Harwich International railway station

Harwich International railway station is on the Mayflower Line, a branch of the Great Eastern Main Line, in the East of England, serving Harwich International Port and the Parkeston area of Essex. It is from London Liverpool Street and is situated between to the west and to the east. Its three-letter station code is HPQ, which derives from its original name, Harwich Parkeston Quay.
The station is currently operated by Abellio Greater Anglia, which also runs all trains serving the station. It is the eastern terminus in England of the Dutchflyer service between London and Amsterdam.
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 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 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 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 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 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 the depot would have dealt with significant traffic for the Royal Navy as Harwich was a base for Destroyers.
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 and one sailing per day to Rotterdam, the latter in a joint service with its Dutch counterparts.
Harwich Parkeston Quay continued to have locomotive-hauled InterCity 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 services. The locomotive-hauled services to the north were replaced by diesel multiple units and truncated to Peterborough.
Historic services.
Boat trains commenced running to Harwich Parkeston Quay in 1882 and were timed 1 hour 45 minutes from London Liverpool Street. 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. 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 with Abellio Greater Anglia operating trains from , and London to Harwich International and Stena Line providing the ferry onwards to Hook of Holland Harbour.


Three Bridges depot

Three Bridges depot is an Electric Traction Depot located in Three Bridges, West Sussex, England. The depot is about 1.5 km south of Three Bridges railway station, on either side of the Brighton main line.
History.
Located in the 'fork' between the Brighton main line (L&BR 1841), the Arun Valley line (LB&SCR 1848), and the now-closed Three Bridges–Tunbridge Wells line (EGR 1855), the site had historically been used for railway use, having not been built on until railway developments; by 1910 sidings had been built east of the Brighton main line, as well as an engine shed and turntable adjacent west of the site; in 2008 the western development area comprised underused sidings and hardstanding with the site east of the mainline including operation sidings, as well as offices; tenants included English Welsh & Scottish Railway, BAM Nuttall, Colas Rail and Balfour Beatty.
Thameslink depot.
As part of the Thameslink Programme, it was decided that a large fleet of new trains, which were later named the Class 700, would be introduced on the Thameslink network.
In 2008, the Department for Transport commissioned a study into the location of depots for the future Thameslink rolling stock: Network Rail preferred two depots based on an expectation that at times the central area of the Thameslink route would be closed for maintenance outside commercial operational hours, with no workable alternative electrified routes available. A single-depot solution was also investigated, but no suitably large sites were identified for such a facility. Sites were considered at: Wellingborough; Hornsey; Cricklewood; Selhurst; Three Bridges; and Tonbridge. By late 2008, the sites had been narrowed to Hornsey, Three Bridges and Tonbridge; finally Hornsey and Three Bridges were selected as a two-depot solution.
In 2009, Arup acting on behalf of Network Rail submitted a planning application for a rolling-stock depot south of Three Bridges railway station on a site owned by Network Rail, with facilities on either side of the Brighton main line. The western side of the proposed development included a single-ended three-road maintenance shed high, a wheel lathe, electricity substation, and sidings for 8 twelve-car trains; the eastern side included stabling for 4 twelve-car trains and an underframe-cleaning facility; both sides of the development were to have separate train-washing facilities, waste storage, and controlled emission toilet facilities. Site offices and warehousing were to be in a three-storey building northwest of the main shed.
Planning permission for the development was granted in November 2009, but in December the associated Hornsey depot application was blocked by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government John Denham; Network Rail submitted revised plans for both sites in 2011, with a smaller Hornsey scheme and an expanded Three Bridges scheme. At Three Bridges, additional carriage stabling for 5 eight-car trains with CET facilities was added to the north-west of the original site, on the site of an EWS/DB Schenker freight depot and a shed used for stabling of Virgin Crosscountry'sBombardier Voyager trains; the main maintenance building was expanded to a five-road building wide; stabling was increased to 11 eight-car trains on the original western site and 5 eight-car trains on the eastern site; and additional office and accommodation space was specified.
In the same period as the new application, Network Rail submitted plans for a large railway operation and signalling centre to be built adjacent to the Three Bridges depot (see Three Bridges railway station#Three Bridges rail operating centre).
In mid-2013, VolkerFitzpatrick was awarded the approximately £150 million contract to build the two depots.
The depot was officially opened by Patrick McLoughlin (MP) in October 2015. The completed main facilities building (MFB) was with five roads, each with full underfloor inspection facilities, and a light (2.5 t) crane. One road had two bogie drops, and a road was fitted with 25 kV AC electrification for static tests though the main building was unelectrified (third rail). Wheel lathes and carriage washes were outside the MFB.
Allocation.
As of 2016, the depot's allocation consists of Class 700 EMUs.


Wessex Trains

Wessex Trains was a train operating company in the United Kingdom owned by National Express that operated the Wessex Trains franchise from October 2001 until March 2006, when the franchise was merged with the Great Western and Thames Valley franchises to form the Greater Western franchise.
History.
In October 1996, Wales & West commenced operating the South West & Wales franchise in Wales and the West Country. It also operated services to Liverpool Lime Street, Manchester Piccadilly, Birmingham International, Southampton Central, Brighton and London Waterloo.
In 2001 the Strategic Rail Authority decided to re-organise the Valley Lines and Wales & West franchises, both being operated by National Express. Wales & West became Wessex Trains from October 2001.
Wessex Trains retained the West Country services with the Welsh services transferred to Wales & Borders although Wessex Trains operated services to Cardiff.
Services.
Wessex Trains ran the majority of local trains in the South West as seen in their route map.
Services ran from Great Malvern and Cardiff to Brighton, Portsmouth, Weymouth and Penzance and on these secondary lines:
Rolling stock.
Wessex Trains inherited a fleet of Class 143, Class 150, Class 153 and Class 158s from Wales & West.
Wessex Trains leased Class 31s from Fragonset to haul a set of Mark 2 carriages from 2002 on services from Cardiff and Bristol Temple Meads to Brighton and Weymouth.
Depots.
Wessex Trains' fleet was maintained at Cardiff Canton and Exeter depots.
Demise.
In 2002 as part of a franchise re-organisation by the Strategic Rail Authority, it was announced that the Great Western, Thames Trains and Wessex Trains franchises would be combined to form the Greater Western franchise. This was part of a Strategic Rail Authority strategy to reduce the number of train operating companies providing services from London terminal stations.
Originally it was planned for Wessex Trains to take over the diesel services from Exeter St Davids to London Waterloo on the West of England Main Line operated by the South West Trains as part of the South Western franchise.
On 13 December 2005 the Department for Transport awarded the Greater Western franchise to FirstGroup and the services operated by Wessex Trains transferred to First Great Western on 1 April 2006.


