Park & Ride terminal, Norwich Airport - geograph

Transport in East Anglia consists of extensive road and rail networks as well as one of England's key regional airports and the country's busiest container port. Despite having very little motorway within their borders, the counties of

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include L ...

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the Nort ...

and

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and North ...

have modern transport links with the rest of the country.

Airports

Norwich Airport is the major passenger airport within

East Anglia East Anglia is an area in the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, a people whose name originated in Anglia, in ...

. In 2011 it was the 25th busiest airport in the United Kingdom and deals with over 400,000 passengers a year.Airport will benefit from extra Amsterdam flights
, ''Eastern Daily Press'', 2012-10-19. Retrieved 2013-02-12. Airlines operating from the airport include KLM, Loganair and

TUI Airways TUI Airways Limited (formerly Thomsonfly and Thomson Airways) is a British charter airline, offering scheduled and charter flights from the United Kingdom and Ireland to destinations in Europe, Africa, Asia and North America. The airline is t ...

. Destinations served by the airport include

Amsterdam Airport Schiphol Amsterdam Airport Schiphol , known informally as Schiphol Airport ( nl, Luchthaven Schiphol, ), is the main international airport of the Netherlands. It is located southwest of Amsterdam, in the municipality of Haarlemmermeer in the province ...

, a major European and world hub airport, and domestic locations such as

Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal c ...

and

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), ...

as well as locations in countries such as Spain, Turkey and Greece. There are a number of other private airfields in the region, including heliports servicing the North Sea oil and gas industry such as at

Great Yarmouth – North Denes Airport North Denes Airport is a heliport that is located in the northern suburbs of Great Yarmouth, just off the A149 next to Yarmouth Stadium, formerly used as a base for services to the gas platforms in the southern North Sea. Fixed-wing aircraf ...

and at Norwich Airport. Regular flights from

Cambridge Airport Cambridge City Airport , previously Marshall Airport Cambridge UK, is a regional airport in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the eastern outskirts of Cambridge, south of Newmarket Road and west of the village of Teversham, from the ...

operated to destinations such as

Jersey Jersey ( , ; nrf, Jèrri, label=Jèrriais ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey (french: Bailliage de Jersey, links=no; Jèrriais: ), is an island country and self-governing Crown Dependencies, Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west F ...

with occasional flights to other European destinations.Cambridge Airport reinstates scheduled flights
BBC news website, 2012-05-12. Retrieved 2013-05-20.Cambridge Airport Europe business routes announced
BBC news website, 2013-05-20. Retrieved 2013-05-20.Darwin's Cambridge international flights halted 'temporarily'
BBC news website, 2014-03-12. Retrieved 2014-03-29.
''Cambridge News'', 2014-03-12. Retrieved 2014-03-29. All scheduled and charter flights were halted at the end of January 2016 due to a lack of passenger numbers.
''

Cambridge News The ''Cambridge News'' (formerly the ''Cambridge Evening News'') is a British daily newspaper. Published each weekday and on Saturdays, it is distributed from its Waterbeach base. In the period December 2010 – June 2011 it had an average dai ...

'', 2015-12-02. Retrieved 2016-02-02.

Stansted Airport London Stansted Airport is a tertiary international airport serving London, England, United Kingdom. It is located near Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex, England, northeast of Central London. London Stansted serves over 160 destinations acr ...

is located just outside the region in north-west Essex. This is the third busiest airport in the UK and the closest major airport to East Anglia.

Rail

The

East Coast Main Line The East Coast Main Line (ECML) is a electrified railway between London and Edinburgh via Peterborough, Doncaster, York, Darlington, Durham and Newcastle. The line is a key transport artery on the eastern side of Great Britain runni ...

passes through the region with some express trains stopping at

Peterborough Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until ...

. Local services on this line also stop at

St Neots St NeotsPronunciation of the town name: Most commonly, but variations that ''saint'' is said as in most English non-georeferencing speech, the ''t'' is by a small minority of the British pronounced and higher traces of in the final syllable ...

and

Huntingdon Huntingdon is a market town in the Huntingdonshire district in Cambridgeshire, England. The town was given its town charter by King John in 1205. It was the county town of the historic county of Huntingdonshire. Oliver Cromwell was born there ...

. The other Inter City route in the region is the

Great Eastern Main Line The Great Eastern Main Line (GEML, sometimes referred to as the East Anglia Main Line) is a major railway line on the British railway system which connects Liverpool Street station in central London with destinations in east London and th ...

which has

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the Episcopal see, See of ...

as its terminus. Major stations in the region on this route include

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line r ...

