THE dream of hourly direct trains running between Lowestoft and London, via Ipswich, have moved a step closer to reality after Network Rail gave its backing to a scheme to build a passing loop at Beccles.

HOPES of hourly direct trains to London on the East Suffolk line through Woodbridge and Wickham Market have moved a step closer to reality after Network Rail gave its backing to a scheme to build a passing loop at Beccles.

Train users have been calling for a passing loop to be put in place for nearly 25 years, and now the company which owns the railways has agreed that the £5m scheme makes good business sense.

Currently there is only a single length of track between Beccles and Lowestoft, meaning trains cannot pass one another until they are about 20 miles down the line.

A passing loop - an extra line to allow a train travelling to London to pass another travelling to Lowestoft - would mean that the frequency of the service could be doubled to offer hourly direct trains to London Liverpool Street. Network Rail has now completed a £25,000 feasibility study into the project and confirmed that the passing loop would benefit train users in east Suffolk.

Guy McGregor, Suffolk County Council's portfolio holder for roads and transport, said: “This particular scheme is well supported in the community and by local councils, now it has a good chance of being in place within the next three-and-a-half years.”