œ172m Felixstowe to Swindon link will be awarded early in 1999 says Railtrack - Cross-country rail awards due

The East-West Rail Link, which could be worth up to œ172m to contractors, has passed its second phase, and the first construction contracts are set to be awarded by early 1999.

The rail link, which is set to link Felixstowe, Norwich and Ipswich with Oxford and Swindon, will be built in two stages. A western section between Oxford and Bedford is set to be ready by 2000, and the eastern Bedford to East Anglia line is planned for 2003.

Although only 10 miles of new track is required to complete the scheme, substantial upgrades to existing track are needed between Oxford and Bedford. Completely new rail links - linking Bedford, Sandy and Letchworth - have to be built. The new line between Bedford and Sandy will have to negotiate a number of built-up areas.

The East-West Rail Consortium - a public-private partnership between Railtrack, 25 local authorities, and central government - is currently considering two packages for the link.

A œ98m scheme would deliver a passenger service but not enough freight capacity, something that Railtrack is not keen on.

Currently, much of the freight that comes out of Felixstowe has first to travel south through London before travelling north. Railtrack wants to reduce these diversions.

The second œ172m scheme would deliver a better track and signalling scheme to cater for increased freight traffic, and also deliver quicker passenger times.

Alan Beswick, an associate at consultant Steer Davies Gleave which is handling the project, said both Railtrack and the freight operators favoured the more expensive option.

Over the next four months Railtrack will study the track proposals in greater detail, before the consortium moves into the third phase of designing the link.