Britain’s national infrastructure agency Network Rail is planning a major renewal of the rail junction at Saxmundham in Suffolk this autumn. The works come as traffic on the Sizewell branch ramps up in support of construction activity at the nuclear power station site. The aim is to strengthen the connection between the East Suffolk line and the freight-only branch to Leiston and Sizewell.
The Saxmundham junction is a key point on the designated freight route to the Sizewell C nuclear construction site. Its modernisation is intended to improve reliability and resilience ahead of increased freight traffic serving the construction of the nuclear power station, where rail and sea are targeted to handle 60% of construction materials.
The engineering work will replace the manually operated arrangement with a powered crossover controlled through an integrated signalling system from Saxmundham signal box. The work is scheduled for 24 October to 1 November, alongside signalling improvements elsewhere on the East Suffolk line.
Preparing the route for heavier freight
The Leiston branch has recently returned to freight use as Sizewell C ramps up its construction logistics. Earlier this year, the first engineering freight train delivered 960 tonnes of railway ballast to the site, forming part of a planned 10,000-tonne movement. Three further ballast trains were expected shortly afterwards, underlining the increasing role of rail in the project’s supply chain. More recently, RailFreight.com reported on port developments in Ipswich that were undertaken to facilitate more frequent materials delivery by rail.
The branch connects the East Suffolk line at Saxmundham before running towards Leiston and the Sizewell site on the Suffolk coast. Sizewell is the most easterly freight-only destination on Britain’s railway network, while the East Suffolk line terminates at Lowestoft, the UK’s most easterly passenger railway terminal. The junction therefore occupies a geographically distinctive position within the national network.
Nine-day blockade brings wider improvements
Rail has also played an important role in earlier phases of nuclear development at Sizewell. Both Sizewell A, constructed during the 1960s, and Sizewell B, built during the late 1980s and early 1990s, relied on rail freight during construction. More recently, nuclear fuel traffic operated by Direct Rail Services has provided one of the branch’s few regular freight flows.
Network Rail will use the closure associated with the Saxmundham work to undertake additional infrastructure improvements between Westerfield and Halesworth. These include installing signalling equipment and systems as part of the wider programme to improve the route. Engineers will also work at Bealings level crossing, where new safety equipment is planned.
Buses for passengers
The main junction work involves installing a powered crossover, allowing freight trains to move between the East Suffolk line and the Leiston branch. Its integration with signalling at Saxmundham should remove the limitations associated with the existing manually operated arrangement and provide a more robust route for future freight operations.
The work is being planned around nine days, when the line will be closed to normal train services. Greater Anglia passenger services will be replaced by buses between Ipswich and Lowestoft over the first weekend, while from 26 October trains will run between Lowestoft and Halesworth, with buses replacing services between Halesworth and Ipswich.
Freight investment could have wider implications
For construction of the Sizewell C nuclear power station, the junction renewal is primarily about ensuring that the railway can support the project’s planned construction logistics. Moving materials by rail reduces the number of heavy goods vehicles required on local roads, while providing additional capacity as activity at the site increases. The development of the railhead at Sizewell, one of Britain’s largest infrastructure projects, is consequently becoming an increasingly important element of the project’s transport strategy.
The investment could also leave a longer-term legacy for the branch. Although the immediate priority is freight, improvements to the infrastructure potentially strengthen the case for a future passenger service to Leiston, which has no current railway service. In time, the upgraded route could also raise the possibility of passenger access to the Sizewell campus, although such services would require separate investment and planning.