Ely feasibility study secures £8.8 million funding

A feasibility study is to be conducted into enhancing capacity at Ely North Junction, after funding worth £8.8 million was confirmed by two Local Enterprise Partnerships and Network Rail.

The Greater Cambridge Greater Peterborough and New Anglia LEPs will contribute £3.3m each, while £2.2m will come from NR’s Strategic Freight Network Fund. Network Rail will undertake a detailed feasibility study to evaluate options for capacity enhancements and complete a business case.

Ely is a junction for five routes, and is under pressure from increasing demand for passenger and freight paths. Enhancing capacity in the area has long been desired, but aspirations to deliver enhancements were deferred in 2015. After this decision the LEPs were approached for funding to undertake the study.

New Anglia LEP Chairman Mark Pendlington said: “The Ely North Junction project will bring with it huge improvements for passengers in Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, and for services connecting the UK’s busiest container port at Felixstowe with the Midlands and the North – both delivering jobs and economic growth for the East.

“Together with GCGP LEP and Network Rail, we’re confident that our investment can convince Government of the vital need for this project, and create the rail network businesses and passengers want and deserve.”

Mid Norfolk MP George Freeman added: “Faster east-west rail links are critical to giving more people in Norfolk access to the new jobs and opportunities being created in Cambridge.

“For too long the Norwich- Cambridge line has been a ‘Dads Army tank engine’ when it should be an ‘Innovation Express’. It is good news that we have got the funding to tackle the Ely junction bottleneck - the key to getting half-hourly services from Norwich to Cambridge, and the upgrade of the Norwich-Cambridge line I have been championing since 2010.”

Network Rail Anglia Route Managing Director Richard Schofield said: “This is a fantastic example of the power of local decision making and devolution, recognising the investment needs at a regional level.

“By working collaboratively across industries and boundaries we’ve achieved a really innovative approach to funding development work here. If it demonstrates a positive business case, the upgrades would benefit the region for years to come.”