Park & Ride terminal, Norwich Airport - geograph

Transport in East Anglia consists of extensive road and rail networks as well as one of England's key regional airports and the country's busiest container port. Despite having very little motorway within their borders, the counties of

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

and

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and North ...

have modern transport links with the rest of the country.

Airports

Norwich Airport is the major passenger airport within

East Anglia East Anglia is an area in the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, a people whose name originated in Anglia, in ...

. In 2011 it was the 25th busiest airport in the United Kingdom and deals with over 400,000 passengers a year.Airport will benefit from extra Amsterdam flights
, ''Eastern Daily Press'', 2012-10-19. Retrieved 2013-02-12. Airlines operating from the airport include

KLM KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, legally ''Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij N.V.'' (literal translation: Royal Aviation Company Plc.), is the flag carrier airline of the Netherlands. KLM is headquartered in Amstelveen, with its hub at nearby Amste ...

, Loganair and

TUI Airways TUI Airways Limited (formerly Thomsonfly and Thomson Airways) is a British charter airline, offering scheduled and charter flights from the United Kingdom and Ireland to destinations in Europe, Africa, Asia and North America. The airline is t ...

. Destinations served by the airport include

Amsterdam Airport Schiphol Amsterdam Airport Schiphol , known informally as Schiphol Airport ( nl, Luchthaven Schiphol, ), is the main international airport of the Netherlands. It is located southwest of Amsterdam, in the municipality of Haarlemmermeer in the province ...

, a major European and world hub airport, and domestic locations such as

Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...

and

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

as well as locations in countries such as Spain, Turkey and Greece. There are a number of other private airfields in the region, including heliports servicing the North Sea oil and gas industry such as at Great Yarmouth – North Denes Airport and at Norwich Airport. Regular flights from

Cambridge Airport Cambridge City Airport , previously Marshall Airport Cambridge UK, is a regional airport in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the eastern outskirts of Cambridge, south of Newmarket Road and west of the village of Teversham, from the ...

operated to destinations such as

Jersey Jersey ( , ; nrf, Jèrri, label=Jèrriais ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey (french: Bailliage de Jersey, links=no; Jèrriais: ), is an island country and self-governing Crown Dependencies, Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west F ...

with occasional flights to other European destinations.Cambridge Airport reinstates scheduled flights
BBC news website, 2012-05-12. Retrieved 2013-05-20.Cambridge Airport Europe business routes announced
BBC news website, 2013-05-20. Retrieved 2013-05-20.Darwin's Cambridge international flights halted 'temporarily'
BBC news website, 2014-03-12. Retrieved 2014-03-29.
''Cambridge News'', 2014-03-12. Retrieved 2014-03-29. All scheduled and charter flights were halted at the end of January 2016 due to a lack of passenger numbers.
''

Cambridge News The ''Cambridge News'' (formerly the ''Cambridge Evening News'') is a British daily newspaper. Published each weekday and on Saturdays, it is distributed from its Waterbeach base. In the period December 2010 – June 2011 it had an average dail ...

'', 2015-12-02. Retrieved 2016-02-02. Stansted Airport is located just outside the region in north-west Essex. This is the third busiest airport in the UK and the closest major airport to East Anglia.

Rail

The

East Coast Main Line The East Coast Main Line (ECML) is a electrified railway between London and Edinburgh via Peterborough, Doncaster, York, Darlington, Durham and Newcastle. The line is a key transport artery on the eastern side of Great Britain running broa ...

passes through the region with some express trains stopping at

Peterborough Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until ...

. Local services on this line also stop at

St Neots St NeotsPronunciation of the town name: Most commonly, but variations that ''saint'' is said as in most English non-georeferencing speech, the ''t'' is by a small minority of the British pronounced and higher traces of in the final syllable ...

and

Huntingdon Huntingdon is a market town in the Huntingdonshire district in Cambridgeshire, England. The town was given its town charter by King John in 1205. It was the county town of the historic county of Huntingdonshire. Oliver Cromwell was born there ...

. The other Inter City route in the region is the

Great Eastern Main Line The Great Eastern Main Line (GEML, sometimes referred to as the East Anglia Main Line) is a major railway line on the British railway system which connects Liverpool Street station in central London with destinations in east London and t ...

which has

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 its terminus. Major stations in the region on this route include

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 r ...

