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Open for business: A freight train from Felixstowe to Manchester with, left to right, John Smith, managing director, GB Railfreight, Transport Minister Simon Burns, Tim Robinson, director of freight, Network Rail and GB Railfreight train driver Mark Winkworth at the official opening of Nuneaton North Chord Picture: Network Rail◀
Britain’s newest freight railway line was officially opened on Wednesday 14 November 2012 by Transport Minister Simon Burns.
The Nuneaton North Chord is less than a mile long but it is significant because it allows freight trains to travel through Nuneaton station without zig-zagging across the approach to the station.
The new line will link the existing cross-country rail route from Felixstowe to Nuneaton with the West Coast main line and should reduce disruption and make the railway more reliable.
Work started on the £28 million project a year ago and the first train to use the new line was a Harpenden-Basford Hall, Crewe, train in October. Now freight trains from Felixstowe have also begun to use the line.
“This scheme is crucial because Nuneaton North Chord is a key part of our plans to improve freight capacity on the railway, one of the greenest methods of transporting goods," said Tim Robinson, director of freight at Network Rail.
Mr Burns added: “The Chord unlocks a real rail freight revolution with bigger containers now being taken straight from the port of Felixstowe and transported by rail directly to the West Midlands and beyond."
The scheme was co-financed by Network Rail, the Department for Transport and the European Union.
The new line forms an important part of Network Rail’s strategic freight network, and is part of a long-term investment programme on the Felixstowe-Nuneaton route which will help remove up to 750,000 lorries from the roads each year by 2030.
The entire route between Felixstowe and Nuneaton can be used by freight trains carrying the larger 9’6” high cube containers and will enable freight trains to travel directly to the economic markets in West Midlands and north-west England without having to travel through north London.
Another new stretch of line is to be built in Ipswich as part of the strategic freight upgrade. The new curve at Ipswich, which was given Government approval this year, will enable longer trains, with up to a third more wagons, to avoid Ipswich goods yard where freight trains currently have to stop and switch locomotives before proceeding. Journey times will be cut by up to an hour.
Information from Network Rail NR