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More than £430m was invested in improving and expanding Britain’s rail network in East Anglia over the last 12 months, Network Rail revealed today in its full-year results for the 2013/14 financial year.

Rail passengers travelling on the busy Great Eastern Main Line can look forward to more reliable journeys as a major programme to renew ageing infrastructure starts this May.

Brentwood MP Eric Pickles was in Ingatestone on Friday 25 March to see the newly completed underpass, which allowed Network Rail to permanently close Ingatestone Hall footpath level crossing.

Tomorrow marks the beginning of a new era for rail passengers in East Anglia as Network Rail embarks on an ambitious £2.2bn five-year spending programme in the region.

Transport minister Stephen Hammond was in Ipswich on Friday 21 March to see the newly completed 1.2km stretch of railway built by Network Rail to increase capacity for freight trains and ease a major bottleneck affecting passenger services on the Great Eastern Main Line.

Places are now available for young people across Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex and Cambridgeshire for Network Rail’s successful three-year apprenticeship scheme. The company is seeking 15 new recruits at its maintenance depots in Norwich, Ipswich, Romford, Ely and Wanstead to help deliver the billions of pounds being invested in the coming years to provide a bigger, better, more efficient and more reliable railway.

The closure of a level crossing on the East Coast Main Line in Cambridgeshire means Network Rail has now reached its target, set in 2010, of closing 10% of Britain’s crossings – 750 in total – by April 2014, contributing to a reduction in the overall risk level crossings pose to the network by 25%.

A vital part of the Ipswich rail chord project which will provide more capacity for freight and fewer delays for passengers was delivered over the Christmas break moving the project a step closer to completion.