journeys are made annually on the Great Eastern Main Line and over 11,000 services operate every 4 weeks (excluding Metro services south of Shenfield)
- Investment in the GEML will generate £3.4 billion in transport-related economic impacts and a further £280 million in wider impacts within the East of England*
*Figures from Atkins – design, engineering and project management consultancy – Great Eastern Main Line Study; The Economic Case for Investment on the Great Eastern Main Line 2010
