- Completion of the improvements to Ely North Junction
- New Rolling Stock
- Priority loops at Chelmsford to create more capacity
- Electrification of the Norwich to Cambridge line
The four-county East Anglia Rail Summit met in Westminster yesterday, one year on from the launch of the East Anglia Rail Prospectus.
Representatives from Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex and Cambridge; together with Network Rail and Greater Anglia Rail Franchise all attended the summit. Norfolk’s delegation included the Norfolk Chamber, the majority of the Norfolk MPs, Norfolk County Council and New Anglia LEP.
The summit reviewed the improvements that have been approved for Ely Junction, Bow Junction and the West Anglia three tracking system. The improvements to Ely junction will allow more capacity and will facilitate a half hourly service from King’s Lynn to London, as well as providing another step in the right direction for the Norwich to London in 90 minutes.
Despite theencouraging progress, the group agreed that more rail improvements were necessary:
- Improvements to Chelmsford to create a priority loop which will provide additional capacity, that will benefit all four counties and create economic benefits across the region.
- New Rolling Stock – the existing rolling stock will no longer be compliant by 2019, however to ensure new rolling stock is deliverable in good time, it must be called for now.
- Electrification of the Norwich to Cambridge line – Huge advances have been made in bio and life sciences in both Norwich and Cambridge. Long-term, there is an economic case to be made for electrification of the line to ensure that both cities can benefit from linking science and innovation with ease of access.
