Check this page regularly for the latest local transport news. If you would like to contribute to the content of this page please contact the Webmaster.

For archived News from 2008, click here.
For archived News from 2009, click here.

July

IPSWICH LONDON ROAD YARD
Although Balfour Beatty uses the offices and parks its road vehicles there, other than the odd tamping machine occasionally stabled nearby the depot rarely sees any rail-borne vehicles these days. That situation changed on Wednesday and Thursday 14 & 15 July when a display and demonstration of Network Rail ‘On Track Plant’ (OTP) was staged. The event was organised by Hydrex, a company that specialises in the hire and sale of OTP, and they also displayed a variety of road/rail machines.

Prior to the event, the two sidings furthest from the GEML were lifted the week before and new palisade fencing erected to segregate the cleared area. Vegetation was removed from the four remaining tracks where the demonstrations took place. The large number of attendees, all clad in the requisite vivid orange jackets and wearing hard hats, had their personal needs attended to by a mobile canteen and a row of Portaloos.

IPSWICH STATION 150
Yes, the present station opened on 1 July 1860 to replace the original in Croft Street, which helps explain why nearby Station Street is some distance from Ipswich station. No specific celebrations took place, although 90013 was named 'The Evening Star' on 23/07/10 on Platform 4.

June

GREATER ANGLIA FRANCHISEE CHANGE POSTPONED
An announcement was made on 17 June by the Department for Transport stating that a consultation exercise was to be undertaken to review the future of rail franchising policy. To quote: ‘This consulatation will provide industry partners with the opportunity to comment on the Government’s approach to rail franchising and whether bidders for longer franchises would be able to offer investment in improvements to trains and services. It will also allow the industry to set out its proposals for improving the efficiency and value for money of rail franchises, for both tax payers and fare payers’. The application bids for both the Greater Anglia and c2c franchises (both presently in the hands of National Express) have accordingly now been placed on hold for a few months while this consultation takes place.

For ‘BACON CURVE’ read ‘IPSWICH CHORD’
It was revealed at the Network Rail exhibition held at the Ipswich Corn Exchange early last month that the proposed GEML to East Suffolk line 1-km long connection will be known as ‘Ipswich Chord’ rather than ‘Bacon Curve’. We feel sure that regardless of the historical significance of the earlier name there will be few objections to the change. As for the connection itself, the exhibition was sadly short on detail in that it concentrated more on the reason for its construction, with the accompanying map only showing its rough location, so it told us nothing that has not been published in previous Journals. Disappointingly for those with a deeper interest, there were no detailed maps showing exactly where the line would be connected to the GEML and East Suffolk line, where crossovers might be located, what signalling arrangements are planned and so on. It was still unknown whether the chord will be single or double tracked as this is entirely dependent on EU funding.

As previously reported, an additional parallel line is to be installed alongside the up main from south of the A14 overbridge to enable container trains to clear the up GEML should they be unable to immediately access the East Suffolk line (and conversely clear the up East Suffolk line while awaiting access to the down GEML) for whatever reason. It is thought that the additional line will have a connection at the Ipswich end so trains can rejoin the up main or access Ipswich Yard. It is assumed that the bridge over Sproughton Road is to be widened on the upside in which case it is perhaps ironic that until a few years ago there was a bridge deck on the downside that once carried track serving BSC’s Sproughton sugar factory. The parapets are still in situ but due to the impracticalities and additional cost involved it seems most unlikely the 100mph dead straight main line will be slewed to make use of these. Against that, the expense of building up the embankment on the opposite side, constructing new bridges over both Sproughton Road and the River Gipping, plus moving electrification masts to accommodate the new section of line, will be high and helps explain the £35m price tag. Indeed, we would suggest that the construction of the loop/link line could prove more problematical than that of the chord itself.

May

Campaign to save Trimley railway station. The Friends of Trimley Railway Station group has been launched with the intention of finding a suitable ongoing use for the station building at Trimley. The Victorian building has been threatened with demolition for a number of years. Full details of the project and how to get involved are available on the Suffolk Coastal District Council website here.

April

Stoke Bridge Level Crossing Lifted

The level crossing leading from Ipswich Lower Yard accross Stoke bridge to the port has been lifted. Previously part of the line to Cliff Quay at the port, the crossing was latterly part of a small length of isolated track, from outside the Lower Yard to a point outside the former Burtons biscuit factory. The line is not thought to have been used since the early 1990's.

February

Network Rail Award Contract to Jacobs to Design New Ipswich Chord

As previously reported, the project entails the construction of a new chord between the East Suffolk line and Great Eastern Main Line, just north of East Suffolk Junction on land formerly occupied by the Harris bacon factory. the full network rail press release can be found here.