Study looks into expansion of train services for Manea

Survey work is being carried out at a Fenland railway station in an effort to increase services and passenger numbers.

Engineers completed track assessments at the Manea station at the weekend, with further work scheduled to take place tomorrow.

The work is part of a £359,000 feasibility study funded by the Greater Cambridge Greater Peterborough local enterprise partnership (GCGPLEP).

They awarded the money to Fenland District Council, on behalf of the Hereward Rail Community Partnership.

An earlier study concluded that lengthening the station’s platforms, to enable longer trains to serve the station, was viable.

Work on the study is expected to be completed by the end of the year.

And partnership chairman Simon King said: “The commissioning and completion of these surveys is an important milestone in this project. Detailed plans and measurements of each station will facilitate ongoing option design work.

“We expect to share all the information from this study including the options for each scheme in early 2018.”

GCGPLEP chairman Mark Reeve added: “Enabling the delivery of infrastructure improvements has been an important part of the LEP’s work to date.

“We are pleased to see the start of this survey work, which has been funded by our Growth Deal, and hope that it unlocks further funding to allow improvement works to get underway as soon as possible.”

The project is also looking at lengthening the platforms at the Whittlesey station, as well as building a new footbridge.