Ely Junction rail revamp gets go ahead

The long-awaited revamp of the Ely Junction railway bottleneck has been confirmed, seemingly as one of the projects to benefit from the government’s decision to scrap the northern leg of the HS2 rail line.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak made the announcement within his Conservative Party Conference speech which was dominated by the cancellation of HS2.

Previously there were concerns that Ely Junction would miss out on money after a transport minister flagged that some projects would have to be "cancelled or indefinitely paused".

Ely Junction is important because it links five lines connecting Norwich, Ipswich, Cambridge, Peterborough and King’s Lynn. But it is currently operating at full capacity, which limits the opportunity for growth of routes for passenger and cross-country freight services.

Under proposals put forward by Network Rail, capacity for freight trains would increase from 6.5 trains per hour to 10.

The government also confirmed funding for the Haughley Junction, north of Stowmarket in Suffolk.

In a statement, Subnational Transport Body Transport East welcomed the investment, saying "Investment in Ely and Haughley junctions will change the lives of so many people and businesses.

"It will reduce congestion, boost trade, level up communities right across the UK, increase passenger services and cut carbon emissions.

"We look forward to working with government to bring this forward as rapidly as possible."

Dr Nik Johnson, Mayor of Cambridgeshire & Peterborough commented, “So many of us here in the East of England have been championing an upgraded Ely Junction for many years, so confirmation that we can at last get to work will be widely welcomed.

“This is a major investment in vital infrastructure that we have campaigned long and hard for. It’s a huge opportunity, not just for our region’s residents and local economy, but also nationwide.

“Locally, it means greater rail connectivity across the East of England, boosting travel for leisure, tourism, and industry. Nationally, upgrading this out of date junction will connect major international ports in Felixstowe and London with distribution hubs in the Midlands, the North, and beyond.

“Crucially, in allowing more goods to be transported by freight, an upgraded Ely Junction removes 98,000 lorries from the road each year. As well as massively improving air quality, and reducing CO2 emissions, this work will also reduce congestion by 5.6 million hours annually, including on critical routes like the A14.

“Campaigners have long pointed out that to upgrade Ely Junction is to back British business. With that in mind, earlier this year, I co-chaired the Combined Authority’s Rail Summit calling for the much-needed upgrade, and today we can all breathe a collective sigh of relief at our achievement.

“That said, whilst much of this success comes off the back of years of invaluable work for which I thank everyone involved, it is a great shame that we are not able to jointly celebrate with HS2 colleagues on what could and should have been another invaluable investment in our national infrastructure.”