Ipswich MP calls for railway upgrades at Haughley and Ely to be "top of the agenda"
Campaigners have long called for an upgrade as it would allow more rail freight to move moved to and from the Port of Felixstowe.
Last updated 25th Sep 2023
Ipswich MP, Tom Hunt, has called for upgrades at Haughley and Ely rail junctions to be placed at the “top of the agenda”.
Similar concerns were raised to Chancellor Jeremy Hunt in March, but have yet to produce any change as the Government continued its vision of delivering its high-speed railway, HS2, costing £100bn.
Mr Hunt said: “Time and again, Ely North junction and Haughley junction have been deprioritised.
“Both those projects would cost a fraction of the cost of HS2 but deliver transformative benefits to the east of England.
“We need a big increase in rail infrastructure in east Anglia — if we got the money for these two projects to go ahead it would massively increase rail capacity.”
Although these upgrades would cost around £20m for Haughley and £500m for Ely, campaigners believe their impact on the quality and density of transport would vastly outweigh the drawbacks.
Both junctions see continuous traffic from both freight and passenger services, but the current rail infrastructure often acts against smooth transport by slowing it down or even outright stopping it.
For instance, many trains originating in Felixtowe Port, the UK’s busiest container port, are not able to run through the town’s branchline because neither junction has enough capacity.
Cristopher Burton, vice chairman at Railfuture, an organisation campaigning for better rail services, said these are “critical junctions” and agrees with Mr Hunt that upgrading these should be “top of the agenda”.
Although there is a wide range of work Mr Burton would like to see done, he believes works should start immediately on the two bridges immediately north of Ely.
Improvements to these, like much of the infrastructure, would essentially make them “fit for 21st-century operation”, as concern emerges over their longevity.
Mr Burton said: “Because there are some question marks, so I’m told, over the durability of the two bridges immediately north of Ely station, money should be spent here first.
“After all, it would be catastrophic if the story of Nuneham Bridge near Radley, earlier this year, became replicated with these local bridges.
“If one of those bridges fails, it will cost millions of pounds.”