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No EU cash yet for East Anglian plans
Page 18
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The DfT says the East of England Regional Assembly is premature in its demands for European funding to boost rail freight. Chris Tindall reports.
LOCAL AUTHORITIES in East Anglia demanding European funding to help shift freight movements from road to rail are premature. according to the Department for Transport (EMT), which says domestic grants must first be investigated.
The East of England Regional Assembly (EERA) has written to new Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly urging her to overrule advice given to her by civil servants and help back a bid to win funding from the EC's Trans-European Network Transport (TEN-T) budget.
However, the DIT says it is unable to submit the bid until potential revenue streams within the UK have been exhausted. A spokeswoman says the EERA's plan to improve the Felixstowe to Nuneaton rail line and remove LGVs from the Al4 has been shortlisted for the Transport Innovation Fund (TIF) and until the outcome of that is known, no proposal can he put forward for European funding.
John Reynolds, chairman of the regional planning panel group, was unable to comment as CM went to press,but in a letter to the Transport Secretary he says: "I cannot overstate the dismay of members of the Regional Planning Panel over the government's approach to this and the level of support for bringing forward enhancements to the Felixstowe to Nuneaton line that exists both within our region and outside."
However, a DO' spokeswoman says: "We have explained this to them; they are being slightly impatient. The stage that line is at is the TIE funding stage. We're trying to see if it's going to get it... until that's sorted out this end, it doesn't meet the criteria for European funding."