The Anonymous Widower

Network Rail Prepares To Send Four Trains A Night Through Suffolk To Sizewell

The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the East Anglian Daily Times.

These are the first two paragraphs.

There will be improvements to the East Suffolk Line between Ipswich and Saxmundham and to the little-used Leiston branch line which will become busier with up to four trains a night carrying construction materials to the Sizewell C site.

However there are no plans at present to create a new passing loop at Wickham Market which would be needed to allow construction trains to travel by day so most of these trains will have to use the line at night.

Note.

1. Trains access the Sizewell site from Saxmundham junction on the East Suffolk Line.
2. Between Saxmundham and Halesworth stations is double track.
3. With the exception of a passing loop at Beccles station between Halesworth and Lowestoft stations is single track.
4. Saxmundham junction and Lowestoft station is 26.2 miles.
5. Between Saxmundham and Woodbridge stations is mainly single track.
6. Between Woodbridge and Ipswich stations is double track.
7. Saxmundham junction and Ipswich station is 22.8 miles.

It is a classic line, that was partly singled by British Rail to try and cut operating costs.

A passing loop at Wickham Market could make operation of the line easier.

• The last train in the evening leaves Saxmundham station at around 23:00 for Lowestoft.
• The first train in the morning leaves Saxmundham station at around 06:00 for Ipswich and Harwich International.

This would give a seven hour window in which to move four trains out of the Sizewell site and four trains in.

This OpenRailwayMap shows Ipswich Yard which is a set of freight sidings to the North of Ipswich station.

Note.

1. The orange tracks are the Great Eastern Main Line.
2. Ipswich station is just off the map to the South-East.
3. The yellow track in the North-West corner is the East Suffolk Line to Saxmundham and Sizewell.
4. The black lines diagonally across the map is Ipswich Yard, where wait if required, when coming out or going into the Port of Felixstowe.

I would expect that trains destined for Sizewell will wait in Ipswich Yard before being moved in at night.

These are my further thoughts.

Moving Trains Into And Out Of The Sizewell C Site

A map of the proposed rail layout in the Sizewell C site was published in the February 2019 Edition of Modern Railways showed at least four sidings in the site.

• We can assume that at the beginning of each night, there are.
• Up to four trains in the Sizewell C site, that need to come out of the site.
• Up to four trains in Ipswich Yard, that need to enter the site.
• As each train leaves the Sizewell C site, it creates a free siding for the next incoming train.

The process could be started by the four trains in the Sizewell C site, leaving nose-to-tail like a herd of elephants, but perhaps five minutes apart.

The outgoing trains would then park-up in Ipswich Yard or position themselves to get ready to bring in the next load.

Once all the outgoing trains, were clear of the Sizewell site, the four incoming trains, could trundle into the site.

Note.

1. Effectively, there would be a night-time single-track railway exclusively handling freight trains into and out of the Sizewell C site, between the site and Ipswich Yard.
2. With more sidings on the Sizewell C site, the limit could be higher than the currently proposed four trains per night in each direction.
3. The number of and length of the trains could be adjusted, so that the deliveries of materials to the site, were in an optimal manner, which hopefully would  increase the efficiency of the construction.
4. There are twenty level crossings between Ipswich and Saxmundham junction and another five between Saxmundham junction.

Did poor delivery performance contribute to cost and time overruns at the more difficult-to-support, rail-isolated Hinckley Point C power station?

Conclusion

I am fairly certain, that it is possible to move four freight trains in and out of the Sizewell site during the night, without doing any major works to the East Suffolk Line between Ipswich and Saxmundham junction.

• Adding extra track at Wickham Market would probably cause major disruption.
• Some level crossings will probably be improved.

But without a full double track between Ipswich and Saxmundham junction, I doubt there could be any increase in passenger services.

April 6, 2024 - Posted by AnonW | Energy, Hydrogen, Transport/Travel | East Suffolk Line, Hinckley Point C Nuclear Power Station, Port of Felixstowe, Sizewell C Nuclear Power Station