Looe Valley Line

The Looe Valley Line is an community railway from Liskeard to Looe in Cornwall, United Kingdom, that follows the valley of the East Looe River for much of its course. It is operated by Great Western Railway.
History.
The Looe Valley Line was opened as the Liskeard and Looe Railway on 27 December 1860 from a station at Moorswater, a little west of Liskeard, to the quayside at Looe, replacing the earlier Liskeard and Looe Union Canal. At Moorswater it connected with the Liskeard and Caradon Railway which conveyed granite from quarries on Bodmin Moor.
Passenger services commenced on 11 September 1879, but the Moorswater terminus was inconvenient as it was remote from Liskeard and a long way from the Cornwall Railway station on the south side of the town. On 15 May 1901 the railway opened a curving link line from Coombe Junction, a little south of Moorswater, to the now Great Western Railway station at Liskeard. The section from Coombe Junction to Moorswater was closed to passenger traffic on the same day but passenger numbers tripled. The new connecting line had to climb a considerable vertical interval to reach the Cornish Main Line which passed above Moorswater on a 147 feet (45m) high viaduct. The Liskeard and Looe Railway was taken over by the Great Western Railway in 1909 and the attractive seaside resort of Looe became heavily promoted as a holiday destination in railway's publicity.
The section beyond Looe station to the quay was closed in 1916 and the Caradon line north of Moorswater fell out of use at around the same time.
In 1966 the line was due to be closed under Richard Beeching's "Reshaping of Britain's Railways" plan, but was reprieved just two weeks before its scheduled closure by Minister of Transport Barbara Castle.
Community rail.
Since 1992 the Looe Valley Line has been one of the railway lines promoted by the Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership. Passenger numbers have risen from around 58,000 in 2001 to 118,000 in 2016.
The line is promoted by many means such as regular timetable and scenic line guides, as well as leaflets highlighting leisure opportunities such as walking, birdwatching, and visiting country pubs.
The Looe Valley Line Rail Ale Trail was launched early in 2004 and encourages rail travellers to visit eight pubs near the line. Five of these are in Looe, two in Liskeard, and one in Duloe, a 30-minute walk from Causeland station. Eight stamps collected in the Rail Ale Trail entitle the participant to claim special Looe Valley Line Rail Trail souvenir tour shirt.
The line was designated as a community rail line in September 2005, being one of seven pilots for the Department for Transport's Community Rail Development Strategy. This aims to establish the true costs and revenues for the line with an aim of improving them. It is also looking at simplifying the reversal of trains, considering the costs and benefits should the line be "microfranchised" separately from the Great Western Franchise, and the potential for opening a Park and Ride station at Moorswater where the goods sidings are close to the A38 Liskeard Bypass.
In 2007 the signs on the Looe Valley platform at Liskeard were replaced with brown and cream signs in the style used by the Western Region of British Railways in the 1950s and 1960s.
Looe Valley Heritage Project
In 2019 the Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership launched a heritage project about the line which told the story of its history through archive information and engaging with the local community. The project won Best Community Engagement Project at the National Community Rail Awards in 2019.
Passenger volume.
The majority of Looe Valley passengers travel the whole length of the line with Causeland being the busiest intermediate station. The line has seen some good growth over the years with incremental improvements to the service.
Route.
Descending to Coombe.
The line is single track for the whole of its length and is worked by just a single train set each day. Trains leave Liskeard railway station from a platform at right angles to the main line platforms, initially running northeast away from Looe. Beyond the platform the line takes a long right-hand curve, passing the connection through the goods yard to the main line, and diving underneath the A38 road twice. It then descends steeply, now heading generally southwest, and passes under the Liskeard viaduct carrying the Cornish Main Line 150 feet (46m) above.
Curving right once more, the train joins the main branch line from Looe at Coombe Junction, and comes to a stand on a small level crossing. Most trains change direction here, the train's guard operating the points "(see Signalling below)", but two or three in each direction continue a few yards further to call at Coombe Junction Halt at Lamellion. Beyond the platform the line still continues to Moorswater, passing under the main line again beneath the Moorswater viaduct, but this section is no longer used.
Along the valley.
With the driver and guard having now swapped ends, the train recommences its southerly journey, now running alongside the old Liskeard and Looe Union Canal and East Looe River. Another level crossing is passed at Lodge, and then a short journey brings the train to St Keyne Wishing Well Halt, adjacent to the "Magnificent Music Machines" museum of fairground organs and similar instruments. The holy well of St Keyne is near the village which is a ten-minute walk from the station.
South of St Keyne the canal swaps to the west side of the line for a while, but as the valley closes in it disappears altogether for a distance where the railway was built on top of the redundant canal. One of the old canal's locks can be seen at Causeland railway station. This is the oldest station on the line as it was opened in 1879 when passenger trains first started operating. In common with most of the stations it has been rebuilt in recent years, a smart brick shelter having replaced the original wooden hut.
Beside the estuary.
After passing Sandplace railway station the railway follows the east side of the river, which is now a tidal estuary that the line follows to its terminus. The line passes over one more level crossing, the unusual Terras Crossing, where the road approaches the crossing over a causeway that is liable to flooding at high tide, so the footpath is raised on boards alongside. As the crossing is ungated trains must come to a stand and sound their horn before crossing. The ruin of the final lock of the canal is on the east of the line here.
After running further alongside the tidal estuary the line finally arrives at Looe railway station, opposite the point at which the West Looe River flows into the East Looe River to form the tidal Looe harbour. The town centre is a five-minute walk further alongside the river and buses to Polperro stop on the road near the station.
All distances along the line are measured from the point near the seven-span road bridge across the river where the Liskeard and Looe Railway connected with the private sidings on Buller Quay. The original station, now the site of the Police Station, was 14 chains (308 yards or 282m) north of this point, but the simple station of 1968 construction is forty yards north of this: thus the mile post marking ¼ mile from the original end of the line is in fact opposite the current platform, just 20 yards from the present southern end of the line.
Services.
Passenger.
The service operated by Great Western Railway since 10 December 2006 consisted of nine trains each way daily. During the peak summer period from 20 May to 9 September 2007 three additional services were operated, including a late evening train. In May 2019 Great Western Railway introduced an improved timetable which saw 15 trains a day run on the line Monday to Saturday and 8 on Sundays from April until October.
Coombe Junction Halt railway station is served by only two trains each way Mondays to Saturdays. For most of the day, every second train in each direction runs without any intermediate station calls. On the other, stopping, trains, the other intermediate stations are all request stops – this means that passengers alighting must tell the guard that they wish to do so, and those waiting to join must signal clearly to the driver as the train approaches.
The trains are formed of two-car s. 150233 was once named "Lady Margret of Looe Valley" (the original "Lady Margret" was a steam locomotive belonging to the Liskeard and Looe Railway). Single-car 153369 was named "The Looe Valley Explorer". Both these trains carried large pictures on the outside showing local scenes, but interworked with other similar trains throughout the Great Western Railway network so did not work the line every day. Both these trains have since lost their special liveries and have been repainted in a standard liveries. s are no longer used on this line as GWR no longer operate them.
Freight.
The line used to get a once-a-week freight service operated by Colas Rail using a Class 70 locomotive. The route was hauled from Aberthaw in wales to Moorswater, carrying ~20 tarmac containers. However this service have since been stopped, potentially due to lack of demand. It is uncertain if freight will ever run through to Moorswater again, as services have been stopped and started by a multitude of companies in the last 10 years.
Signalling.
The line is supervised from the signal box at Liskeard, which also controls the entry and exit from the branch onto the main line. A complication arises because of the existence of the Coombe to Moorswater freight line, thus the entire branch line is divided into three distinct single track sections controlled by either tokens or wooden staffs.
The train driver is only permitted to enter a section when in possession of the correct staff or token.
The Moorswater section has a fixed "stop board" protecting the station. Similarly, the Looe section has a stop board before the points at Coombe Junction. There is no stop board on the Liskeard section because possession of a Liskeard - Coombe token provides an assurance that the points at Coombe No.1 ground frame are normal. There is a stop board at the end of platform 3 at Liskeard. The stop boards are fixed signals and a train may not be driven past without authority from the guard operating the ground frame. TPWS (Train Protection & Warning System) is provided at the stop board at Coombe No.1 ground frame and at platform 3 at Liskeard, suppressed when a token is withdrawn locally for the Liskeard - Coombe section, to protect the single line.
The Liskeard-Coombe Token must, according to the Sectional Appendix, be placed in the intermediate instrument at Coombe No.1 ground frame once a train bound for Looe is clear of the points. This permits another token to be withdrawn at either Coombe or Liskeard to allow other traffic to use this portion of line whilst the Looe section is occupied.
A goods train will similarly use a Liskeard-Coombe Token, surrendering it to the Shunter who, on this movement, will insert it into the Coombe token machine. The points at the No. 1 ground frame are not changed for this movement, but a set of trap points, by Coombe No. 2 ground frame at the north end of the station, must be opened and then closed again once the train has passed over, after which the Liskeard - Coombe token may be restored to the intermediate instrument.