Stowmarket Stowmarket ( ) is a market town in Suffolk, England,OS Explorer map 211: Bury St.Edmunds and Stowmarket Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton A2 edition. Publishing Date:2008. on the busy A14 trunk road between Bury St Edm ...

and

Diss Diss or DISS may refer to: *Diss, Alberta, a place in Canada *Diss, Norfolk, a market town in England, United Kingdom **Diss railway station **Diss Rugby Club ** Diss Town F.C. *Diss grass, a Mediterranean grass *Diss (music), a song whose primary ...

. Major commuter lines in the region include the West Anglia Main Line which connects

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge beca ...

with London Liverpool Street and the Cambridge Line which connects the city with London King's Cross. These routes all run north-south and connect the region with London and, in the case of the East Coast Main Line, with cities in the north of Britain. Routes running east-west in the region include connections between Ipswich and Cambridge and onward towards Birmingham New Street and the line connecting Norwich and Liverpool Lime Street via the Midlands. More local routes include the East Suffolk Line, the Wherry Lines and

Bittern Line The Bittern Line is a railway branch line in Norfolk, England, that links to . It passes through the Broads on its route to an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty on the north Norfolk coast. It is named after the bittern, a rare bird found in t ...

around Norwich, the Felixstowe Branch Line and the Fen Line connecting Cambridge with

Kings Lynn King's Lynn, known until 1537 as Bishop's Lynn and colloquially as Lynn, is a port and market town in the borough of King's Lynn and West Norfolk in the county of Norfolk, England. It is located north of London, north-east of Peterborough, nor ...

. The majority of services in the region are operated by

Abellio Greater Anglia Greater Anglia (legal name Abellio East Anglia Limited) is a train operating company in Great Britain owned as a joint venture by Abellio, the international arm of the state-owned Dutch national rail operator Nederlandse Spoorwegen, and the Ja ...

, including all services from London to Norwich.

London North Eastern Railway London North Eastern Railway (LNER) is a British train operating company. It is owned by the DfT OLR Holdings for the Department for Transport (DfT). The company's name echoes that of the London and North Eastern Railway, one of the Big F ...

operates services on the East Coast Main Line and Great Northern operates local services on this line and some services through Cambridge.

East Midlands Railway Abellio East Midlands Limited, trading as East Midlands Railway (EMR), is a train operating company in England, owned by Abellio, and is the current operator of the East Midlands franchise. History In March 2017, the Department for Transport a ...

operates services from Norwich to Liverpool and CrossCountry runs trains west from the Cambridge area. The Dutchflyer service runs from Cambridge and

Lowestoft Lowestoft ( ) is a coastal town and civil parish in the East Suffolk district of Suffolk, England.OS Explorer Map OL40: The Broads: (1:25 000) : . As the most easterly UK settlement, it is north-east of London, north-east of Ipswich and so ...

to the port of Harwich to link with the

Stena Line Stena Line is a Swedish shipping line company and one of the largest ferry operators in the world. It services Denmark, Germany, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Latvia, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland and Sweden. Stena Line is a major unit of Ste ...

ferry service to

Hook of Holland Hook of Holland ( nl, Hoek van Holland, ) is a town in the southwestern corner of Holland, hence the name; ''hoek'' means "corner" and was the word in use before the word ''kaap'' – "cape", from Portuguese ''cabo'' – became Dutch. The English t ...

. A variety of rail freight services run throughout the region. The Port of Felixstowe is a major focus for these with around 830,000 containers travelling by rail in 2013.Ipswich Chord rail link opens for Felixstowe freight
BBC news website, 2014-03-29. Retrieved 2014-03-29. This equates to over a quarter of all container traffic leaving the port as of early 2013. in June 2013 a new nine track container terminal opened, expanding the number of lines available to 20.Felixstowe port opens new £40m rail terminal
BBC Suffolk news website, 2013-06-06. Retrieved 2013-06-06. The new terminal is the third at the port and the first in the country to be capable of handling 30-wagon trains.Felixstowe: New rail terminal at port officially opened by Duke
''East Anglian Daily Times'', 2013-06-07. Retrieved 2013-06-26. Freightliner have a depot at Ipswich station. The Ipswich Railway Chord opened in March 2014. This links the East Suffolk Line with the Great Eastern Main Line at Ipswich, allowing easier access to the national rail network for rail freight from Felixstowe.Ipswich: Work progresses on new freight chord
''Ipswich Star'', 2013-04-02. Retrieved 2013-06-08.Felixstowe rail link gets green light
Railway Strategies, 2012-11-28. Retrieved 2013-06-08.Felixstowe: Work starts on new rail line to take containers off the A14
''East Anglian Daily Times'', 2012-08-29. Retrieved 2013-06-08.

