Harwich International railway station on the
Mayflower Line, a branch of the
Great Eastern Main Line, serves
Harwich International Port
Harwich International Port is a North Sea seaport in Essex, England, and one of the Haven ports. It lies on the south bank of the River Stour one mile upstream from the town of Harwich, opposite the Port of Felixstowe. The port was formerly kn ...
in
Essex
Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Grea ...
, England. It is 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 ...
, between to the west and to the east. Its three-letter station code, HPQ, derives from its original name, Harwich Parkeston Quay.
The station is operated 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 runs all trains serving the station. It is the eastern terminus in England of the
Dutchflyer
''Dutchflyer'' is an integrated passenger service between the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. Formerly known as ''Amsterdam Express'', ''Dutchflyer'' is a rail/sea/rail service operated jointly by Stena Line, the Dutch state railway operato ...
service between London and
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...
.
Description
The station has two entrances. One is located on the ground floor of the passenger terminal building which houses a ticket machine, and provides step free direct access to platform 1 and indirect access to platforms 2 and 3 via a footbridge. The second entrance is from a car-park via the footbridge, with step free access being provided by a lift which is in service until the evening ferry sailing to Hook of Holland has departed. The platforms can also be accessed via a
level crossing
A level crossing is an intersection where a railway line crosses a road, path, or (in rare situations) airport runway, at the same level, as opposed to the railway line crossing over or under using an overpass or tunnel. The term a ...
at the eastern end of the platforms.
Generally platform 1 is used as the terminus of Dutchflyer trains towards London. Platform 2 is bi-directional and is served by local Mayflower Line services between and , while platform 3 is used by services for , and . The platforms have an operational length for thirteen-coach trains.
History
The port and station owe their origins to the
Great Eastern Railway (GER) which opened them on a new track alignment built over reclaimed land in 1883 and named them after its chairman, Charles Henry Parkes. The original combined station building and hotel is still in existence although the hotel is now converted for office use and is part of the port terminal.
Prior to the station's re-development, and its revised layout, it consisted of two through-platforms serving the then double-track line to . This was supplemented by a bay platform at the eastern end of the main platform (the present-day platform 1) which handled Harwich to Parkeston local services, which in the days of steam generally consisted of a J15 and later N2 or N7 tank engines and up to four carriages. This service was timed to suit shift times both on the quay and in adjoining offices, the majority of workers being railway employees. The bay also had a loop allowing the running round of the locomotive. The main platform was and still is of sufficient length to accommodate a boat train of 10 or 11 coaches. The "up" (westbound) through-platform was shorter but this did not prevent it being used by the North Country boat train in the morning, which consisted of 11 or 12 carriages and would overhang the end of the platform considerably, but in those days there was no
level crossing
A level crossing is an intersection where a railway line crosses a road, path, or (in rare situations) airport runway, at the same level, as opposed to the railway line crossing over or under using an overpass or tunnel. The term a ...
at the eastern end of the station.
The Manningtree to Harwich local service used the last one-third of the main platform using a third central access line, which joined the platform at that point allowing a ticket barrier to be used for that part of the platform exclusively. This arrangement allowed a five- or six-coach train to sit at the western end of that platform without the need for any shifting, whereas a full boat train would have to move temporarily towards the west to allow the local train access.
During the peak years of foot passenger movements through the quay, before the introduction of the
roll-on/roll-off
Roll-on/roll-off (RORO or ro-ro) ships are cargo ships designed to carry wheeled cargo, such as cars, motorcycles, trucks, semi-trailer trucks, buses, trailers, and railroad cars, that are driven on and off the ship on their own wheels or using ...
ferries and the rationalisation of the ferry services that followed, another station operated at the western end of Parkeston Quay, known as Parkeston Quay West. It consisted of a single platform and was capable of handling a 10- or 11-coach boat train. It serviced the day service to the
Hoek van Holland Haven (Hook of Holland Harbour) and was also used by troop trains during the period when trooping was still a major operation through the port. Its position afforded exactly the same close proximity to the ferry as the main station.
