Media centre

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.

Members of the public are invited to attend an information event on a road diversion required to rebuild a rail bridge higher to help accommodate future installation of overhead line equipment.

Passengers and locals at St Neots are benefitting from improved access in and around the station after Network Rail completed a new £6m footbridge.

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.

Rt Hon Patrick McLoughlin MP, Secretary of State for Transport, today (Monday 9 December) officially opened a new state-of-the-art factory in Doncaster which will supply of thousands of essential sleepers to keep Britain’s railways running.

Rt Hon Patrick McLoughlin MP, Secretary of State for Transport, today (Monday 9 December) officially opened a new state-of-the-art factory in Doncaster which will supply of thousands of essential sleepers to keep Britain’s railways running.