East Suffolk Line

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East Suffolk Line
Principal stations

Ipswich
Westerfield

Woodbridge
Melton
Wickham Market
Saxmundham
Darsham
Halesworth
Brampton
Beccles
Oulton Broad South
Lowestoft

The East Suffolk Line is a railway line from Ipswich to Lowestoft in Suffolk. It was once part of the Great Eastern Railway, but is now a secondary line. There is a faster service via Norwich, but the necessity to change trains and the greater distance involved means the travel time is roughly the same regardless of the route.

The towns and villages on the line are listed below.

The first part of the line was opened in 1854, from Beccles to Halesworth. It continued north to Haddiscoe, now on the Wherry Lines. The line was taken south to Ipswich and north to Great Yarmouth in 1859. In 1959 the line north of Beccles was closed and services rerouted via Oulton Broad South to Lowestoft.

Passenger services are operated by 'one', who replaced the previous franchise Anglia Railways in April 2004. Some freight services are also operated over the line, including EWS-hauled timber traffic, and nuclear flask trains to Leiston (for Sizewell nuclear power station) operated by Direct Rail Services.

The line is not electrified.

From Westerfield to Oulton Broad the line is signalled using Radio Electronic Token Block controlled from Saxmundham, and is the only line in England to use this system (the system is used elsewhere in the UK in Scotland and Wales).

External links


Railway lines in the East of England:
Main lines: East Coast Main Line   Great Eastern Main Line
Cambridge-King's Lynn "Fen" Line   Cambridge-Norwich "Breckland" Line   Colchester-Clacton "Sunshine Coast" Line
Ely-Peterborough Line   Ipswich-Ely Line   London-Cambridge Line   London, Tilbury & Southend Line
Manningtree-Harwich "Mayflower" Line   Thameslink   West Anglia Main Line   
Commuter lines: Hertford Loop Line   Lea Valley Lines   Northern City Line   Romford-Upminster Line   
Shenfield-Southend Victoria Line   Witham-Braintree Line
Rural lines: Cambridge-Ipswich Line    Crouch Valley Line   East Suffolk Line   Grantham-Skegness Line
Ipswich-Felixstowe Line   Marks Tey-Sudbury "Gainsborough" Line   Norwich-Sheringham "Bittern" Line
Peterborough-Lincoln Line   Thorpe le Soken-Walton "Sunshine Coast" Line   Wherry Lines