Devons Road

Devons Road is a road in Bow Common and Bromley-by-Bow in east London. Part of the B140 road, it gives its name to the Devons Road DLR station.
Motive power depots.
The North London Railway established a large motive power depot at Bow around 1850, which was demolished in 1882 and incorporated into Bow railway works. Two larger locomotive depots were then built at Devons Road nearby.
The No.1 shed was badly damaged by bombing during the Second World War. It was rebuilt in 1946 by the London Midland and Scottish Railway, and then converted into the first UK diesel maintenance depot by British Railways in 1958. It was closed in 1964 and demolished.
The No.2 shed was closed by the London Midland and Scottish Railway in 1935 and demolished.
Stroudley Walk.
The closure of Devons Road Number 1 shed by British Railways in the 1960s freed up the land for development as social housing. This led to a new street layout with streets and buildings named in honour of Britain's railway heritage. As a result, the north end of Devons Road, adjoining Bow Road, was changed into a pedestrian area and renamed Stroudley Walk in honour of the great locomotive engineer William Stroudley. In 2006 the Council transferred ownership of the housing, shops and pedestrian area to Poplar HARCA.
St Andrew's Hospital.
The Poplar and Stepney Sick Asylum was established in Devons Road in 1868. This institution was renamed St Andrew's Hospital in 1921, after a nearby church that was destroyed in the First World War. It housed a School of Nursing from 1875 to 1991. All its functions were eventually transferred to NHS facilities in Newham, and it was demolished in 2008. In 2010 the site was redeveloped as housing including a smaller health centre.
The Widow's Son.
The Widow's Son is a Grade II* listed public house at 75 Devons Road. It was built in 1848 and is famous for its annual Good Friday hotcross bun ritual.


