Network Rail has announced plans to invest more than £40 million to build a new rail freight link in Nuneaton.

Known as the Nuneaton North Chord, the new line, approximately one mile long, will allow freight to cross from Peterborough to the West Coast Main Line without disrupting passenger services.

The announcement comes on the back of money pledged last year to improve the line for freight between Peterborough and Felixstowe.

It is hoped that the improvements would reduce the need for many lorries which currently use the A14.

Cabinet member for planning strategy at Huntingdonshire District Council Peter Bucknell said: "It's a good project and it will cut down lorries, there's no question about it. Environmentally it's good as freight trains are greener than lorries.

"I am concerned that traffic from Felixstowe to Birmingham will still go by the road, as it's that much quicker. But anything going further than that will relieve it.And that's where a lot of the bulky materials will go, such as for the car industry in the north-west."

There are plans to upgrade the A14 by 2015, but at the moment the road is one of the most congested and dangerous in the country.

Cllr Bucknell believed the removal of the lorries could have a significant effect on this.

He added: "When we look at the accident record it does seem to be the lorries that are normally the cause."

A word of caution was added by the councillor by an admittance that the net amount of traffic on the road could remain unchanged.
He said: "The trouble with the A14 is that even if we remove 20,000 lorries we will still be back to where we are now because of the general increase in traffic."