Beccles railway station 1775340 30cfb1d4

Beccles railway station with Thompson L1 2-6-4T geograph-2878762-by-Ben-Brooksbank

Beccles railway station is on the East Suffolk Line in the east of England, serving the town of

Beccles Beccles ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the English county of Suffolk.OS Explorer Map OL40: The Broads: (1:25 000) : . The town is shown on the milestone as from London via the A145 and A12 roads, north-east of London as the crow fl ...

, Suffolk. It is down the line from and measured from

London Liverpool Street Liverpool Street station, also known as London Liverpool Street, is a central London railway terminus and connected London Underground station in the north-eastern corner of the City of London, in the ward of Bishopsgate Without. It is the t ...

; it is situated between and stations. Its three-letter station code is BCC. It is managed by

Abellio Greater Anglia Greater Anglia (legal name Abellio East Anglia Limited) is a train operating company in Great Britain owned as a joint venture by Abellio, the international arm of the state-owned Dutch national rail operator Nederlandse Spoorwegen, and the J ...

, which also operates all trains that call.

History

The East Suffolk Railway opened in 1854, operating as far as , and the line was then extended to Ipswich and Yarmouth South Town in 1859. The Beccles to Lowestoft line opened in the same year. The Waveney Valley Line from 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 closed to passengers in 1959. The Waveney Valley Line was then closed to freight traffic in 1963. The engine shed was demolished in 2006.

Passing loop development

Work began in early 2010 to develop a

passing loop A passing loop (UK usage) or passing siding (North America) (also called a crossing loop, crossing place, refuge loop or, colloquially, a hole) is a place on a single line railway or tramway, often located at or near a station, where trains or ...

at Beccles to allow services to operate hourly on the single-track line. The lack of a double-track to allow trains to pass north of had previously made this frequency of service impossible. By March 2010, the single track at Beccles was renewed with continuously welded rail and concrete sleepers. The track was also realigned from the southern approach to the station to allow room for the loop. The old track was lifted and placed alongside the disused platform and disposed of in late 2010. By March 2012, work had started to build the passing loop and, by May of that year, new turnout points were in place and work had begun on redeveloping the disused island platform. The old trackbed had also been removed. Work was completed by December 2012 and enhanced services began on 10 December 2012. The £4 million scheme was jointly funded by Network Rail and Suffolk County Council.

Facilities

There is a café in the original station building adjoining the Lowestoft-bound platform. There is a footbridge with quite steep ramps connecting the platforms, and passenger information screens on both platforms.

Services

the typical Monday-Saturday off-peak service at Beccles is as follows: On Sundays frequency reduces to one train every two hours in each direction. Trains direct to and from

were withdrawn in 2010. One weekday early-morning train is extended through to and there is a return from there in the evening.

References

External links

{{Railway stations served by Abellio Greater Anglia Railway stations in Suffolk DfT Category F1 stations Former Great Eastern Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1854 Greater Anglia franchise railway stations 1854 establishments in England Beccles