The Felixstowe Capacity Enhancement Project
The Felixstowe Capacity Enhancement Scheme is a £60m investment, as part of Network Rail’s Railway Upgrade Plan and funded by the Strategic Freight Network and a contribution from Hutchinson Ports UK.
The work is upgrading the Felixstowe branch line and building the space needed for 1.4km of extra track, built as a loop line, to be laid between Trimley and the level crossing at Gun Lane.
The branch line forms part of the cross-country route between the port of Felixstowe and freight terminals in the Midlands and the North. The current single-track bi-directional nature of the line constrains and limits the number of freight trains that can operate.
The Felixstowe Capacity Enhancement Project will deliver improved capacity for freight operators to Felixstowe Port, whilst improving reliability for passenger services from Ipswich to Felixstowe town.
The work on the branch line, in this area, will support up to 10 additional trains in each direction, per day, to move goods to and from the Port of Felixstowe. With each additional freight train taking the equivalent of up to 76 lorries off the roads, the upgrade works will help to reduce congestion and pollution for the local community and the wider region.
The work also includes upgrades to four road level crossings between Trimley and Westerfield, which will maintain public safety while allowing more trains to run on the line, and the construction of a new bridleway bridge across the Felixstowe branch line to provide a safe public route across the railway.
Sister company VolkerRail will be completing all signalling works.
