Strategic Route 7 - Great Eastern was the designation given by
Network Rail
Network Rail Limited is the owner (via its subsidiary Network Rail Infrastructure Limited, which was known as Railtrack plc before 2002) and infrastructure manager of most of the railway network in Great Britain. Network Rail is an "arm's leng ...
, from 2004 to 2009, to a grouping of railway lines in the
East of England that encompassed the
Great Eastern Main Line and its various branch lines. The route serviced the regional centres of
Colchester
Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian.
Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colch ...
,
Ipswich
Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line ...
and
Norwich
Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...
as well as the ports of
Felixstowe
Felixstowe ( ) is a port town in Suffolk, England. The estimated population in 2017 was 24,521. The Port of Felixstowe is the largest Containerization, container port in the United Kingdom. Felixstowe is approximately 116km (72 miles) northea ...
and
Harwich.
In 2010, Network Rail restructured its route categorisation. Routes 5 and 7 were merged into Strategic Route D: East Anglia.
[
]
Strategic route sections
The Route was divided into a number of separate Strategic Route Sections (SRS's) that were defined based on route use, infrastructure and historical lines.
Railway planning
As part of Network Rail's Strategic Business Plan a
Route Plan for each route, including Route 7, was published annually. The Route 7 plans for 2008
[
] and 2009
[ are made available online.
Together with Route 5 – West Anglia and Route 6 – North London Line and Thameside the route was included in the ]Greater Anglia Route Utilisation Strategy
The Greater Anglia Route Utilisation Strategy is a Route Utilisation Strategy published by Network Rail in December 2007. It was the sixth RUS to be produced. The area covered includes the whole of Route 5 West Anglia (WA) and Route 7 Great Ea ...
.[
]
Proposed developments
The Greater Anglia RUS includes a number of proposals for the future development of the route.
In the medium term, 2009–14, this includes minor infrastructure works and additional rolling stock to allow main line peak-service trains to be extended to 12-car formation.
Also included is the proposal for the extension of platforms at Stratford to handle 12 cars, to allow all main line peak-service trains to be extended to 8 or 12-car formation.
In the longer term intentions are to continue the lengthening of peak trains to 12-car formation.
References
{{reflist
See also
* Network Rail Route 23 (North West Rural)
* Network Rail Route 5 (West Anglia)
* Network Rail Route 6 (North London Line and Thameside)
Strategic Route 6 - North London Line and Thameside was the designation Network Rail gave to a grouping of railway lines in Greater London and the East of England region that encompassed the London, Tilbury and Southend Line and overground comm ...
Network Rail routes