IPSWICH/BECCLES: Work starts today on a project which will result in the best-ever rail service between the two largest towns in Suffolk.

Network Rail is to formally start work on the Beccles loop – a 390-metre length of double track through the north Suffolk station.

Revealing the new project, county councillor Guy McGregor, portfolio holder for transport, gave a speech unveiling the plans.

That will mean trains on the East Suffolk line will be able to pass there – and from December there will be trains every hour between Ipswich and Lowestoft.

The �4million project has largely been funded by Network Rail, but Suffolk County Council contributed �1million and rail operator Greater Anglia and Waveney council have also helped with the scheme.

The loop will not bring Beccles station back to its glory days of the 1940s and 1950s when it was a major rail junction with routes heading to Lowestoft, Great Yarmouth, and Tivetshall on the main line to Norwich. However it will bring a disused platform back into use – and is seen as a major boost to the town.

Dave Ward, Network Rail route managing director, said: “Enabling more services will mean that people living along the East Suffolk Line will be better connected to the main line.”

Mr McGregor, said: “I am delighted that the project is going ahead and that all our hard work has paid off.”

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