The Anonymous Widower

Will The Felixstowe Branch Be Electrified?

In the previous post on diesel-hauled freight trains on the Overground, I mentioned Network Rail’s Anglia Route Study.

This study says two things about the Felixstowe Branch.

There will be more double track to increase capacity and it is an aspiration to have two trains per hour on all branch lines from the Great Eastern Main Line.

If the latter is implemented on the Felixstowe branch, it will be a good thing, but it would need another train and the increased frequency would probably be opposed by the port.

If the line were to be electrified, the finding of a reasonable Class 313/315/317 train to work the branch shouldn’t be difficult and it would be faster and with better acceleration than the current Class 153, so it could keep out of the way of the freight trains.

As a lot of the line is to be double tracked, I wouldn’t be surprised if this work, at least makes electrification possible.

I sometimes think, that I can remember reports from the 1950s, saying that London to Ipswich and Norwich together with the Felixstowe branch would be electrified by 1964.

December 3, 2014 - Posted by AnonW | Transport/Travel | Electrification, Felixstowe, Freight