Road

Two small stretches of motorway run through East Anglia, with the end of the M11 south of

and sections of the A1 in

and around

being classed as motorway. Main trunk routes maintained by

Highways England National Highways, formerly the Highways Agency and later Highways England, is a government-owned company charged with operating, maintaining and improving motorways and major A roads in England. It also sets highways standards used by all ...

in the region include the A1, A11, A12, A14 and A47. A variety of other major roads run through the region, maintained by county councils. The A14 is particularly significant as an east-west route, linking the Port of Felixstowe with the Midlands and the national motorway network through Cambridgeshire.Scheme to improve the A14 is confirmed
BBC news website, 2011-11-11. Retrieved 2013-06-12.A14 Cambridgeshire: lower toll favoured by study
BBC news website, 2012-11-12. It has been described as "one of most important and clogged up arteries in Great Britain" and as a key route with "strategic national importance".A14 toll road between Huntingdon and Cambridge gets government backing
BBC new website, 2013-06-27. Retrieved 2013-06-27. Proposals to upgrade the route were put forward in 2012 and received government backing in June 2013.A14 toll in Cambridgeshire proposed by government
BBC news website, 2012-07-18. Retrieved 2013-06-12.A14 upgrade to be toll road paid for by motorists
BBC news website, 2012-07-19. Retrieved 2013-06-12. The project was originally planned to include a toll section between Cambridge and the A1. Local authorities and businesses pledged to contribute at least £100 million towards the improved route,A14 upgrade: Meeting discusses "innovative" funding
BBC news website, 2013-02-08. Retrieved 2013-06-27.A14 upgrade: Treasury to announce decision on Thursday
BBC news website, 2013-06-26. Retrieved 2013-06-27.A14 toll road could be bad for ports, businesses say
BBC news website, 2013-06-28. Retrieved 2013-06-28. although concerns were raised that the toll would discourage haulage companies off using the route and isolate ports on the Suffolk coast.A14 toll road would 'uniquely affect' Suffolk
BBC news website, 2013-07-02. Retrieved 2013-07-03. In December 2013 the plan to fund the road through tolls was dropped with the developments to be funded from general taxation.Plan to use tolls to fund A14 improvements abandoned
BBC news website, 2014-12-13. Retrieved 2014-03-29.A14 toll charge plan rejection 'victory for common sense'
BBC news website, 2014-12-03. Retrieved 2014-03-29.Plans for A14 toll road in East Anglia 'to be dropped'
''The Guardian'', 2013-12-03. Retrieved 2014-03-29. Work on the project is expected to begin in 2016 and cost £1.5 billion.

Bus services

Bus services in East Anglia are run by a number of operators. First Eastern Counties is the main operator in Suffolk and Norfolk, while

Stagecoach East Stagecoach East is the divisional name for the bus operations of the Stagecoach Group in eastern England. History Under the control of the National Bus Company, ''Cambus Ltd.'' was set up when the First Norfolk & Suffolk, Eastern Counties Omni ...

are the main operator in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.

National Express National Express Group is a British multinational public transport company headquartered in Birmingham, England. It operates bus, coach, train and tram services in the United Kingdom, Ireland (National Express operates Eurolines in conjunction ...

coach services run from London to major cities in the region including Norwich, Great Yarmouth and Cambridge. A large number of other bus companies run local services throughout the region. The Cambridgeshire Guided Busway opened in August 2011 as a dedicated bus route linking the centre of Cambridge with

Cambridge Science Park The Cambridge Science Park, founded by Trinity College in 1970, is the oldest science park in the United Kingdom. It is a concentration of science and technology related businesses, and has strong links with the nearby University of Cambridge ...

, St Ives and

.Cambridgeshire guided busway opens to passengers
BBC Cambridgeshire news website, 2011-08-07. Retrieved 2013-02-12. The route is believed to be the longest guided busway in the world.

Cycle routes

East Anglia is well suited to cycling with a generally flat landscape. A number of

National Cycle Network The National Cycle Network (NCN) is the national cycling route network of the United Kingdom, which was established to encourage cycling and walking throughout Britain, as well as for the purposes of bicycle touring. It was created by the cha ...

routes run through the region, including

National Cycle Route 1 The cycle-path is located in the United Kingdom. Route Dover to Canterbury Dover , Deal , Sandwich , Canterbury Links with National Cycle Route 2, Regional route 16, and Regional route 17 in Dover. Leaves Dover passing Dover Castle. ...