Parkeston Quay was the base port for three troop ships serving the
British Army of the Rhine
There have been two formations named British Army of the Rhine (BAOR). Both were originally occupation forces in Germany, one after the First World War and the other after the Second World War. Both formations had areas of responsibility located ...
operation in Germany via the Hook of Holland. The vessels employed were the ''Vienna'', ''Empire Parkeston'' and ''Empire Wansbeck''.
The extensive marshalling yard to the west of the main station provided stabling for the carriage sets which were used on the boat trains and local services, the large numbers of lorries used for servicing Parkeston Quay, and the huge throughput of export and import wagons which were shipped over the train ferry service from Harwich Town. Cargoes were assembled at Parkeston and brought to Harwich for a specific sailing, as there was no long-term storage capacity at the ferry terminal. Import wagons were subject to customs clearance at Parkeston and delays could at times be considerable on individual wagons, cargoes having arrived from various European origins.
The type of unit passing through the marshalling yard changed towards the end of the century as container or freightliner flats and car flats replaced ferry wagons. The boat trains also declined as passenger trends changed and today there are no dedicated boat trains except for specials servicing cruise vessels.
Engine shed
In the 1870s the building of Parkeston Quay had started and land to the east of that site was allocated for the new engine shed which opened in March 1883. The shed was a four-road brick-built straight-shed with an outdoor turntable located between the shed and running lines. Access to the shed was from the Harwich direction and the shed was provided with coaling and watering facilities. In the 1890s the shed was equipped to deal with some repairs although these were generally undertaken at
Ipswich engine shed
Ipswich engine shed was an engine shed located in Ipswich, Suffolk on the Great Eastern Main Line. It was located just south of Stoke tunnel and the current Ipswich railway station. Locomotives accessed the site from Halifax Junction which was ...
further down-line.
A new, larger turntable was provided on the site in 1912 and this was installed in time for the delivery of the 1500 class 4-6-0 locomotives, the first of which was allocated to Parkeston. It is probably about this time that access to the shed was improved with a link from the east end of Parkeston Quay station supplementing the existing access.
The shed was part of the Ipswich district (referred to as the Eastern district after 1915).
1923 allocation
At the end of the
Great Eastern Railway the following locomotives were allocated to Parkeston:
Post-grouping
In 1930 improved coal facilities were introduced along with a water softening plant in 1935.
During the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
the depot would have dealt with significant traffic for the
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...
as Harwich was a base for
Destroyers
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort
larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...
.
British Railways
In the 1950s Britannia Class locomotives allocated to
Stratford engine shed worked the Liverpool boat trains although these were usually worked by Parkeston crews. The Thompson B1 class 4-6-0 class worked many of the other longer distance trains and at the time Parkeston was the port through which many British Army on the Rhine troops passed through with special trains sometimes running in connection with this traffic.
The shed was re-roofed in 1950.
By the mid- to late-1950s the number of steam locomotives had declined. Ian Allan's ''Locoshed Book'' listed just 24 on 11 May 1957, (nine
B1s, nine
J39s, three
J15s, one
J68 and two
N7s). The numbers of shunting and tank engines had been reduced by the arrival of diesel powered units and diesel multiple units had begun to work local services. There were still 33 units allocated overall to the shed in 1959 but by 1967 the facility had been demolished.
The Thompson B1s were well suited to the boat train and fast freight traffic, although much of the motive power for the boat trains was provided by Stratford, including Britannia Pacifics when they became more available after the second large batch of the type had been delivered to the Eastern Region. They were regularly accommodated overnight.
The demolition of the locomotive shed allowed the construction of the new Freightliner terminal on the site, which opened in May 1968. The Seafreightliner service operated two sailings per day to
Zeebrugge
Zeebrugge (, from: ''Brugge aan zee'' meaning "Bruges at Sea", french: Zeebruges) is a village on the coast of Belgium and a subdivision of Bruges, for which it is the modern port. Zeebrugge serves as both the international port of Bruges-Zee ...
and one sailing per day to
Rotterdam
Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"Ne ...
