RAIL commuters today joined the ranks of those set to directly benefit from London's successful bid to host the 2012 Olympics.Train lines connecting Ipswich to London will be among those to undergo upgrades before the Olympics.
RAIL commuters today joined the ranks of those set to directly benefit from London's successful bid to host the 2012 Olympics.
Train lines connecting Ipswich to London will be among those to undergo upgrades before the Olympics.
The improvements to rail infrastructure were a key part of London's bid to host the Games and they will help the network handle hundreds of thousands of extra commuters converging on England for the Games.
Train operator 'one' welcomed the announcement that about one fifth of the £500m allocated to major rail projects in the lead-up to the Games will benefit commuters from this region.
The £100million will be devoted to upgrades at stations on 'one' and c2c lines and associated improvements on the routes into London Liverpool Street.
Theo Steel, projects director for 'one', said: "We are delighted that the award of the Olympics has secured funding for projects that we have been promoting for several years, and that our customers will benefit greatly from the long-term legacy of the Games."
The centrepiece of the improvements will be a £30million upgrade to Stratford station.
The work will enable more long-distance trains to stop at the station and will provide better customer facilities and allow more mainline trains to call at the station during peak travel periods.
Many trains from Ipswich to London stop at Stratford station where passengers can join the London Underground system.
The first benefits are likely to be seen when the new Eurostar Channel Tunnel interchange opens at the station in 2007 but an extension to platform 10a is expected to result in the greatest benefits for Suffolk rail passengers.
It will allow more trains to and from Ipswich to stop at the station, benefiting commuters wishing to access parts of east London without travelling into Liverpool Street.
Peter Meades, a spokesman for 'one', said: "We will certainly be pushing for an early completion of that project."
Weblink: www.onerailway.com
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