Rail Engineer – July 2019

DAVID

BICKELL

CAPACITY ENHANCEMENT GOES LIVE

Felixstowe Branch Line

F

unded by the Strategic Freight Network, with a

contribution from Hutchinson Ports UK (HP-UK),

a £60.4 million investment to create a new 1.4km

loop on the Felixstowe branch line in Suffolk was

successfully brought into service on 29 May 2019, on time and

on budget. It facilitates an increase from 33 to 47 freight train

paths a day in each direction on this key artery, carrying the

highest freight tonnage in the country and serving the largest

container port in the UK.

With each train taking the

equivalent of up to 76 lorries

off the roads, the strategically

important Felixstowe to

Nuneaton Freight Corridor

(F2N) has seen considerable

investment in recent years.

This has included gauge

clearance for W10 ‘High

Gauge’ containers and capacity

improvement including the

Ipswich Bacon Factory Chord

(issue115, May 2014), Ely

Freight loops, and Nuneaton

north chord.

As built in 1875, the 12-mile

branch was single track with

a passing place at Orwell,

roughly mid-way. In 1891,

two more passing loops were

added, at Derby Road and

Trimley. The original loop at

Orwell closed with the station

in 1959, leaving an eight-mile

single-track section. In 1999,

the passing loop at Derby Road

was extended to accommodate

container trains and the whole

line was resignalled and

controlled from Colchester

Power Signal Box (PSB).

The Trimley loop scheme

Following on from a

2005 GRIP 4 (single option

development) study undertaken

by HP-UK for doubling the

branch between Orwell

and Trimley for 4.5 miles,

subsequent extensive option

development work concluded

that a 1.4 km loop at Trimley

with bi-directional signalling

at Derby Road would facilitate

the aspiration to operate

the additional paths, with

a maximum train length of

775 metres - a Network Rail

standard, although HP-UK

currently operates trains around

600 metres long.

The scheme will allow pent

up demand to be realised from

the December 2019 timetable

change, giving operators a

few months to familiarise

themselves with the new

signalling.

It will also improve the

reliability of the hourly

passenger train shuttle between

Ipswich and Felixstowe, shortly

to be upgraded with the

introduction of new Stadler

Class 755 bi-mode units later

this year.

This infrastructure

improvement project is

being delivered within the

Network Rail Anglia Route CP5

multi-functional framework

contract, which was awarded

to VolkerFitzpatrick. The

collaboration to deliver these

works is known as the Anglia

Route Collaboration (ARC).

Rail Engineer was

recently invited to meet

VolkerFitzpatrick project

manager Dan Smith at the

Trimley track installation.

Trimley freight

approaches from North

Terminal branch.

48 FE ATURE