Ipswich railway station
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Ipswich | |||
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|---|---|---|---|
| Location | |||
| Place | Ipswich | ||
| Local authority | Borough of Ipswich | ||
| Operations | |||
| Managed by | 'one' | ||
| Platforms in use | 4 | ||
| Annual Passenger Usage | |||
| 2004/05 ** | 2.017 million | ||
| National Rail - UK railway stations | |||
| Annual passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Ipswich (source) | |||
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Ipswich railway station is a railway station serving the town of Ipswich in Suffolk. The station is located on the Great Eastern Main Line from London Liverpool Street to Norwich. It is also a junction station, two lines to Felixstowe and Lowestoft (the East Suffolk Line) diverging from the main line north of the station (in fact these two lines share a section of track after diverging from the main line at East Suffolk Junction and then diverge themselves at Westerfield junction.
The station is also the location of one of the few tunnels in East Anglia, immediately to the south (London side) of the station. This tunnel was closed for two months work in the summer of 2004 to lower the trackbed and thus permit passage of higher freight containers (9'6" containers, to W10 loading gauge). During the closure, rail services were replaced by buses between Ipswich and Manningtree.
The station is served by 'one'. Services are described below.
- 'one' operate two express trains an hour to London Liverpool Street, calling at Manningtree, Colchester, Chelmsford and Stratford. One service per hour also calls at Shenfield. There are also two trains an hour to Norwich, calling at Stowmarket and Diss. Services are operated by either Class 86 or Class 90 electric locomotives, hauling Mk.2 or Mk.3 hauled coaching-stock. The locomotives operate in push-pull mode with either a DBSO or a DVT. It is planned to replace the Class 86 and Mk.2 stock with newer Class 90 and refurbished Mk.3 stock. These services were previously operated by Anglia Railways until April 2004.
- 'one' also operate an hourly service to London calling at Colchester, Witham, Chelmsford and Shenfield. These originate from Lowestoft or Peterborough, to which there are services every alternate hours. This is normally operated by Class 170 DMUs but sometimes Class 321s or 360s cover the Ipswich to London stretch, with a DMU continuing onwards from Ipswich.
- 'one' operate an hourly service to Cambridge and a service every two hours to Peterborough. Both of these services serve Bury St. Edmunds, with the Peterborough services continuing via Ely. On Sundays, some of the services from Cambridge are extended to Harwich International. All of these services use DMUs of Classes 153, 156 or 170.
- 'one' also operate local services to Lowestoft via the East Suffolk Line, and a hourly service to Felixstowe via the Felixstowe Branch Line. These services also use DMUs. In recent years, new direct London-Lowestoft services have been introduced, which use the new Turbostar units.
- 'one' operate two services a day to Harwich International, to connect with ferry services to Hoek van Holland as part of the Dutchflyer service. Services are formed of a Class 321 in the morning service and Class 170 in the evening service.
Freightliner Stabling Point
Opposite Platform 4 at Ipswich Station is a stabling point used by Freightliner Diesel and Electric locomotives. Classes 47, 57, 66, 86 and 90 are the most common, although locomotives of other companies have been known to use the point in the past. For railway photographers, Platforms 3 and 4 offer the best views of the stabling point.
[edit] External links
- Train times and station information for Ipswich railway station from National Rail
- Street map and aerial photo of Ipswich railway station from Multimap.com
| Preceding station | National Rail | Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manningtree | 'one' London-Norwich express |
Stowmarket | ||
| Manningtree | 'one' London-Ipswich outer-suburban |
Terminus | ||
| Harwich International | 'one' Ipswich-Cambridge/Peterborough |
Needham Market | ||
| Terminus | 'one' Ipswich-Felixstowe |
Westerfield | ||
| Colchester (North) Terminates at Ipswich on Sundays |
'one' London-Lowestoft |
Westerfield | ||
| Harwich International | Dutchflyer Norwich/Cambridge-Amsterdam |
Stowmarket | ||
