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The Felixstowe Branch Line is a railway line from Ipswich to Felixstowe in Suffolk. The line follows the East Suffolk Line from Ipswich to Westerfield, and then diverges to the south. Passenger services are operated by National Express East Anglia. The line is extensively used by freight trains to the Port of Felixstowe, operated by EWS, Freightliner and FirstGBRf.
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History
The Felixstowe Railway and Pier Company was formed in 1875 by Colonel George Tomline,[1] The first passenger train ran from Westerfield to Felixstowe in 1877 [1] and initially also served Orwell railway station and Felixstowe Beach railway station both of which have since been closed. In 1879 the line was transferred to the Great Eastern Railway.[1]
National Express East Anglia replaced the previous franchise Anglia Railways on April 1st 2004.
Operations
Under Network Rail planning the line is part of the Strategic Route 7, SRS 07.12 and is classified as a secondary line.[2]
The line is double track from Ipswich to Westerfield and single track from Westerfield to Felixstowe, except for a double track section at Derby Road which is long enough to allow two freight trains to pass each other. The line is not electrified, has a loading gauge of W10 but excludes W9 between Westerfield and Felixstowe, and has a line speed of between 40-75 mph.[2]
There are two junctions: one at Trimley station, where the diverging route to Felixstowe Docks parallels the line through a disused platform at Trimley before a sharp turn to the right towards the docks; the other at Felixstowe just under the Maidstone Road bridge, where the line diverges: the left line going a short distance to Felixstowe Station and the right line going along the old Felixstowe Beach Station branch to Felixstowe docks.
Signalling
The railway is completely track circuited with colour-light signals and is controlled from Colchester PSB. Multiple traffic can use the same section at the same time and freight trains regularly follow behind passenger services.
Proposed developments
Line Dualing to Trinity Park
The line is dualled for a further 8 km to a point just south of Trinity Park (the Suffolk showground) by 2014 as part of the Felixstowe and Nuneaton freight capacity scheme.[3]
References
- ^ a b c "HISTORY OF THE PORT". Port of Felixstowe. http://www.portoffelixstowe.co.uk/PUBLICATIONS/JOURNAL/frmhistory.aspx. Retrieved 2009-05-03.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "Enhancements programme: statement of scope, outputs and milestones". Network Rail. 2009.03.31. http://www.networkrail.co.uk/browse%20documents/StrategicBusinessPlan/Delivery%20Plan/2009/Enhancements.pdf. Retrieved 2009-09-29.
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