East Suffolk Line

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East Suffolk Line

Legend Lowestoft Wherry Lines to Norwich Lake Lothing Oulton Broad South (A146) Main Line to Yarmouth Beccles Brampton Halesworth Southwold Railway River Blyth Darsham Darsham level crossing (A12) Aldeburgh branch {part used for Sizewell traffic) Saxmundham former freight branch to Snape Maltings former branch to Framlingham Wickham Market Melton Woodbridge A12 Bealings Branch Line to Felixstowe Westerfield River Gipping Main Line to Norwich Ipswich Main Line to Liverpool Street

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.

• 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

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 National Express East Anglia, 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 the Sizewell nuclear power stations) operated by Direct Rail Services.

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.

The line is not electrified. It is double-track from Ipswich to Woodbridge, and then narrows to single track until just before Saxmundham, where there is a passing loop.

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).

[edit] External links

• East Suffolk Line

v • d • e Railway lines in the East of England: InterCity lines: East Coast Main Line • Great Eastern Main Line Main lines: Cambridge-King's Lynn "Fen" Line • Cambridge-Norwich "Breckland" Line • Colchester-Clacton "Sunshine Coast" Line • Ely-Peterborough Line • Hitchin-Cambridge Line • Ipswich-Ely Line • London, Tilbury & Southend Line • Manningtree-Harwich "Mayflower" Line • Thameslink • West Anglia Main Line Commuter lines: Chingford Branch Line • Hertford East Branch Line • Hertford Loop Line • Lea Valley Lines • Marston Vale Line • 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 • Norwich-Great Yarmouth/Lowestoft "Wherry" Lines • St Albans Branch Line