Felixstowe rail link boost

The 1.3km chord will allow freight trains to travel directly from Felixstowe to the Midlands.

The contribution makes up part of a £41m rail project to link mainland Europe with Ireland across England.

The hope is that the rail link will move trucks off the heavily congested A14, which links Felixstowe with the M1 and M6 motorways.

While the Network Rail project was fully-funded, the contribution from the EU will allow some of the capital already committed to be moved to other projects.

The EU has also made grants totalling £13m towards dredging a new channel in the Haven Ports and for improvements to the Felixstowe freight terminal opened last month.