London, Chatham and Dover Railway

The London, Chatham and Dover Railway (LCDR) was a railway company in south-eastern England created on 1 August 1859, when the East Kent Railway was given Parliamentary approval to change its name. Its lines ran through London and northern and eastern Kent to form a significant part of the Greater London commuter network. The company existed until 31 December 1922 when its assets were merged with those of other companies to form the Southern Railway as a result of the grouping determined by the Railways Act 1921. The railway was always in a difficult financial situation and went bankrupt in 1867, but was able to continue to operate. Many of the difficulties were caused by the severe competition and duplication of services with the South Eastern Railway (SER). However, in 1898 the LCDR agreed with the SER to share the operation of the two railways, work them as a single system (as the South Eastern and Chatham Railway) and pool receipts: but it was not a full amalgamation. The SER and LCDR remained separate companies with separate shareholders until both becoming constituents of the Southern Railway on 1 January 1923.
'The Chatham', as it was sometimes known, was often criticised for its lamentable carriage stock and poor punctuality, but in two respects it was very good: it used the highly effective Westinghouse air brake on its passenger stock, and the Sykes 'Lock and Block' system of signalling. As a result, it had an excellent safety record.
History.
East Kent Railway.
The LCDR originated through the dissatisfaction felt by the inhabitants and businesses of towns in north and east Kent with the services provided by the SER, resulting in the formation of the East Kent Railway (EKR). Permission to build a new line from Strood near Rochester to Faversham was granted by Parliament in 1853, but the SER successfully fought off an attempt by the new company to secure running powers over its metals. In return the SER agreed not to oppose any future application for an extension of the line to Dover, which was granted in 1855.
It took the EKR several years to raise the necessary finance and it was not until 25 January 1858 when the first section of the line from to Faversham was opened, with stations at Rainham, Sittingbourne, Teynham, and Faversham. On 29 March 1858 a second section from Strood to Chatham. Around July 1858 a station opened at "New Brompton" (renamed "New Brompton (Gillingham)" in May 1886 and Gillingham from 1 October 1912). Rochester station opened after the rival SER opened Chatham Central station.
On 3 March 1858 the West End of London and Crystal Palace Railway (WELCPR) opened the extension of their line from Norwood (Crystal Palace) to Beckenham Junction (opened as Beckenham) and Shortlands (opened as Bromley).
On 22 November 1858 the Mid-Kent Railway constructed a line from New Beckenham to Beckenham Junction station and obtained running rights over the WELCPR to Bromley (Shortlands). From there the Crays Company was building a line on to Bromley South (opened as Bromley Common) and Bickley (opened as Southborough Road). The Mid Kent line connected with the WELCPR that later provided the necessary access to London. After absorbing the Crays Company and gaining running rights over the Mid Kent metals to Beckenham Junction, the LCDR was to later buy the track between Beckenham Junction, Birkbeck and Bromley Junction, while the LBSCR absorbed the rest of the WELCPR.
In 1859 the EKR changed its name to the LCDR though Dover had not then been reached, coinciding with the Western Extension via Longfield to join the Crays Company metals at Southborough Road (now Bickley)..
London, Chatham and Dover Railway.
Authorised from the future site of Nunhead on 28 July 1863; Nunhead opened 1 September 1871; Greenwich Park branch opened from Nunhead to Blackheath Hill on 18 September 1871; opened through to Greenwich Park on 1 October 1888.
Stations on the Greenwich Branch were
Insolvency.
Background.
Parliament had established standard clauses that were included in the authorising Acts of Parliament for all railway companies that specifically limited the borrowing powers of the company to one-third of its authorised share capital to ensure there was a proper balance between share capital and loans. These standard clauses also required that before any loans could be taken, all of the share capital must have been subscribed for, at least 50% paid for and the payment proved to the satisfaction of a justice of the peace.
The railway construction partnership Peto and Betts had done a lot of work already for the LCDR, some of it via a close but separate partnership between Sir Morton Peto, Edward Betts, and Thomas Russell Crampton, the engineer for the LCDR. This new partnership, Peto, Betts and Crampton, in conjunction with the original partnership, Peto and Betts, agreed to build a line between London Bridge and Victoria for the LCDR and to be paid entirely in the company's shares and debentures.
Immediate cause of the insolvency.
From its inception, the LCDR was known to be under capitalized. With the collapse of the bank Overend, Gurney and Company in May 1866, it became apparent that the LCDR had been funding its construction by operating a series of schemes to evade the loan restriction requirements and borrow money that was not secured in the way the law required.
Shares had been issued in the names of Peto, Betts, Crampton and their acquaintances, and the LCDR accounts written up to make it look as though either the associated cash payment had been made directly to Peto and Betts to fund the construction of the line, or the money, having been paid to the railway company, had temporarily been lent back to the new shareholders. In fact, no cash had changed hands at all, but on the strength of these fictitious entries, the statutory declaration was made before a justice of the peace and authority given to raise loans.
Once these major irregularities were exposed, the financial markets refused to continue lending to the LCDR and it became insolvent.
Samuel Morton Peto.
In December 1863 Samuel Morton Peto, a partner in Peto and Betts, had joined the board of the LCDR as financial advisor. With the collapse of the company the accusation was made that Peto was party to the scheme to circumvent the loan restrictions.
At the time of the LCDR insolvency Peto was the Liberal Member of Parliament for Bristol, and on 22 October 1866 addressed a meeting in Bristol to explain his involvement with the LCDR. Although reports of the meeting are very complimentary and sympathetic to Peto, further contemporary analysis was less so.
At the Bristol meeting, Peto was quite open with his admission that his business, Peto and Betts, was party to a scheme where they would give the LCDR a receipt for money paid to them as contractors, and the LCDR gave Peto and Betts a counter-receipt for money paid "for deposit, and in anticipation of calls." It was made to appear that share capital had been paid which had not been paid. On the strength of these fictitious receipts, again, the statutory declaration was made before a justice of the peace and authority given to raise loans.
However, Peto did not consider himself in any way to be at any fault. In his view, as it was the LCDR company solicitors that had suggested this course of action, and had drawn up the fraudulent statutory declaration and the loan documentation papers, he did not think that he should shoulder any of the blame. When they heard how Peto had implicated them, the company solicitors retorted that they had never done anything of the kind, and that they regarded any attempt to borrow money, except on the basis of "a bona fide subscription and a bona fide payment of half the capital," as "utterly indefensible."
Peto's attitudes were not unique. One of his supporters (and himself a railway director and deputy chairman) made a statement to the meeting to the effect that railway boards of directors cannot afford to be too nice, "It is very difficult to make a railway out of nothing … Parliamentary requirements almost necessitate the doing of things which are not strictly right and proper."
Financial market reaction.
Financial commentators were scandalised. Typical of the comments published were:
Of course, we may expect to hear more about this part of the question; but even supposing Sir Morton Peto's apology to be true in point of fact, what a pitiful apology it is! He, an experienced man of business, and the regular financial adviser to the company, disclaims all responsibility for unjustifiable financial actions, if only the company's solicitors tell hint that it is all right. Surely it is not a legal question, but a moral question, whether it is permissible to concoct fictitious documents for the purpose of evading the provisions of an Act of Parliament.
Whom shall we in future trust? Here is Sir Morton Peto, saying expressly, ‘These debentures are not debentures; I do not know what they are, but debentures they are not. I got money on them, it is true, but they are not worth anything. They are only quasi things, and the good debentures are elsewhere.’ We have never seen the whole basis of railway credit so rudely shaken. We could not have believed that such a defence could have been offered. How is Lombard-street ever to rely on having good debentures, when it finds men of the greatest repute and the highest standing offering it documents so very like debentures, but after all not real? ... Of course the company was primarily responsible; but Sir Morton Peto was acting as their trusted financial agent, ... and therefore he must be held responsible, not of course exclusively, but conjointly with those with whom he acted."
Aftermath.
The LCDR was refinanced. The original shareholders lost their investment and the board of directors and company solicitors replaced. The new board resolved to pursue Peto, Betts and Crampton and made a "staggering" claim against them personally for £6,661,941 19s 1d. (equivalent to £ as of ).
Peto, Betts and Crampton admitted to owing the LCDR £365,000 and eventually the railway acquiesced to this figure. The railway's new solicitors declared, "Whether my clients had a proof upon the proceedings for £360,000 or for £6,600,000, the result would, unfortunately be the same – in neither case would there be any dividend." The Pall Mall Gazette commented, "… the chase was costly and the game worthless."
The personal reputations of Peto and Betts were destroyed and never recovered. Although also made personally bankrupt, Crampton came out of the episode with his reputation intact and continued in business.
Formation of the South Eastern & Chatham Railway.
On 1 January 1899 the "South Eastern and Chatham Railways Joint Management Committee" was formed to oversee joint working. On 5 August 1899 the "South Eastern and London, Chatham and Dover Railway Companies" Act was passed, which resulted in the formation of the South Eastern and Chatham Railway (SE&CR). This was not a true merger since each company kept its individual board of directors within the organisation.
The rolling stock and steamboats of the two companies were thereafter worked as one concern. Some rationalisation of competing stations occurred but it was not fully resolved. Between 1902 and 1904, connections were built to allow LCDR trains through running on ex-SER lines, notably in the Bickley area where the two main lines crossed. The rationalisation of the lines in Thanet to create a line which ran through from Margate via Ramsgate to Minster did not take place until after the grouping. In 1936 the former tunnel to Ramsgate Harbour became part of the Tunnel Railway underground railway system linking Ramsgate beach to Hereson Road, near mainline station.
In 1923 the LCDR and the South Eastern Railway (SER), the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LBSCR), and the London and South Western Railway (LSWR) were joined to form the Southern Railway.
Rolling stock.
Both the South Eastern and London, Chatham and Dover Railway companies' locomotives were painted black each with their own style of lining but, when taken over by the South Eastern and Chatham Railways Managing Committee (SE&CR), dark green was adopted with an elaborate lining scheme. After some trials with a hybrid colour scheme (SER maroon on the upper parts and LC&DR teak on the lower), the SE&CR adopted the dark maroon/lake livery for passenger stock. Ex-LC&DR locomotives were renumbered by adding 459 to the running numbers (i.e. locomotive No 1 became No 460, etc.); SER locomotives retained their existing numbers.
For a small and indigent company the Chatham was lucky in its locomotive engineers. After a very patchy start, with a miscellany of Cramptons and other oddities, it had two very competent engineers.
William Martley was appointed in 1860, and commissioned some very effective performers, notably the 0-4-2 well tanks of the 'Scotchmen' (1866) and 'Large Scotchmen' (1873) classes for the suburban services; and the 'Europa' class (1873) of 2-4-0s, which ran the mail trains to and from Dover, the Chatham's crack service.
William Kirtley came from the Midland Railway in 1874, following the death of Martley. He was the nephew of Matthew Kirtley, the Midland's famous locomotive superintendent. Kirtley produced a series of excellent designs, robust and good performers — the A series of 0-4-4 tanks for suburban services, the B series of 0-6-0 goods engines; the T class of shunting engines; the M series of 4-4-0 express passenger engines; and a final R series of enlarged 0-4-4 tanks.
These rather than Stirling's Ashford products formed the basis for SE&CR development under Wainwright, not least because it was Robert Surtees from Longhedge who led design work for the successor organisation. The R series led to the SE&CR's R1 and subsequent H class; the Bs to the famous C class; and the Ms to the D and E classes, which in their rebuilt Maunsell form may have been the best British inside-cylinder 4-4-0s.
Ships.
The London, Chatham and Dover Railway operated a number of steamships from 1864, when they took over Jenkins & Churchward's fleet.


