Needham Market railway station is on the Great Eastern Main Line (GEML) in the East of England, serving the town of

Needham Market Needham Market is a town in Suffolk, England. The town of Needham, Massachusetts, was named after Needham Market. History It initially grew around the wool combing industry, until the onset of the plague, which swept the town from 1663 to 166 ...

, Suffolk. It is down the line 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 ...

and is situated between to the south and to the north. Its three-letter station code is NMT. The station is currently 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 sees regular services between Ipswich and Stowmarket, whereafter trains branch off to via the

Ipswich to Ely Line Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line ...

. No main line London trains call. The station appears in Britain's 100 Best Railway Stations by Sir Simon Jenkins.

History

The station was originally opened with the name Needham by the Ipswich & Bury Railway in 1846. The main building, described as "one of the best in East Anglia" by Biddle, was designed in a grand Jacobean style with decorative brickwork by Frederick Barnes and was completed by the contractor, Daniel Revitt, in 1849. It was later slightly simplified, and the platforms rebuilt, by the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER). It was closed to passengers by the Eastern Region of British Railways in 1967 but reopened as Needham Market in 1971. The main building, now in alternative use, is a Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

. It was restored in 2000 by Spacia Ltd, and won an award in the 2002 National Railway Heritage Awards. In April 2015 work commenced to improve the station, including the installation of an anti-slip composite fibreglass platform (Dura Platform) which features a patented design with in-built water management and snow-melting capabilities. However, this did not include making the London-bound platform wheelchair accessible.

Services

The following services typically call at Needham Market:

References

{{Railway stations served by Abellio Greater Anglia Railway stations in Suffolk Grade II listed buildings in Suffolk Grade II listed railway stations Former Great Eastern Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1846 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1967 Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1971 Greater Anglia franchise railway stations 1846 establishments in England Reopened railway stations in Great Britain Needham Market