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SEEDA Welcomes Rail Freight Improvements to Ease Congestion in the South East
19th December 2006
The South East England Development Agency (SEEDA) welcomes the announcement from the Department of Transport that a key project providing improved off road freight links between the Solent and the Midlands (SMART) will be considered for funding.
Secretary of State for Transport Douglas Alexander MP has announced that improvements to the rail links between the Ports of Southampton and Portsmouth with Birmingham will be considered for the Transport Innovation Fund (TIF).
The business case for the TiF bid was facilitated and funded jointly by SEEDA and Advantage West Midlands using Regional Development Agency (RDA) and European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) Interreg IIIB money, and the expertise of Steer Davies Gleaves consultants. The project is jointly led by Network Rail and SEEDA and includes a committed partnership from the private and the public sector.
The Solent-Midlands Advancement of Rail Transport (SMART) project focuses on upgrading the national freight artery from the Ports of Southampton and Portsmouth to the Midlands, the second most important transport corridor to the UK economy. The scheme comprises alterations to 54 railway structures, mainly bridges and tunnels, with an estimated cost of around £53 million.
Lee Amor, SEEDA Executive Director of Development and Infrastructure said: "We are delighted about the positive news of investing in the SMART initiative and together with the recent announcements on Regional Funding Allocation for priority transport projects, we are beginning to see a step change in investing in the South East and addressing congestion.
"This will help us to address the delivery of some of the most fundamental objectives and policies of the Regional Economic Strategy for the South East – in particular to help reduce the rate of increase in the region’s ecological footprint by reducing carbon road emissions - by securing appropriate access to our international gateways and enabling the Port of Southampton, the second largest UK container port, to stay globally competitive."
As a next step, Network Rail will work closely with SEEDA and the other core delivery partners of SMART to seek to finalise funding and planning arrangements during the early parts of 2007.
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