STATEMENT TP BBC RADIO SUFFOLK ON RAILWAY BRIDGE WORK IN IPSWICH

Wednesday 29 Oct 2003

STATEMENT TP BBC RADIO SUFFOLK ON RAILWAY BRIDGE WORK IN IPSWICH

Region & Route:: | Southern

Network Rail has been working on three bridges in Ipswich as part of the Strategic Rail Authority sponsored Felixstowe to Nuneaton project. The project’s aim is to enable larger freight containers, to be transported from Felixstowe container port to the rest of the country, expanding the UK’s freight capability and taking lorries off already heavily congested roads, such as the A14. It has been necessary to alter the height of these bridges as the new containers are taller than those currently used. Derby Road bridge was fully reopened to road traffic on Tuesday 28 October. A single carriageway is already open on Levington Road bridge and we hope to fully reopen by the end of November. Wellesley Road, which is a one-way bridge, is currently closed to road traffic, a diversion for cars is in place. The bridge is open to pedestrians and cyclists. We hope that this bridge will also be open by the end of November. The timing is dependent on moving the main line electricity service that runs under the bridge. We apologise for any inconvenience, but assure the public that this freight upgrade is an essential investment into East Anglia’s railway infrastructure.

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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.

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