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The East Suffolk Line is an un-electrified secondary railway line running between Ipswich and Lowestoft. A two-hourly passenger service is operated by National Express East Anglia and freight services also use the line; timber is hauled by EWS and nuclear flasks for Leiston (for the Sizewell nuclear power stations) are carried by Direct Rail Services.
Contents |
Route
The towns and villages on the line are listed below.
- Ipswich
- Westerfield
- Line diverges to Felixstowe
- Woodbridge
- Melton
- Wickham Market
- Saxmundham
- Freight-only line diverges to Leiston
- Darsham
- Halesworth
- Brampton
- Beccles
- Oulton Broad South
- Lowestoft
Proposed developments
Beccles loop
The current service is well used and operates a two-hourly service. The extensive sections of single track make it impossible to increase the frequency and studies have been made as to how to adapt the line to allow a more frequent service. Proposals for a passing loop at Beccles, costed at between £500K and £4 million are now at an advanced stage. If completed it would allow an hourly service to be operated between Lowestoft and London.[1]
History
In about 1847 the Ipswich & Bury Railway had secured the rights to built the line from Ipswich to Woodbridge but works were delayed for financial reasons. The Ipswich & Bury Railway was absorbed by then Eastern Union Railway in 1847.
The Halesworth, Beccles & Haddiscoe Railway was incorporated in 1851 and the first section of the East Suffolk line from Beccles to Halesworth was constructed by Peto Brassey & Betts. The East Suffolk railway, which had been incorporated on 3 July 1854, took over the powers of the Halesworth, Beccles & Haddiscoe Railway[2] and the route opened on the 4 December 1854.[2] It continued north to Haddiscoe on what is now part of the Wherry Lines.[3]
On the 1 June 1859 the line was opened as far south as Ipswich and north to Great Yarmouth.[2] The Beccles to Lowestoft branch line was opened in the same year.[3]
The Eastern Union Railway was amagamated with other companies into the Great Eastern Railway in 1862.
The Beccles to Great Yarmouth section was closed in 1959, exactly one hundred years after it had been opened.[3] The rest of the line was then threatened with complete closure as part of the Beeching Axe in the early 1960s.[4]
Parts of remaining line were reduced to single-track in 1984 and through trains to London were discontinued at that time.[3]
The line was privatised in 1997[3] when the franchise was awarded to Anglia Railways who operated it until April 2004 when National Express East Anglia won the replacement franchise operating under the brand name 'One' until February 2008.
Under Network Rail planning the line is part of Strategic Route 7. The section between Ipswich and Westerfield is a part of SRS 07.12 and is classified as secondary line with the remainder of the line being part of SRS 07.11 and classified as rural.[5]
Infrastructure
The line is double-track from Ipswich to Woodbridge and from Saxmundham to Halesworth with the rest of the route being single track. The line is not electrified, has a loading gauge of W10 between Ipswich and Westerfield and W6 for all other sections, and a line speed of between 40-75 mph.[5]
The section from Westerfield to Oulton Broad is signalled using Radio Electronic Token Block controlled from Saxmundham,[3] and is the only line in England to use this system (the system is used elsewhere in the UK in Scotland and Wales).
Passenger services are operated by diesel multiple units. Most are Class 170 and on Monday-Saturday these usually operate direct to London Liverpool Street. Almost all other trains are Class 156 and occasionally Class 153.
References
- ^ "Council Gathering Support for Beccles Loop". East Suffolk Line. http://www.eastsuffolkline.com/news_22-03-2007.html. Retrieved 2009-05-01.
- ^ a b c "The coming of the railway to the area". Belton History. http://www.beltonhistory.co.uk/article.php?id_art=47. Retrieved 2009-05-02.
- ^ a b c d e f "East Suffolk Line". East Suffolk Line. http://www.eastsuffolkline.com/railwayline.html. Retrieved 2009-05-01.
- ^ "An Illustrated History of East Suffolk Railway (Hardcover)". Amazon books. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Illustrated-History-East-Suffolk-Railway/dp/0860935728. Retrieved 2009-05-02.
- ^ a b "Route 7 - Great Eastern". Network Rail. http://www.networkrail.co.uk/browse%20documents/StrategicBusinessPlan/RoutePlans/2009/Route%207%20-%20Great%20Eastern.pdf. Retrieved 2009-05-20.
External links
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This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