, Stowmarket and Diss. Major commuter lines in the region include the West Anglia Main Line which connects

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

with

London Liverpool Street Liverpool Street station, also known as London Liverpool Street, is a central London railway terminus and connected London Underground station in the north-eastern corner of the City of London, in the ward of Bishopsgate Without. It is the t ...

and the Cambridge Line which connects the city with

London King's Cross King's Cross railway station, also known as London King's Cross, is a passenger railway terminus in the London Borough of Camden, on the edge of Central London. It is in the London station group, one of the busiest stations in the United King ...

. These routes all run north-south and connect the region with London and, in the case of the East Coast Main Line, with cities in the north of Britain. Routes running east-west in the region include connections between Ipswich and Cambridge and onward towards

Birmingham New Street Birmingham New Street is the largest and busiest of the Birmingham station group, three main railway stations in Birmingham city centre, England, and a central hub of the Rail transport in the United Kingdom, British railway system. It is a ma ...

and the line connecting Norwich and Liverpool Lime Street via the Midlands. More local routes include the East Suffolk Line, the

Wherry Lines The Wherry Lines are railway branch lines in the East of England, linking to and . There are 14 stations including the three termini. They form part of Network Rail Strategic Route 7, SRS 07.11 and are classified as a rural line. The lines ...

and

Bittern Line The Bittern Line is a railway branch line in Norfolk, England, that links to . It passes through the Broads on its route to an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty on the north Norfolk coast. It is named after the bittern, a rare bird found in t ...

around Norwich, the Felixstowe Branch Line and the Fen Line connecting Cambridge with

Kings Lynn King's Lynn, known until 1537 as Bishop's Lynn and colloquially as Lynn, is a port and market town in the borough of King's Lynn and West Norfolk in the county of Norfolk, England. It is located north of London, north-east of Peterborough, no ...

. The majority of services in the region are operated by Abellio Greater Anglia, including all services from London to Norwich.

London North Eastern Railway London North Eastern Railway (LNER) is a British train operating company. It is owned by the DfT OLR Holdings for the Department for Transport (DfT). The company's name echoes that of the London and North Eastern Railway, one of the Big Four ...

operates services on the East Coast Main Line and

Great Northern Great Northern may refer to: Transport * One of a number of railways; see Great Northern Railway (disambiguation). * Great Northern Railway (U.S.), a defunct American transcontinental railroad and major predecessor of the BNSF Railway. * Great ...

operates local services on this line and some services through Cambridge.

East Midlands Railway Abellio East Midlands Limited, trading as East Midlands Railway (EMR), is a train operating company in England, owned by Abellio, and is the current operator of the East Midlands franchise. History In March 2017, the Department for Transport a ...

operates services from Norwich to Liverpool and

CrossCountry CrossCountry (legal name XC Trains Limited) is a train operating company in the United Kingdom owned by Arriva UK Trains, operating the Cross Country franchise. The CrossCountry franchise was restructured by the Department for Transport (DfT) ...

runs trains west from the Cambridge area. The

Dutchflyer ''Dutchflyer'' is an integrated passenger service between the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. Formerly known as ''Amsterdam Express'', ''Dutchflyer'' is a rail/sea/rail service operated jointly by Stena Line, the Dutch state railway operator ...

service runs from Cambridge and

Lowestoft Lowestoft ( ) is a coastal town and civil parish in the East Suffolk district of Suffolk, England.OS Explorer Map OL40: The Broads: (1:25 000) : . As the most easterly UK settlement, it is north-east of London, north-east of Ipswich and sou ...

to the port of Harwich to link with the

Stena Line Stena Line is a Swedish shipping line company and one of the largest ferry operators in the world. It services Denmark, Germany, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Latvia, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland and Sweden. Stena Line is a major unit of Ste ...

ferry service to Hook of Holland. A variety of rail freight services run throughout the region. The

Port of Felixstowe The Port of Felixstowe, in Felixstowe, Suffolk, is the United Kingdom's busiest container port, dealing with 48% of Britain's containerised trade. In 2017, it was ranked as 43rd busiest container port in the world and 8th in Europe, with a han ...

