Train operator Greater Anglia is doubling the amount it gives to community groups to £240,000 a year in a bid to boost passenger numbers on rural routes in the region.

And it is trying to set up new community rail partnerships for more lines – including the route from Ipswich to Cambridge.

It is boosting the amount of money it invests in supporting communities along rural branch lines in Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex and Cambridgeshire to help them continue to benefit the communities that the railway lines run through.

The additional money will be used to help promote and develop services, support economic growth and tourism, help provide better access to education and employment, help with local regeneration and facilitate improvements to stations, by working closely with the communities along the lines.

Ring-fenced funding will help support local business development along the lines and support a ‘Journeys to Jobs’ scheme which will offer travel grants to those seeking employment.

There are community rail partnerships on the East Suffolk Line from Ipswich to Lowestoft and Felixstowe and on several lines in Essex – including those to Harwich, Walton and Clacton, Sudbury, and Braintree.

Over the course of the franchise the deal will amount to an additional £1.1 million investment in Community Rail Partnerships to allow a variety of schemes to be put in place.

Greater Anglia’s Jonathan Denby said: “We are delighted to be able to more than double our investment in Community Rail Partnerships to enable them to help us further develop rail services and stations in line with the priorities of local communities.

“By working even more closely with those who live and work along our rural branch lines we can bring about improvements and initiatives which will have a positive effect for residents and visitors alike, as well as promoting rail travel to the benefit of the region.”

Greater Anglia also hopes to create four additional Community Rail Partnerships in the region including Ipswich to Cambridge and the Ely to Norwich route which passes through the north west of Suffolk including Brandon and Lakenheath.