East Suffolk Line

The East Suffolk Line is an un-electrified secondary railway line running between Ipswich and Lowestoft in Suffolk, England. The traffic along the route consists of passenger services operated by National Express East Anglia, while nuclear flask trains for the Sizewell nuclear power stations are operated by Direct Rail Services.

History

In about 1847 the Ipswich & Bury Railway had secured the rights to build 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^[1] and the route opened on the 4 December 1854.^[1] It continued north to Haddiscoe on what is now part of the Wherry Lines.^[2]

On the 1 June 1859 the line was opened as far south as Ipswich and north to Great Yarmouth.^[1] The Beccles to Lowestoft branch line was opened in the same year.^[2]

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.^[2] The rest of the line was then threatened with complete closure as part of the Beeching Axe in the early 1960s however economies in the operation of the line ensured its future. The first economy was that all stations were destaffed in the late 1960s. The line was resignalled in 1984 using the Radio Electronic Token Block resulting in the closure of all signal boxes.. Also, to ensure the line's survival, parts of the remaining line were reduced to single track to minimize maintenance costs.

Railtrack, Now known as Network Rail, became responsible for the infrastructure maintenance in 1994.

The operation of the line was privatised in 1997 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.

"The government is set to tell the new franchise-holder that the hourly services on the Ipswich to Cambridge and Ipswich to Felixstowe lines will have to be retained - and there will have to be an hourly service on the East Suffolk line to Lowestoft once the Beccles loop is installed within the next few years."^[3]

As of December 2010, through services from Lowestoft to London Liverpool Street were no longer operated, mainly to free up capacity on the main line south of Ipswich.

In January 2010 it was announced that an hourly service would be introduced following the completion of the passing loop at Beccles (see below)

Route

The line runs north from Ipswich via Woodbridge, Saxmundham, Halesworth, Beccles to Lowestoft and other intermediate stations. It connects with the following operational lines: Great Eastern Main Line, the Felixstowe Branch Line, Aldeburgh Branch Line (freight only) and the Wherry Lines.

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 40-55 mph.^[4]

The section from Westerfield to Oulton Broad 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 both Wales and Scotland).

The route sees a regular two-hourly passenger service running between Ipswich and Lowestoft usually operated by Class 170 diesel multiple units. This service used to run all the way to London Liverpool Street but was stopped to enable longer electric trains to be used south of Ipswich. From December 2010, a twice hourly service was introduced between Ipswich and Saxmundham, providing an hourly service for part of the route with only the single track restricting its contiuation up to Lowestoft. This is usually operated by a Class 153 unit.

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.

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 Ipswich.

A £25K feasibility study was completed during 2008 and it was proposed that a new section of track and points would be laid at Beccles Station using existing railway land in a way that would allow Network Rail to refurbish the currently disused central platform (there had originally been four tracks). The cost of the project was expected to be £5 million and work could be completed by 2012.^[5]

In May 2010 it was suggested that Network Rail was due to install a passing loop at Beccles by May 2012.

Southwold Branch Line

The Southwold Railway Society formed in 1994 hoped to re-instate all or part of the narrow gauge line however this has been rejected. A planning application for a railway steam park in Southwold was approved in February 2009.

Reference

1. ^ ^{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. 
2. ^ ^{a b c} "East Suffolk Line". East Suffolk Line. http://www.eastsuffolkline.com/railwayline.html. Retrieved 2009-05-01. 
3. ^ "Ipswich to London in under an hour aim". 2010-01-22. http://www.becclesandbungayjournal.co.uk/content/bbjournal/news/story.aspx?brand=BBJOnline&category=NEWS&tBrand=bbjonline&tCategory=news&itemid=NOED22%20Jan%202010%2010%3A55%3A14%3A427. Retrieved 2010-03-30. 
4. ^ "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. 
5. ^ "Network Rail Backs Beccles Loop". East Suffolk Line. 2009-09-14. http://www.eastsuffolkline.com/news_14-09-2008.html. Retrieved 2010-03-30. 

External links

• East Suffolk Line