is a major focus for these with around 830,000 containers travelling by rail in 2013.Ipswich Chord rail link opens for Felixstowe freight
BBC news website, 2014-03-29. Retrieved 2014-03-29. This equates to over a quarter of all container traffic leaving the port as of early 2013. in June 2013 a new nine track container terminal opened, expanding the number of lines available to 20.Felixstowe port opens new £40m rail terminal
BBC Suffolk news website, 2013-06-06. Retrieved 2013-06-06. The new terminal is the third at the port and the first in the country to be capable of handling 30-wagon trains.Felixstowe: New rail terminal at port officially opened by Duke
''East Anglian Daily Times'', 2013-06-07. Retrieved 2013-06-26. Freightliner have a depot at Ipswich station. The Ipswich Railway Chord opened in March 2014. This links the East Suffolk Line with the Great Eastern Main Line at Ipswich, allowing easier access to the national rail network for rail freight from Felixstowe.Ipswich: Work progresses on new freight chord
''Ipswich Star'', 2013-04-02. Retrieved 2013-06-08.Felixstowe rail link gets green light
Railway Strategies, 2012-11-28. Retrieved 2013-06-08.Felixstowe: Work starts on new rail line to take containers off the A14
''East Anglian Daily Times'', 2012-08-29. Retrieved 2013-06-08.

Road

Two small stretches of motorway run through East Anglia, with the end of the M11 south of

and sections of the A1 in

and around

being classed as motorway. Main trunk routes maintained by Highways England in the region include the A1, A11, A12, A14 and A47. A variety of other major roads run through the region, maintained by county councils. The A14 is particularly significant as an east-west route, linking the

with the Midlands and the national motorway network through Cambridgeshire.Scheme to improve the A14 is confirmed
BBC news website, 2011-11-11. Retrieved 2013-06-12.A14 Cambridgeshire: lower toll favoured by study
BBC news website, 2012-11-12. It has been described as "one of most important and clogged up arteries in Great Britain" and as a key route with "strategic national importance".A14 toll road between Huntingdon and Cambridge gets government backing
BBC new website, 2013-06-27. Retrieved 2013-06-27. Proposals to upgrade the route were put forward in 2012 and received government backing in June 2013.A14 toll in Cambridgeshire proposed by government
BBC news website, 2012-07-18. Retrieved 2013-06-12.A14 upgrade to be toll road paid for by motorists
BBC news website, 2012-07-19. Retrieved 2013-06-12. The project was originally planned to include a toll section between Cambridge and the A1. Local authorities and businesses pledged to contribute at least £100 million towards the improved route,A14 upgrade: Meeting discusses "innovative" funding
BBC news website, 2013-02-08. Retrieved 2013-06-27.A14 upgrade: Treasury to announce decision on Thursday
BBC news website, 2013-06-26. Retrieved 2013-06-27.A14 toll road could be bad for ports, businesses say
BBC news website, 2013-06-28. Retrieved 2013-06-28. although concerns were raised that the toll would discourage haulage companies off using the route and isolate ports on the Suffolk coast.A14 toll road would 'uniquely affect' Suffolk
BBC news website, 2013-07-02. Retrieved 2013-07-03. In December 2013 the plan to fund the road through tolls was dropped with the developments to be funded from general taxation.Plan to use tolls to fund A14 improvements abandoned
BBC news website, 2014-12-13. Retrieved 2014-03-29.A14 toll charge plan rejection 'victory for common sense'
BBC news website, 2014-12-03. Retrieved 2014-03-29.Plans for A14 toll road in East Anglia 'to be dropped'
''The Guardian'', 2013-12-03. Retrieved 2014-03-29. Work on the project is expected to begin in 2016 and cost £1.5 billion.

Bus services

Bus services in East Anglia are run by a number of operators. First Eastern Counties is the main operator in Suffolk and Norfolk, while Stagecoach East are the main operator in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough. National Express coach services run from London to major cities in the region including Norwich, Great Yarmouth and Cambridge. A large number of other bus companies run local services throughout the region. The Cambridgeshire Guided Busway opened in August 2011 as a dedicated bus route linking the centre of Cambridge with

Cambridge Science Park The Cambridge Science Park, founded by Trinity College in 1970, is the oldest science park in the United Kingdom. It is a concentration of science and technology related businesses, and has strong links with the nearby University of Cambridge. ...

, St Ives and

.Cambridgeshire guided busway opens to passengers
BBC Cambridgeshire news website, 2011-08-07. Retrieved 2013-02-12. The route is believed to be the longest guided busway in the world.

Cycle routes

East Anglia is well suited to cycling with a generally flat landscape. A number of National Cycle Network routes run through the region, including National Cycle Route 1. Provision for cyclists is good in some of the major towns within the region with

having the highest level of cycle use in the UK with between 18% and 25% of residents travelling to work by bicycleCambridge announced as national cycling town
, Press release, Cambridgeshire County Council, 2008-06-19. Retrieved 2013-02-12.Cambridge 'barometer' could count city's bike journeys
BBC Cambridgeshire news website, 2013-06-17. Retrieved 2013-06-17. and nearly 50% of residents cycling at least once a week - the highest figure of any town or city in the UK - in a Sport England survey published in 2012.Cambridge beats Oxford in DfT cycling survey
BBC news website, 2013-04-17. Retrieved 2013-06-17.

