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Plans for a £53m investment in the rail infrastructure in Anglia – which will ultimately help take around 750,000 lorry journeys off the road every year – have moved a step closer as Network Rail announces its design partner for the works, Jacobs Engineering.

As part its plan to build a bigger and better railway Network Rail is upgrading the route from Felixstowe to Nuneaton via Ely, Peterborough and Leicester. Jacobs Engineering will work with Network Rail to design the two major elements needed to increase capacity between Ipswich and Peterborough:

• A new 1km stretch of track, or ‘chord’, north of Ipswich goods yard, linking the East Suffolk and Great Eastern lines (£35m)
• Two 775m loops east of Ely station to facilitate better regulation of trains through the junctions at Ely (£18m)

Today, Anglia’s freight trains have to travel down the busy Great Eastern main line, through London and up the West Coast main line to reach the Midlands, North West and Scotland. Once complete in 2014, these improvements will provide more direct journeys for freight trains travelling from the Port of Felixstowe to the Midlands, North West, and Scotland, and the potential for faster journeys to Yorkshire.

With container traffic in the UK expected to more than quadruple by 2030, Network Rail’s plans will see an increasing share of freight traffic handled by the railways, reducing pressure on congested roads such as the A14. It is estimated congestion on the A14 alone costs the region £80m each year.

Andrew Munden, route director for Network Rail, said: "The investment we are planning in the east of England will ultimately take more than 2,000 lorry journeys off the road every day – that’s around 750,000 a year by 2030, reducing traffic congestion, improving road safety and reducing CO2 emissions by around three-quarters. We’re delighted to be working with Jacobs Engineering on these exciting projects and know that they will bring considerable experience and expertise.”

Simon Collingwood, project manager at Jacobs Engineering, added: “Jacobs is delighted to have the opportunity to work with Network Rail on this important scheme. Jacobs will bring its broad breadth of rail design expertise to this scheme and looks forward to working collaboratively with Network Rail to achieve the optimum design solution for the various technical elements.”

Cllr Derrick Ashley, chairman of the East of England Regional Assembly Regional Planning Panel, commented: “This is great news for the region, which has been lobbying hard for this improvement. Moving more freight by rail is vital if we are to boost the economy whilst reducing impacts on our roads and the environment.”

Network Rail and Jacobs will now work on the design of the scheme and seek the local community’s views during 2010 before any work goes ahead. Work on the scheme is due to start in 2012 and be completed by 2014.