Lansalson branch line

The Lansalson branch line (also known as the Trenance valley line) was a railway line built by the Great Western Railway (GWR) to serve the china clay industry in the Trenance valley near St Austell in Cornwall, UK. The line was authorised by the GWR in 1910 and after setbacks due to World War I the line opened to Bojea Sidings on 1 May 1920 for mineral and goods traffic only, and to Lansalson Sidings on 24 May 1920. It closed in 1968.
China Clay.
The mineral known as china clay in the UK, and as kaolinite in other countries, was discovered in large quantities in the 1830s, lying north and north-west of St Austell. Much of the output was carted to Charlestown Harbour at first, and then to Pentewan over the Pentewan Railway. As railways developed in Cornwall a number of direct access points connected the deposits, but the area close to St Austell was not among them, notwithstanding a proposal to extend the Pentewan Railway there in the 1880s.
The china clay industry was subjected to heavy swings in its trade cycle, and a slump in 1903-4 was followed by an upsurge.
A branch line.
The Great Western Railway decided to connect the Lansalson area by a short branch line running north up the river valley; engineering difficulties were minimal although the gradient would be heavy. The GWR authorised construction on 26 July 1910, but little progress was made before the onset of World War I, and work was suspended.
A resumption was made at the end of hostilities, and the line opened to Bojea Sidings on 1 May 1920 and throughout to Lansalson Sidings on 24 May 1920. The line was single, with intermediate sidings operated by ground frame.
Route.
The line was 1m 53c (2.5 km) in length. It left the Cornish Main Line at Trenance Junction, 600 yards (500 m) west of St Austell railway station, immediately east of Trenance Viaduct. It turned north and passed Carlyon Farm kiln in the village of Trethowel; a short distance north were Bojea sidings. The line crossed Bodmin road (B3274) then past Lower Ruddle wharf to Boskell sidings, then crossing to the western side of the St Austell or White River. The line terminated at Lansalson wharf in the village of Ruddlemoor.
The gradient was 1 in 40 rising from Trenance Junction, almost without a break.
There was a short length of double track at Trenance Junction, and siding connections at Carlyon Farm, Bojea, Lowell Ruddell, Boskell and Lansalson.
The site today.
The line closed to traffic in 1968 but in 2005 the railway bed has been converted into a cycle trail (apart from a small section due to a land usage disagreement) from Tremena Gardens in St Austell to the Wheal Martyn china clay country park. The cycle trail forms part of a series called the Clay Trails. The sections relevant to this former railway line are the Wheal Martyn trail and the St Austell Trail.


Hitchin Up Yard

Hitchin Up Yard is a small stabling point located in Hitchin, Hertfordshire, England. It is situated next to the East Coast Main Line and is just north of Hitchin station.
Present.
Great Northern occasionally stables commuter trains there, including Class 365 and Class 313 units.
A Great Northern train driver depot is located near the station on the down side of the ECML.