. Provision for cyclists is good in some of the major towns within the region with

having the highest level of cycle use in the UK with between 18% and 25% of residents travelling to work by bicycleCambridge announced as national cycling town
, Press release, Cambridgeshire County Council, 2008-06-19. Retrieved 2013-02-12.Cambridge 'barometer' could count city's bike journeys
BBC Cambridgeshire news website, 2013-06-17. Retrieved 2013-06-17. and nearly 50% of residents cycling at least once a week - the highest figure of any town or city in the UK - in a Sport England survey published in 2012.Cambridge beats Oxford in DfT cycling survey
BBC news website, 2013-04-17. Retrieved 2013-06-17.

Ports

Aerial view of the dock at the Port of Felixstowe

The Port of Felixstowe is the busiest container port in the United Kingdom and is a key gateway for container traffic into the country dealing with over 40% of container traffic.Felixstowe plays down London Gateway threat
''Daily Telegraph'', 2012-10-21. Retrieved 2013-06-26. The port is operated by Hutchison Ports, a subsidiary of

Hutchison Whampoa Hutchison Whampoa Limited (HWL) was an investment holding company based in Hong Kong. It was a Fortune Global 500 company and one of the largest companies listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. HWL was an international corporation with a dive ...

, and employs over 2500 people as of 2013.Port of Felixstowe
, ''Eastern Daily Press''. Retrieved 2013-06-26. A £300 million expansion to the port was completed in 2011 and a new rail terminal opened in June 2013.The Port of Felixstowe is getting a £300m extension
BBC Suffolk news website, 2010-03-11. Retrieved 2013-06-06.Port of Felixstowe's new crane should ease congestion
BBC Suffolk news website, 2011-01-13. Retrieved 2013-06-06. The A14 provides road links to the port. Other significant ports in the region include Ipswich docks, the

Port of Lowestoft The Port of Lowestoft is a harbour in Lowestoft in the English county of Suffolk owned by Associated British Ports. It is the most easterly harbour in the United Kingdom and has direct sea access to the North Sea. The harbour is made up of two ...

Great Yarmouth Outer Harbour Great Yarmouth Outer Harbour is a port constructed on the east coast of England at Great Yarmouth. Construction work on the Outer Harbour began in June 2007. The harbour which is built in the South Denes area was planned to bring trade to the are ...

, King's Lynn Docks and Wisbech Port. Ipswich deals with more than two million tonnes of cargo a year and has freight rail links on site.ABP short sea ports
Associated British Ports. Retrieved 2013-02-12. King's Lynn and Wisbeach are focussed on dealing with agricultural products from the surrounding farmland, whilst Lowestoft and Great Yarmouth play an important role in servicing the North Sea energy industries, including the growing offshore wind energy industry.Wisbech Port
, Fenland District Council. Retrieved 2013-02-12. A number of smaller ports and leisure harbours, such as at

Wells-next-the-Sea Wells-next-the-Sea is a port town on the north coast of Norfolk, England. The civil parish has an area of and in 2001 had a population of 2,451,Office for National Statistics & Norfolk County Council (2001). Census population and household c ...

and

Southwold Southwold is a seaside town and civil parish on the English North Sea coast in the East Suffolk district of Suffolk. It lies at the mouth of the River Blyth within the Suffolk Coast and Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The town is a ...

operate around the region's coast. The major freight and passenger port of Harwich International Port is located just to the south of Felixstowe in Essex. Ferry services run from here to

Esbjerg Esbjerg (, ) is a seaport town and seat of Esbjerg Municipality on the west coast of the Jutland peninsula in southwest Denmark. By road, it is west of Kolding and southwest of Aarhus. With an urban population of 71,698 (1 January 2022)

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establishe ...

and

. Within the region a number of local vehicle and passenger ferry services remain in service, including the

Reedham Ferry Reedham Ferry is a vehicular chain ferry across the River Yare in the English county of Norfolk, in the Broads. The ferry crosses the river near the village of Reedham and is the only crossing of the Yare between the bridge carrying the A47 o ...

across the River Yare in Norfolk and the King's Lynn passenger ferry across the

River Great Ouse The River Great Ouse () is a river in England, the longest of several British rivers called "Ouse". From Syresham in Northamptonshire, the Great Ouse flows through Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Norfolk to drain into the W ...

References

{{Reflist, 2 Transport in England by locality East Anglia Transport in the East of England