ELY is probably best known for its cathedral, which dominates the Fenland skyline for miles. However, the Cambridgeshire city is now increasingly becoming known for being the key to unlocking capacity for both passenger and freight services, not just in that area, but across the country.
On July 14, a letter was sent to the Secretary of State for Transport Mark Harper and Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt, calling for the approval of a £466 million investment, known as the Ely Area Capacity Enhancements (EACE) which, it says, can unlock growth in the east, Midlands and northern England as well as bolstering international trade.
The letter states: “EACE sits on the cross-country rail route linking Felixstowe, the UK’s busiest container port, to the Midlands, the North and Scotland. It is the most intensively used freight corridor in the UK; the mixture of single-track sections, restricted speeds, level crossings and signalling limitations at Ely are creating a bottleneck at the junction.
“The bottleneck is creating a significant barrier for increasing the much-needed freight capacity in the area. Businesses across the UK are unable to import and export goods, via freight, and are turning to using lorries, which are less reliable, causing congestion on our roads and much worse for the environment.”
It states that: “this freight corridor, which is vitally important for UK trade, is woefully served by a Victorian railway which is no longer fit for purpose, let alone future trade ambitions.” It suggests that the nation simply cannot afford not to carry out the upgrades, and claims that the benefits of EACE include:
• supporting UK-wide economic growth, especially in the East of England,• a benefit cost-ratio of 4.89• slashes emissions by 1.7 million tonnes of CO2 and cuts congestion by removing 98,000 lorries from the roads each year• supports the national priority of rail freight• unlocks better passenger services across the east of England and maximises the impact of Government-backed East West Rail
