| Beccles | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
| Place | Beccles |
| Local authority | Waveney, Suffolk |
| Operations | |
| Station code | BCC |
| Managed by | National Express East Anglia |
| Number of platforms | 1 |
| Live arrivals/departures and station information from National Rail Enquiries |
|
| Annual rail passenger usage | |
| 2004/05 * | 59,686 |
| 2005/06 * | 57,290 |
| 2006/07 * | 62,499 |
| 2007/08 * | 84,989 |
| 2008/09 * | 0.101 million |
| History | |
| Original company | East Suffolk Railway[1] |
| Pre-grouping | Great Eastern Railway |
| Post-grouping | London and North Eastern Railway |
| 4 December 1854 | Opened[1] |
| 31 January 1968 | Closed to freight |
| National Rail - UK railway stations | |
| A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z | |
| * Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Beccles from Office of Rail Regulation statistics. Please note: methodology may vary year on year. | |
Beccles is a railway station on the East Suffolk Line and serves the town of Beccles in Suffolk. There is generally a two hourly service to Lowestoft and Ipswich .
Contents |
The East Suffolk Railway, opened in 1854 operating as far as Halesworth and the line was then extended to Ipswich and Great Yarmouth in 1859. The Beccles to Lowestoft line opened in the same year. The Waveney Valley Line from Tivetshall on the Great Eastern Main Line reached Beccles in 1863, making the town an important junction on the expanding Great Eastern Railway network.
The Waveney Valley Line closed to passengers in 1954 and the Yarmouth-Beccles Line line closed to passengers in 1959. The Waveney Valley Line was then closed to freight traffic in 1963.
The engine shed was demolished in 2006, and the island platform is now overgrown. There are traces of the turntable in the ground.
The following services currently call at Beccles:
| Operator | Route | Material | Frequency | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NXEA | (Harwich International -) Ipswich - Westerfield - Woodbridge - Melton - Wickham Market - Saxmundham - Darsham - Halesworth - Brampton - Beccles - Oulton Broad South - Lowestoft | Class 170 | Every 2 Hours | Service to Harwich 1x per day |
| Preceding station | National Rail | Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| National Express East Anglia | ||||
| Disused railways | ||||
|
Line and station closed
|
Great Eastern Railway | Terminus | ||
|
Line and station closed
|
Great Eastern Railway | Terminus | ||
There are plans to construct a passing loop at Beccles to allow hourly services to operate on the line. At first this was believed to involve restoration of the island platform. It was then assumed that the same (novel) arrangement as used at Penryn railway station (Cornwall) would be used at Beccles when the loop is constructed. This would have negated the use of a footbridge. Trains in both directions would then have used the existing single platform. By March 2010 however a new track next to the previously disused platform had been constructed. As of March 30, 2010 however this new track was not connected to the existing single line with points or signalling. The bulk of the loop therefore was in situ but the essential (and expensive) connections had not been made. The track was removed in late 2010.