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facebook.com/RailExpressMag8 RAIL EXPRESSSeptember 2019
By ‘IndustryWitne ss’NETWORKRail has completed a
£60 million project to enable 47 daily
freight trains to run on theFelixstowe
bran ch in each direction. The
investmentwassupportedby
HutchinsonPortsUKand is alarge
step-up from the previous ceiling of 33
daily paths.
The 13 mile line is not electrified,
although thiswaspropose dwhen the
Grea tEasternMain Linewaselectri fied
in the mid-1980s, which has therefore
resulted in diesel traction being used
throughoutforcontainerisedfreights.
The port opened its first container
handlingfacili ty in 1967 and, asaresult
of continuedexpansion,opened the
twomileNorth Quaybranchin1987 to
servethe Central and North terminals.
The South terminal continues to beaccessedby the original line thatranto
the closedFelixstowe Beach station.
Previously, therehas beenasingle
passingpoint on the branch at Derby
Road, but double track has nowbeen
provided fromTrimley, which is where
the North Quayline connects to the
national network. This is configured as
a0.9 mile (1.4km) loop, which is long
enoughfor775 metre-long trains to
passeach other.
The three individualrailterminals
withinthe dock complexhave acapacity
to handle1.35 million TEUannuall y(TEU
is the20ftcontainer equivalentmeasure
used asastandard). Theport, whichhas
29 quayside cra nes, is abletohandlethe
largest operationalcontainershipsthat
have capacitytocarry asingle cargo of
18,000 TEU.
As well as benefitting freight
operations, the upgradework meansthe hourlypassenger service to the
terminus atFelixstowe Town can
be retained.STEP IMPROVEMENTS
When the branchwasbuilt in 1875
nobody could have fo reseen that
asmall coasta lport would be
transformed into the largest intermodal
facilityin Britain, with the line from
Ipswich (Westerfield Junction) being
single throughout apart from the
original passing loop at Orwell, which is
no longer in place.
As trafficfromFelixstowe
increased,anumber of infrastructure
enhancements have been made
includingresignalling in 1999 that
brought the installation of the passing
loop at DerbyRoad. Theroute also
became part of NetworkRail’s St rategic
Freight Network, whichresulted ingaugeclearance to carry 9ft 6in
high containers on standardheight
plat form wagons.
Therehave beensubsequentroute
improvements, such as the north-to-
east ‘BaconFactory Curve’ to the north
of Ipswich that prevents the needfor
trains to and from the Midlands to run
into Ipswich to runround. Loop li nes
have also been added at Ely, plus the
North Chordadded at Nuneaton.
The latest project has seen
complete modernisation of the branch
with newsignalling andareduction
in the number of levelcrossings and
pedestrianfootpath swhich followed
extensiveconsultation with Suffolk
County Council. The line continues to
be signalledfromColchester but given
the trafficdensityaseparatesignalling
workstationhas been installed to
supplement the traditional NX panel.ELeeds gets high speed
rail research centre
THE Government has confirmed funding
to createahigh-speedrail research
facili ty in West Yorkshire. The University
of Leeds’ InstituteforHigh Speed
Rail andSystem Integration will aim
to revolutionise theway newrailway
systems areinvented, developed and
brought into service.
It will be located next to theLeeds
City Region EnterpriseZone. Thisforms
the earlyphase ofaplaninvolvi ng
loca lauthorities and businesses to
position the area asaUKcentrefor rail
engineering that willgenerate jobs and
inward investment.
The Government has contributed
£11million towardsthe project.Afurth er
£40million has come from the University
andrailindustrypartners, adding to
£13 million from theLeedsCity Region
LocalEnterprisePartnership Growth Deal.
The institute will includeavehicle
testingfacility large enough to put a
fullsize carria ge on th eequivalentofa
rollingroad to modelatrain’s dutycycle,
allowingthe de velopm ent ofhigh speed
and conventionalprototypesbefore being
allo wedonthe mainline. Itshouldhelp
Brita in to be at theforefront of developing
and testing newrailway technologies.ACTONGRANGE DIVERSIONS:
Engineeringwork at Acton GrangeJunction,
near Warrington, closed theWest CoastMain
Line therefromJuly20toAugust4with
resulting diversions of freight and passenger
trafficvia Manchester.‘Pendolino’ No.
390011 (upper) made an usual sight at Eccles
on July29with the 11.40 Glasgow Central to
Euston, whilefailed Nos. 86638+86609 are
pictured (lower) at Patricroft on August2at
the rear of the previous day’s 17.56London
Gateway-Coatbridge, whichwasbeing
dragged back to Crewe by No. 66531.Doug
Birmingham (upper)/David Ratc liffe(lower)
Morefreight from Felixstowe
Upgradework means 14 additional freight paths arenow available on theFelixstowe branch.