Cherwell Valley line

The Cherwell Valley line is the railway line between Didcot and via . It links the Great Western Main Line and the south to the Chiltern Main Line and the Midlands. The line follows the River Cherwell for much of its route between Banbury and Oxford.
Current and former stations served.
The former station for Bletchingdon was always spelt "Bletchington", which is an alternative spelling for that village's toponym. The former halt at Wolvercote was called "Wolvercot Platform", with a deliberately different spelling of the village's name, to distinguish it from the London and North Western Railway's nearby .
Services.
Passenger services are provided by CrossCountry and Great Western Railway. GWR markets the local service between Oxford and Banbury as the Oxford Canal Line.
The line carries a large and increasing volume of freight between the Port of Southampton and the Midlands, much of it container trains operated by Freightliner.
Tilting.
With the exception of the West Coast Main Line, this route was the only route on which domestic UK trains could tilt, something of which Virgin CrossCountry took advantage of, using Class 221 "Super Voyagers" from 2004. After Virgin CrossCountry's successor CrossCountry elected to remove the tilting equipment from its Class 221s to increase reliability and reduce costs, tilt running ceased in 2008.
River Thames.
The line makes three crossings of the River Thames between Oxford and Didcot:
Electrification.
In 1977 the Parliamentary Select Committee on Nationalised Industries recommended considering electrification of more of Britain's rail network, and by 1979 BR presented a range of options to do so by 2000. Some of these options would have included the whole Cherwell Valley line and the Banbury–Birmingham section of what is now the Chiltern Main Line plus the Coventry to Leamington line. The 1979–90 Conservative governments that succeeded the 1976–79 Labour government did not implement the proposal.
Under plans for the Great Western Electrification project announced in July 2009, the Cherwell Valley line was due to be electrified from Didcot as far as Oxford. However, delays and cost overruns elsewhere caused this to be deferred indefinitely in 2016.


Scarborough Tramways Company

The Scarborough Tramways Company provided an electric tramway service in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, England, between 1904 and 1931.
History.
Scarborough Corporation obtained parliamentary powers under the Scarborough Tramways Act 1902 to operate tramways in the town. The Scarborough Tramways Company was formed under this Act to build and work the tramways.
The main contractor for construction was the parent company, Edmundson's Electricity Corporation, and the general layout of the system was to the design of Mr. Swinton, with Mr. Waler as consultant engineer. The tramways were laid with 6 inch grooved 45 foot girder rails weighing 90 pounds per yard, supplied by the North Eastern Steel Company of Middlesbrough, with points and crossings manufactured by Hadfields Limited of Sheffield. The contract for the overhead work was awarded to Robert W. Blackwell & Company of London.
The power for the system was obtained from Edmundson's Electricity Corporation from their town power station off Seamer Road.
The car depot was located off Scalby Road at .
Construction began on 12 October 1903 and was complete by the following May. After an inspection by Colonel Pelham von Donop on 4 May 1904, the system was opened to the public on 6 May 1904.
The costs of construction, including an extension to the power station, was £96,000 (equivalent to £ in ).
Fleet.
The initial 22 tramcars were built by Brush Electrical Machines.
Five further cars and one spare car body were obtained second hand from Ipswich Corporation Tramways. One was numbered 21, to replace the original 21 destroyed in the accident on 16 September 1925. The remaining cars were numbered 23 – 25
Routes.
After a rationalisation in 1906, the company operated 6 routes as follows:
Closure.
The system was bought by Scarborough Corporation and closed on 30 September 1931, to be replaced by omnibuses.