Ports

Aerial view of the dock at the Port of Felixstowe

The

is the busiest container port in the United Kingdom and is a key gateway for container traffic into the country dealing with over 40% of container traffic.Felixstowe plays down London Gateway threat
''Daily Telegraph'', 2012-10-21. Retrieved 2013-06-26. The port is operated by

Hutchison Ports Hutchison Port Holdings Limited (HPH; ), trading as Hutchison Ports (), is a private holding company incorporated in the British Virgin Islands. The port operator group is a subsidiary of CK Hutchison Holdings (formerly Hutchison Whampoa). Some o ...

, a subsidiary of

Hutchison Whampoa Hutchison Whampoa Limited (HWL) was an investment holding company based in Hong Kong. It was a Fortune Global 500 company and one of the largest companies listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. HWL was an international corporation with a dive ...

, and employs over 2500 people as of 2013.Port of Felixstowe
, ''Eastern Daily Press''. Retrieved 2013-06-26. A £300 million expansion to the port was completed in 2011 and a new rail terminal opened in June 2013.The Port of Felixstowe is getting a £300m extension
BBC Suffolk news website, 2010-03-11. Retrieved 2013-06-06.Port of Felixstowe's new crane should ease congestion
BBC Suffolk news website, 2011-01-13. Retrieved 2013-06-06. The A14 provides road links to the port. Other significant ports in the region include

Ipswich dock The Ipswich Docks, Ipswich wet dock and the wet dock,) are a series docks in Port of Ipswich located at a bend of the River Orwell which has been used for trade since at least the 8th Century. A wet dock was constructed in 1842 which was 'the big ...

s, the

Port of Lowestoft The Port of Lowestoft is a harbour in Lowestoft in the English county of Suffolk owned by Associated British Ports. It is the most easterly harbour in the United Kingdom and has direct sea access to the North Sea. The harbour is made up of two ...

Great Yarmouth Outer Harbour Great Yarmouth Outer Harbour is a port constructed on the east coast of England at Great Yarmouth. Construction work on the Outer Harbour began in June 2007. The harbour which is built in the South Denes area was planned to bring trade to the are ...

King's Lynn Docks King's Lynn Docks are located to the north of the town of King's Lynn in the English county of Norfolk.''OS Explorer Map 23” (Edition A 1997) – “Norfolk Coast West''. . They are on the River Great Ouse which provides access to the North Se ...

and Wisbech Port. Ipswich deals with more than two million tonnes of cargo a year and has freight rail links on site.ABP short sea ports
Associated British Ports. Retrieved 2013-02-12. King's Lynn and Wisbeach are focussed on dealing with agricultural products from the surrounding farmland, whilst Lowestoft and Great Yarmouth play an important role in servicing the North Sea energy industries, including the growing offshore wind energy industry.Wisbech Port
, Fenland District Council. Retrieved 2013-02-12. A number of smaller ports and leisure harbours, such as at Wells-next-the-Sea and Southwold operate around the region's coast. The major freight and passenger port of Harwich International Port is located just to the south of Felixstowe in Essex. Ferry services run from here to

Esbjerg Esbjerg (, ) is a seaport town and seat of Esbjerg Municipality on the west coast of the Jutland peninsula in southwest Denmark. By road, it is west of Kolding and southwest of Aarhus. With an urban population of 71,698 (1 January 2022)

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

and Hook of Holland. Within the region a number of local vehicle and passenger ferry services remain in service, including the

Reedham Ferry Reedham Ferry is a vehicular chain ferry across the River Yare in the English county of Norfolk, in the Broads. The ferry crosses the river near the village of Reedham and is the only crossing of the Yare between the bridge carrying the A47 o ...

across the

River Yare The River Yare is a river in the English county of Norfolk. In its lower reaches it is one of the principal navigable waterways of The Broads and connects with the rest of the network. The river rises south of Dereham to the west to the villag ...

in Norfolk and the King's Lynn passenger ferry across the

River Great Ouse The River Great Ouse () is a river in England, the longest of several British rivers called "Ouse". From Syresham in Northamptonshire, the Great Ouse flows through Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Norfolk to drain into the Wa ...

References

{{Reflist, 2 Transport in England by locality East Anglia Transport in the East of England