, the latter in a joint service with its Dutch counterparts.
Harwich Parkeston Quay continued to have locomotive-hauled
InterCity
InterCity (commonly abbreviated ''IC'' on timetables and tickets) is the classification applied to certain long-distance passenger train services in Europe. Such trains (in contrast to regional, local, or commuter trains) generally call at m ...
services running to both London and the north via , , and (mostly to Manchester and
Glasgow Central). These were mainly hauled by Class 47s to the north (though other classes such as Class 45s were also used) and Class 37s and 47s to London, though once the Mayflower Line was electrified by
British Rail, Class 86s replaced the 37s and 47s, but these were in turn replaced by
Dutchflyer
''Dutchflyer'' is an integrated passenger service between the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. Formerly known as ''Amsterdam Express'', ''Dutchflyer'' is a rail/sea/rail service operated jointly by Stena Line, the Dutch state railway operato ...
services. The locomotive-hauled services to the north were replaced by diesel multiple units and truncated to Peterborough.
Historical services
Boat train
A boat train is a passenger train operating to a port for the specific purpose of making connection with a passenger ship, such as a ferry, ocean liner, or cruise ship. Through ticketing is normally available. __NOTOC__
Notable named boat tr ...
s commenced running to Harwich Parkeston Quay in 1882 and were timed 1 hour 45 minutes 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 ...
. By 1895 this was down to 1 hour 30 minutes. In 1897 the 8:30 pm train was run as two separate trains - 8:30 pm for the
Hook of Holland Harbour and 8:35 pm for
Antwerp. With the introduction of corridor restaurant cars in 1904, the time was eased to 1 hour 27 minutes, but the introduction of the large
Great Eastern 1500 class 4-6-0 engines in 1912 saw a running time of 1 hour 22 minutes.
As well as through-boat train services to Liverpool Street and local services to and the most interesting working was the North Country Continental boat train which operated between Parkeston Quay and various destinations in the north and Midlands. Prior to 1923 the train consisted of various carriages which were detached en route with the main portion going to .
This train included the first restaurant car on the Great Eastern line (in 1891) and this was also the first service in the country to allow third-class passengers to dine. A new train set was built for this service in 1906 and generally operated in the following formation:
ENGINE+THIRD CLASS BRAKE+CORRIDOR THIRD+OPEN THIRD+KITCHEN AND OPEN FIRST+SEMI-OPEN FIRST+SIX WHEEL BRAKE (this constituted the York section). Then followed various corridor composite brakes followed each detached from the rear of the northbound train en route. These were for LIVERPOOL (detached Doncaster on the outward journey)+ LIVERPOOL + MANCHESTER (detached at Lincoln and routed via the Great Central routes) + BIRMINGHAM (via Midland Railway routes) + BIRMINGHAM (via London and North Western routes)(both of which were detached at March).
Current services
the typical daily service on the line is one train per hour in each direction, although some additional services run at weekday peak times. Trains operate between and calling at all stations, although some are extended to or from and/or
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 ...
. There are two trains per day which run direct to , which utilise the curve avoiding the station at Manningtree. These are operated by bi-mode multiple units (0750 to Cambridge and 2147 to Lowestoft) as the lines to Cambridge via Bury St Edmunds and Lowestoft are not electrified.
Additionally, there is the
Stena Line integrated ticketing service
Dutchflyer
''Dutchflyer'' is an integrated passenger service between the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. Formerly known as ''Amsterdam Express'', ''Dutchflyer'' is a rail/sea/rail service operated jointly by Stena Line, the Dutch state railway operato ...
with
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 ...
operating trains from , and
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
to Harwich International and
Stena Line providing the ferry onwards to
Hook of Holland Harbour.
References
{{Railway stations served by Abellio Greater Anglia
Railway stations in Essex
DfT Category E stations
Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1883
Former Great Eastern Railway stations
Railway stations serving harbours and ports in the United Kingdom
Greater Anglia franchise railway stations
Railway depots in England
Harwich