Good news from Network Rail for Suffolk rail passengers

Regular readers will be aware that I am seldom deliriously happy about our train service. Apart from the fact that Creeting St Peter doesn't have a railway station (and I would have been perfectly happy to have High Speed 2 serve the village - albeit quietly as a preference), I have first had to deal with National Express East Anglia - the least said, the better - and now Abellio Greater Anglia, who have at least tried.

The real problem, however, is the aged infrastructure and rolling stock, which has done more to obstruct the smooth running of rail services than the weather has. The overhead cables date back to the electrification of the line beyond Ipswich in the 1980's, the rolling stock is just as old, and the inability of the Department of Transport to run a franchise bidding process has prevented serious investment. However, the news that Network Rail is planning to spend £2.2 billion over five years on rail infrastructure in our region can only be a good thing.

So, what does the money get us?

• an upgrade of Bow Junction, near Liverpool Street, to allow more trains to pass through
• replacement of ageing tracks around Colchester and extending platform six to improve services
• safety improvements at level crossings
• a new rail operating centre in Romford to control the entire railway in the Anglia region, covering parts of London, Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire

Elsewhere in the region, Network Rail will;

• rebuild Ely Junction North, relieving congestion between Norwich and Cambridge on the West Anglia line
• replace a vital rail junction at Pitsea, reducing the number of days the section of track needs closing for route improvement work every year
• work with Transport for London to bring longer trains to the Overground and electrify the Gospel Oak to Barking line, creating more space for passenger and freight services

This all looks like good stuff, and might enable Abellio Greater Anglia to continue their improvements to our services, now more reliable and on time more often than they were under National Express East Anglia.

So, what else would be nice?

• Electrification of the line between Felixstowe and Peterborough/Cambridge
• More rolling stock for the Ipswich to Cambridge and Ipswich to Lowestoft routes

I suspect that we'll have to wait for a new, longer franchise before we get those though...