St. Edmund’s Line Community Rail Partnership

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The St. Edmund’s Line Community Rail Partnership works with local communities along the line and supports projects which relate to “community” and “rail”.

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St. Edmund’s Line runs through the middle of East Anglia, joining the towns and cities of Ipswich, Needham Market, Stowmarket, Bury St. Edmunds, Newmarket and Cambridge and stopping at the villages of Elmswell, Thurston, Kennett and Dullingham along the way. Soham, on the Ely spur, is also covered by the Partnership.

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The Partnership is funded by Greater Anglia, the train operator; Suffolk and Cambridgeshire County Councils; Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Combined Authority; Cambridge City Council; East Cambridgeshire District Council; Ipswich Borough Council; Mid Suffolk District Council; and West Suffolk Council and supported by the Community Rail Network and Network Rail.

 

What is Community Rail?

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Community rail is based on the 4 pillars of:

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A. Providing a voice for the community;

B. Promoting sustainable and healthy travel;

C. Bringing communities together, supporting diversity and inclusion;

D. Supporting social and economic development.

 

Within this definition, what we can support is fairly broad.

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We aim to:

• Increase the involvement of local communities in the railway, e.g. through station adoption and by forging links with local schools and colleges, local businesses and voluntary and community sector organisations.

• Raise awareness of, and promote, the rail services along the line as a low carbon sustainable way to access destinations for work and education, recreation, leisure and tourism.

• Encourage better integration with other forms of public transport, with walking and cycling.

• Develop stations as gateways to local communities.

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