West Cornwall Railway

The West Cornwall Railway was a railway company in Cornwall, Great Britain, formed in 1846 to construct a railway between Penzance and Truro. It purchased the existing Hayle Railway, and improved its main line, and built new sections between Penzance and Hayle, and between Redruth and Truro, and opened throughout in 1852.
When the Cornwall Railway reached Truro in 1859, rail travel between Penzance and London was possible, by changing trains.
Later, however, the West Cornwall company was called on to carry out certain mandatory improvements; it lacked the funds to undertake the work, and it was forced to sell its line to the "Associated Companies"—in effect the Great Western Railway, from 1 January 1866.
The main line of the West Cornwall Railway is still in operation at the present day, forming the western end of the Cornish Main Line railway.
Hayle Railway.
The Hayle Railway had been opened as a mineral railway in 1837 between copper and tin mining districts near Redruth, and sea ports at Hayle and Portreath. The line was very lightly engineered, with light T-section rails on stone blocks. There were four rope-worked inclined planes on the system, which was standard gauge. Passenger traffic began to be carried on the main line between Redruth and Hayle, but the physical limitations of the system were significant.
A scheme to connect Penzance and Truro.
Local interests promoted a scheme to extend the Hayle Railway at each end of its main line so as to link Penzance and Truro. They formed the West Cornwall Railway company, and their proposal was to lease the extensions to the Hayle Railway and to arrange for that company to work the whole line. The atmospheric system was proposed for the Truro to Redruth section. (In this system, stationary engines create a partial vacuum in a pipe between the rails, and vehicle at the head of the train carries a piston, entered into the pipe, to achieve traction.) The scheme was estimated at £160,000.
However a parliamentary bill in 1845 was defeated, chiefly because of concern about the delays and inconvenience due to two rope worked inclines on the main line, at Angarrack and Penponds.
A second bill was promoted, receiving the Royal Assent on 3 August 1846, giving powers to purchase the Hayle Railway and construct deviations to eliminate the inclined planes, and to complete the route between Penzance and Truro. The company's capital was to be £500,000 with borrowing powers of £165,000, and a head office in London.
The line was to be broad gauge, "subject to the liability to lay additional rails of the gauge of any railway which might thereafter be constructed through Cornwall to Truro". The main line was to be from Carvedras in Truro (close to the present-day station), with branches to the Truro River and to Falmouth, and to Penryn and to St Ives. (In fact none of the branches was built, except to Newham on the Truro River, and the line never reached Carvedras.)
Possession of the Hayle Railway was taken on 3 November 1846, the purchase price being paid in 4,000 West Cornwall shares, and by taking over the Hayle company's debts, amounting to £47,960. Money was extremely scarce at this time due to the collapse in investor confidence after the railway mania, and for some time, the new company was unable to undertake the new construction, only continuing to operate the original Hayle Railway network.
When finance became available, it was decided to build the new route sections in standard gauge, so as to avoid the expense of converting and relaying the existing Hayle Railway sections, which were already in that gauge; parliamentary powers to do so were obtained in 1850. However the powers granted were conditional upon the West Cornwall laying broad gauge rails on six months' notice from any connecting broad gauge line.
Isambard Kingdom Brunel was the company's engineer, and he proposed the use of Barlow rails, a rail section with a very wide base, that was laid directly in the ballast without sleepers or other support, with a very considerable saving in first cost. This is said to be Brunel's first experiment with this rail section. As stated, the Hayle Railway's own T-section rail and stone block track was retained where appropriate but in the event "Much reconstruction [had] been necessary, and much of the old line between Hayle and Redruth [had] been relaid." Several new viaducts were required, including Angarrack and Penponds, in each case on account of the deviation to by-pass the inclines.
By February 1852 the route was practically ready between Redruth and Penzance, and on 16 February 1852 the former Hayle Railway section was closed to enable the final connections to be made. On 25 February a locomotive was seen in Penzance for the first time, and on 27 February the Chairman and Directors made a trial inspection run from Redruth (Hayle Railway station) to Penzance. Formalities were completed and the line was ready for opening.
The new line opens.
On 11 March 1852, the West Cornwall main line was opened between Penzance and the new Redruth station, without ceremony. The "West Briton and Cornwall Advertiser" newspaper, which had reported the directors' inspection run in detail, did not record the opening, although an accident at Hayle on 17 March was reported. The opening was announced in the "Royal Cornwall Gazette" on 12 March 1852 but only by publication of the timetable, rather than a description of the opening ceremony. Three passenger trains a day ran, with two on Sundays; the third class single fare from Redruth to Penzance was 1s 4d (equivalent to £ in ). The first class return from Redruth to Penzance was 4s 6d (equivalent to £ in ).
Good progress was also being made with the construction of the eastern end of the route, and on 25 August 1852 there was a grand ceremonial opening of that part of the line, as far as Higher Town, on the western margin of Truro.
Infrastructure.
The main line was in new construction from Penzance to a point near Trenowin Farm, east of Angarrack, then using the Hayle Railway route to near the Redruth station, but with a short new section to by-pass the Penponds inclined plane. From Redruth there was new construction (with a new, more central station at that town) to a terminal station about a mile west of Truro. This was at Higher Town, but its official name was Truro Road, although MacDermot uses the name Higher Town.
The Hayle Railway branches were retained, but the line crossed the centre of Hayle on a viaduct, and the Hayle Railway terminus in Foundry Square was abandoned; a new connection descending on a gradient of 1 in 30 was provided to maintain access from the new line to the Hayle wharves; a short length of the original main line from Hayle to near Phillack north of Copperhouse Pool was also retained to serve works there.
Gradients on the new route were severe, with long climbs at 1 in 60 in the up direction and 1 in 80 in the down direction. Several new viaducts were required, and these were mostly timber trestles to Brunel's design, although mostly more lightly built than his other designs.
The Hayle Railway branches were retained, and continued with T section rails on stone blocks.
Better access to Truro.
The high ground on which Truro is located had prevented the new line from approaching directly, but the Higher Town terminus was inconvenient; powers were obtained to extend the line to Newham, within the city of Truro and on the western bank of the Truro River, an arm of the River Fal. The new line made a broad southerly sweep and approached from the south. Its extent was about , and it was opened on 16 April 1855. It diverged from the line towards Truro Road a little south of that station, and the Truro Road station was disused from that date.
The Cornwall Railway arrives.
The Cornwall Railway was constructed to connect Plymouth and Falmouth, through Truro, as a broad gauge line. It opened from Plymouth as far as a new, more conveniently located station in Truro on the northern margin of the city in May 1859.
Pursuing the object of reaching Falmouth, it constructed a line westward, involving a short tunnel, as far as the dormant West Cornwall station at Truro Road. It laid a single line of narrow gauge rails from its own station to make an end-on connection with the West Cornwall line, enabling West Cornwall trains to reach the Cornwall Railway station. This was opened in August 1860, enabling for the first time rail travel throughout from Penzance to London, but with a break of gauge at Truro. (This required passengers to change trains, and goods had to be physically transshipped into different wagons.)
From that time most West Cornwall passenger trains used the Cornwall Railway station, but the first westbound and last eastbound train of the day continued to use Newham until November 1863. From that time all passenger trains used the Cornwall Railway station, and Newham became a goods station.
The Cornwall Railway continued its construction towards Falmouth, and opened that line on 24 August 1863. This included an independent track from its Truro station paralleling its narrow gauge track to the West Cornwall, and diverging at Higher Town. Its broad gauge line crossed the West Cornwall's narrow gauge Newham branch on the level; the junction was known as Penwithers Junction.
A contemporary engineer's report stated that "an extensive system of signal mechanism has been erected" at the crossing, indicating that a signal interlocking was installed there; this was the first west of Exeter if not Bristol, according to MacDermot.
The topography at Penwithers Junction clearly shows that earthworks for an east curve were formed. This would have allowed through running from Newham towards the Cornwall Railway station at Truro. MacDermot states that this was formed at this time by the West Cornwall company, but that it was never completed.
A call to lay broad gauge rails.
The Cornwall Railway was a broad gauge line, and there was an inconvenient break of gauge at Truro. In 1864 it gave notice to the West Cornwall company requiring it to lay broad gauge rails throughout; this was in accordance with the 1850 West Cornwall powers. The West Cornwall was quite unable to finance the required work, and had no alternative but to look for a buyer. In fact the only realistic buyer was the "Associated Companies", a group composed of the Great Western Railway, the Bristol & Exeter Railway and the South Devon Railway. The sale went through, and the Associated Companies took over the working of the line from 1 July 1865, and completed the purchase on 1 January 1866.
Under the control of the Great Western Railway.
The Associated Companies were in effect the Great Western Railway. A West Cornwall Committee was formed, consisting of two former West Cornwall directors and two Great Western directors to manage the line under Associated Companies ownership.
They then proceeded with the work of laying broad gauge rails (i.e. converting the main line to mixed gauge) and to improving the very poor quality infrastructure on the West Cornwall main lines. Broad gauge goods trains started running on 6 November 1866 and passenger trains from 1 March 1867, with two through London services each way daily.
Some narrow gauge trains continued to run, and from November 1871 until the abolition of broad gauge, some goods trains ran as mixed trains, conveying wagons of both gauges in the same train.
The Associated Companies amalgamated as the Great Western Railway in 1876 and the West Cornwall system was then formally a part of that company.
The West Cornwall line was still in a weak condition, with timber trestle viaducts and poor quality track; Barlow rail and the original T-section rail on stone blocks persisted on the original branches, and the line was single throughout. The branches all remained narrow gauge only (except for a mixed gauge deviation on Hayle Wharves, opened on 3 October 1877).
The timber trestle viaducts were replaced by masonry or by masonry and iron structures in the period 1885–1888, with the exception of the Penzance viaduct. This was largely washed away on 31 December 1868, and the railway was diverted inland until a new viaduct was completed, opening on 28 October 1871.
In May 1892 the Great Western Railway undertook the upheaval of gauge conversion, in which all broad gauge lines were converted to standard gauge. The West Cornwall system was already mixed gauge, so this only implied eventual removal of the unnecessary broad gauge rails. The opportunity was taken to reconfigure the track at Penwithers Junction, where the Falmouth line crossed the Newham line on the level. There had been two independent tracks from Truro, one narrow leading to the West Cornwall line, and one broad, leading towards Falmouth. From 1893 the two single tracks were converted to form a double line, with a full junction at Penwithers for the divergence of the Penzance and Falmouth lines. At the same time the Newham branch, now only carrying local goods for Truro, was directly accessible only from the Falmouth line.
Doubling of the single line sections started, and by 1904 nearly of the West Cornwall main line had been doubled: Chacewater to Scorrier, Redruth to Gwinear Road, Hayle to St Erth, and Marazion to Ponsandane (near Penzance). By 1921 only Scorrier to Redruth and St Erth to Marazion remained single.
The reconstructed Penzance viaduct of 1871 had 51 spans, originally of timber construction but with some later steel strengthening. In 1920 the viaduct was replaced with a stone faced embankment carrying double track. The Penzance station site remained very cramped, with only two short passenger platforms, and in 1937 a new goods station was opened at Ponsandane, just outside Penzance, serving the whole catchment area of Penzance, about , motor cartage having been introduced. This freed space at Penzance itself for enlargement of the passenger facilities there, and a considerable area of the foreshore was reclaimed at the eastern end of the station. This incorporated a new extended sea wall and in collaboration with the town Corporation, a public promenade was formed on it.
This enabled the passenger station to be extended to have four long platforms, and new loading banks for fish and flower traffic were built to remove these activities from the passenger station. The work was completed in 1938.
The original West Cornwall Railway branches continued in operation, but closed during the twentieth century; the Portreath and Tresavean branches closed in 1936; North Crofty closed in 1948; Roskear in 1963; Newham in 1972 and Hayle Wharves and the Phillack stub in 1982.
The main line from Penzance to Truro continues as part of the Cornish Main Line to this day.
Stations.
The Hayle Railway had operated passenger calling points at Redruth, Pool, Camborne, Penponds, Gwinear, Angarrack, Copperhouse and
Hayle. When the West Cornwall Railway opened its new line and then extended to Newham, it had stations at
Note:
Major Structures.
The Hayle Railway had not had any large structures, and all the viaducts on the new West Cornwall Railway line were built new by them in the period 1850–1852. They were of Brunel's timber trestle designs. When the Associated Companies took control of the line and installed broad gauge, they were reconstructed, and they were eventually replaced in brick arch or brick pier and wrought iron. They were:
Note: some of the viaduct lengths are uncertain.
Locomotives.
Standard gauge.
The Hayle Railway contracted with J. Chanter to provide its locomotives. This contract was bought out by the West Cornwall Railway, the stock consisting of the "Carn Brea", "Chanter", "Cornubria", "Coryndon", and "Pendarves".
These locomotives were replaced from 1851 by an expanded fleet comprising:
Broad gauge.
Broad gauge locomotives were pooled with the Cornwall Railway and South Devon Railway locomotives, those bought on behalf of the West Cornwall Railway being:
In addition, two West Cornwall Railway locomotives were rebuilt to run on the broad gauge.


