East Suffolk Line

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).

External links

* [http://www.eastsuffolkline.com/ East Suffolk Line]