Public consultation opens for Ely rail capacity

Monday 21 Sep 2020

Public consultation opens for Ely rail capacity

Region & Route:: Eastern: Anglia

Network Rail’s first round of public consultation for proposals to upgrade the railway in and around Ely opens today (21st September) and will run for six weeks.

The Ely area capacity enhancement (EACE) programme is a proposal to upgrade the railway to allow more trains to run through Ely. The aim is to improve connectivity and reliability for passenger services and meet the demand for more rail freight between the Port of Felixstowe, the West Midlands and the north to support sustainable, long-term economic growth.

Residents and businesses in and around Ely are being invited to learn more about the proposals for the programme as it will be an opportunity for communities around Ely to understand:

potential benefits and aspirations
the challenges that would have to be addressed to increase capacity
current funding position of the EACE programme
how the public will be consulted as options are progressed

How the public can have their say

Owing to the current Coronavirus situation and following Government guidance, we are conducting this first round of public consultation remotely to maintain the safety of the public and our staff.

The consultation materials will be available online via our project webpage until 1 November (inclusive). Feedback can be submitted to Network Rail using the online survey accessed via the webpage or by sending comments back to Network Rail using the pre-paid postal form found in the consultation booklet (available in hardcopy on request).

There will also be opportunities for the public to speak to project representatives via webchats at specific times throughout the consultation period as well as by phone:

The Webchat facility is available via the project webpage from 21 September to 1 October on the following days:

Mon, Tues, Thurs 10am – 4pm
Weds 2pm – 8pm

Our dedicated consultation line 0800 160 1780 is live from 21 September to 3 October on the following days:

Mon, Tues, Thurs 2pm – 5pm
Wed 5pm – 8pm
Saturday 10am – 1pm

Ellie Burrows, Network Rail’s route director for Anglia said: “It is important that we provide opportunities to engage with the communities that could be impacted by our work as it develops. It is even more important that we listen to people and gather their views to help inform our development and design process. By starting these discussions early, we hope to embark on this journey with the community and progress these proposals together, finding the right solution for the railway and for Ely.”

General comments on the programme can also be sent by email to : ElyAreaCapacityEnhancements@networkrail.co.uk

Hardcopies of the consultation materials can be requested (available from 21 September) by contacting 03457 11 41 41 or emailing ElyAreaCapcityEnhancements@networkrail.co.uk

Project Webpage: www.networkrail.co.uk/ely

Notes to Editors

The aspiration of the EACE programme is to increase capacity through Ely for up to 10 train services in each direction per hour.
Network Rail has secured £13.1m funding from the Department for Transport and £9.3m funding from the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority, New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) and the Strategic Freight Network to understand the scale of the challenge to increase capacity through Ely.
Future stages of the EACE programme including public consultation activities later in 2021 and submission of consents is subject to securing additional funding from the Department for Transport following their Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline (RNEP) process.

Contact information

Passengers / community members
Network Rail national helpline
03457 11 41 41

Latest travel advice
Please visit National Rail Enquiries

Journalists
Network Rail press office - Stephen Deaville
Senior Communications Manager
Network Rail
0330 8577 132
Stephen.deaville@networkrail.co.uk

About Network Rail

We own, operate and develop Britain's railway infrastructure; that's 20,000 miles of track, 30,000 bridges, tunnels and viaducts and the thousands of signals, level crossings and stations. We run 20 of the UK's largest stations while all the others, over 2,500, are run by the country's train operating companies.

Usually, there are almost five million journeys made in the UK and over 600 freight trains run on the network. People depend on Britain's railway for their daily commute, to visit friends and loved ones and to get them home safe every day. Our role is to deliver a safe and reliable railway, so we carefully manage and deliver thousands of projects every year that form part of the multi-billion pound Railway Upgrade Plan, to grow and expand the nation's railway network to respond to the tremendous growth and demand the railway has experienced - a doubling of passenger journeys over the past 20 years.

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