Politicians call for upgrades on Ely and Haughley rail junctions

Politicians from the East of England have told the chancellor there was "an overwhelming case" for upgrading two railway junctions.

MPs, peers and local councillors want Jeremy Hunt to improve Haughley, in Suffolk, and Ely, in Cambridgeshire.

Rail campaigners said it would allow more passenger and freight trains to run through the two junctions.

Phil Smart, from the lobby group Railfuture, said: "This is an investment of national importance."

The Haughley Junction, north of Stowmarket, connects the London to Norwich line with the branch line, which runs to Newmarket, Peterborough and the Midlands.

Junctions from Ely have lines converging from Norwich, March, Peterborough, Cambridge and Ipswich.

Mr Smart said: "The problem with junctions is that trains have to wait for one another and that slows everything down.

"Felixstowe Port has the ability to send 48 trains per day up the Felixstowe branchline in each direction but 10 of those trains can't run because we haven't got enough capacity at Haughley and Ely junctions.

"It's a similar story with passenger services. There's enough money to run hourly trains between Ipswich and Peterborough but they're only running every other hour because of the constraints on the network."

In a letter to the chancellor, politicians said improving the junctions could remove 98,000 HGV and 376,000 car journeys from the roads every year, preventing 1.7 million tonnes of Co2 emissions.

They said if the work did not go ahead "there is a potential and significant risk of non-compliance with government policy, particularly the legally binding commitment to net zero".

Chairman of business group Eastern Powerhouse James Palmer said the then Transport Secretary Chris Grayling came to Ely in 2018 and promised work to upgrade the junction was "an early priority".

He said: "This delay is incredibly frustrating. We've had four transport ministers in the last five years.

"There has to be an understanding in government of how important this is, not just to our region but the whole country."

Improving Haughley would cost about £20m, while the price tag for Ely is about £500m, partly because of the large number of level crossings that would need to be replaced. 

Co-chair of the East of England parliamentary group, Cambridge MP Daniel Zeichner, said it would be worth the expense.

He said: "We are one of the fastest growing parts of the country, we contribute a huge amount to the national exchequer.

"All we're asking for is for some of those resources back so we can invest in the future and continue to do well."

Levelling Up Minister Dehenna Davison told local MPs last week she understood the priority for rail investment in the region.

The treasury said it was already investing in a number of rail schemes around the country and the chancellor would announce the government's latest plans for investment in the budget on 15 March.

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