News story

East of England to benefit from £6.5 billion transport investment

Multibillion-pound plan to improve connectivity across the country includes funding to double passenger services from Ely to King’s Lynn and Ipswich to Peterborough.

From:
Department for Transport
Published
4 October 2023
  • government to redirect vast HS2 savings into unprecedented transport investment across the country, benefiting more people, in more places, more quickly 
  • East Anglia among those regions to benefit from £6.5 billion unlocked by the new plan for Euston 
  • Ely Junction to be transformed to give an extra 6 freight trains per day access to the Port of Felixstowe, removing thousands of HGVs from East Anglia’s roads

East Anglia will see rail passenger services increased, potholes fixed and 98,000 lorry journeys removed from its roads each year in a major funding boost to create stronger public transport networks.  

A total of £36 billion in savings from HS2 will be reinvested in hundreds of transport projects across the country, delivering more buses, reopening railway stations and ensuring major funding for new and improved roads. 

Today (4 October 2023), we have announced the Network North plan, which will still see HS2 delivered between Birmingham and Euston in central London. 

But every penny that would have been spent extending the route will instead be redirected into roads, rail and buses to drive economic growth and provide jobs across the country. 

In London, the government will seek to establish a Development Corporation to create a transformed ‘Euston Quarter’ and look to leverage private sector investment in the process.  

This new approach will unlock £6.5 billion to invest in projects that people and communities really need around the country – including in the East of England. 

One of the schemes to benefit will be the remodelling of the Ely North and Haughley Junctions, a vital part of East Anglia’s rail network where 5 busy rail lines converge.  

An enhanced spine route for rail freight will be delivered, allowing an extra 6 freight trains per day to run to and from the Port of Felixstowe – the equivalent of 98,000 lorry journeys off the road each year, including across the Midlands and the North. 

The scheme will see the equivalent of 450 lorries removed from East Anglia’s roads every day, while passenger services will double on the Ely to King’s Lynn and Ipswich to Peterborough routes.  

Further benefits for East Anglia will include:  

  • £610 million in funding to ensure the delivery of 39 road schemes across East Anglia, the South East and South West, including the A10 between Ely and Cambridge. Thirteen of these schemes will be in the East of England with a funding pot of £180m million 
  • a further £1 billion fund will be launched for new road schemes in the East, South West and South East
  • access to a £2.8 billion roads resurfacing fund for the East, South East and South West of England to combat the potholes causing misery for drivers
  • the popular £2 bus fare will also be kept and extended until the end of December 2024 instead of rising to £2.50 as planned

Read how HS2 funding is being redirected across the country

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Published 4 October 2023