page_title: Birmingham–Peterborough line
section_title: Felixstowe and Nuneaton freight capacity scheme
hierarchical_section_title: Birmingham–Peterborough line / Current developments / Felixstowe and Nuneaton freight capacity scheme
caption_attribution_description: English: Freight train from Nuneaton approaching Water Orton station. The line off to the left goes towards Tamworth
context_page_description: The Birmingham–Peterborough line is a cross-country railway line in the United Kingdom, linking Birmingham, Leicester and Peterborough, via Nuneaton and Oakham.
  Since the Beeching Axe railway closures in the 1960s, it is the only direct railway link between the West Midlands and the East of England. The line is important for cross-country passenger services, East of Peterborough, the route gives access from the Midlands to various locations in the east of England, such as Ely, Cambridge and Stansted Airport via the West Anglia lines. It is also strategically important for freight, as it allows container trains from the Port of Felixstowe to travel to the Midlands and beyond.
context_section_description: This is a large project with a number of elements that will allow more railfreight traffic between the Haven ports and the Midlands. The work was prompted by the 'Felixstowe South' expansion at the Port of Felixstowe. It is also in response to the predicted increase in the number of high-cube (Hi-cube) shipping containers arriving at the ports that cannot currently be accommodated on the route. The percentage of high-cube containers is expected to increase from 30% in 2007 to 50% in 2012. Without loading gauge enhancement these larger containers would have to be transported by road or via a longer rail route via London that is already operating at capacity. Network Rail completed the gauge enhancement from Ipswich to Peterborough in 2008.
  Work will take place in three phases:
  Phase 1
  Nuneaton North Chord (see below)
  Peterborough to Nuneaton Gauge (W10) (see below)
  Phase 2a
  Doubling 8 km of the Felixstowe Branch Line
  Doubling the Ipswich to Ely Line between Soham Junction and Ely
  Raising speed restrictions for freight trains between Ipswich and Peterborough
  Phase 2b
  Capacity enhancement Peterborough to Nuneaton during CP5
  The work, detailed in the Network Rail Freight Route Utilisation Strategy, should be completed by 2014. at an estimated cost of £291 million.
  The government is providing £80 million and it will also receive £5 million from Network Rail and £1 million from the East of England Development Agency. It has been estimated that the scheme would take 225,000 lorries off the road.
  In February 2010 Network Rail confirmed that it would construct the 1 km 'Bacon Chord' in Ipswich to allow trains to travel between the East Suffolk line and the Ipswich–Ely line without reversing into Ipswich Station and to also perform work to increase capacity between Ely–Peterborough line at a total cost of £50m. It was stated that the work would 'take 750,000 lorries off the roads'.
caption: A container train from Nuneaton approaches Water Orton station
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