Rail passengers face shift to buses

Ipswich tunnel will close between 11 July and 5 September next year

Rail passengers travelling from points north of Ipswich to London face two months of replacement bus services next year with the planned closure of a train tunnel.

The Ipswich tunnel is being increased in height by having its track lowered, which will allow more freight to pass from the port in Felixstowe to London.

The Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) said the work is necessary because of an international trend to increase the size of freight containers.

And it said making the tunnel more accommodating will eventually bring down traffic levels on roads like the A14 and A12.

Chris Harvey, of the SRA, told BBC Look East: "Currently, one in four containers coming through Felixstowe are the new, taller units, by 2010, it'll be approximately half, and it'll be those containers that rail can't take unless we do this work in Ipswich tunnel.

It is thought the tunnel work will mean fewer lorries on the roads

"If we don't do this work, then rail traffic will move to the roads, and we'll be looking at 1,500 lorries a day instead of the 20 trains we're moving at the moment."

The authority chose an eight-week period over the summer of 2004 to lower the track because of they expect decreased passenger travel during the summer months.

Rail planners say the disruption will add about half an hour to journey times.

Details of replacement bus services and revised timetables will be published later this year.