Felixstowe branch line

The Felixstowe branch line is a railway branch line in Suffolk, England, that connects the Great Eastern Main Line to and its port.
The line is in length from to Felixstowe. The stations and all passenger services are currently operated by Greater Anglia. The passenger services originate at but the branch itself starts one station further along at Westerfield. The line also carries freight trains operated by DB Schenker, Freightliner and GB Railfreight, to the port of Felixstowe.
The line was opened by the Felixstowe Railway & Pier Company in 1877, although the first station in Felixstowe was not in the town but at the company's pier on the River Orwell. The railway was sold to the Great Eastern Railway in 1887. A station near Felixstowe town centre was opened in 1898 and this has been the only station in the town since 1967. Freight traffic has increased significantly since that time, leading to the opening of a second route to the port in 1987.
As of December 2016 passenger service frequency on the line is typically one train per hour in each direction between Ipswich and Felixstowe. The timetabled journey time from one terminus to the other is 26 minutes.
Description.
"The route is described from Westerfield to Felixstowe. Features on the up side will be on the right when facing towards Felixstowe, those on the down side on the left."
The Felixstowe branch is an unelectrified, single track secondary line with a maximum line speed of 75 mph, although lower limits apply at some places. It has a W10 loading gauge but W9 rolling stock is excluded.
Westerfield railway station is from where the passenger trains to Felixstowe start their journey, although the milepost reads 72¼ as the line is measured from London. It has two platforms, both of which are accessed from the road that passes over the level crossing at the west end of the station. Both up and down Felixstowe trains today share the up platform with East Suffolk Line trains towards Ipswich; the down platform is used by East Suffolk Line services to and beyond. When the Felixstowe line first opened the trains terminated in another track on the southern side of the up platform, alongside which is the old Felixstowe Railway and Pier Company building, now no longer used by the railway. Felixstowe trains curve to the right at Westerfield Junction as they leave the station to join the Felixstowe branch line.
The line climbs for a short distance at 1 in 85 and swings towards the south, coming back into the suburbs of Ipswich. At milepost 73 ( from Westerfield) the line starts to drop down towards the three-arch Spring Road Viaduct, the only significant engineering feature on the branch. The train now enters a section of double track through station ( from Ipswich station by train, but only 1.5 miles on the map) where trains can pass. The line now leaves Ipswich for the last time. Just beyond milepost 78 the train passes the site of station which was closed in 1959.
As the train slows for the approach to ( from Westerfield) a line branches off on the up side then runs parallel over the level crossing and through the station before it curves away from the branch. This is the Port of Felixstowe's line to their North Freightliner Terminal which was opened in 1987. Passenger trains in both directions now use the former down platform. The derelict station building is on this, but the Trimley Station Community Trust want to see it repaired and used as a community facility. Less than one mile further on another line diverges on the up side. This is the original route of 1877 which also carries freight trains to the port. The passenger line, however, passes beneath Garrison Lane to terminate at station, opened in 1898 and from Westerfield. The single platform is on the down side of the train and can accommodate six carriages.
If we were to follow the North Curve we would find it passes through the old station ( from Westerfield) which was closed in 1967. After passing over a level crossing the line splits into a group of sidings known as Felixstowe Creek. At the far end of these is Felixstowe Dock Junction where Network Rail's tracks end and those of the Port of Felixstowe start. Here most trains curve around into the South Freightliner Terminal but lines also diverge on the up side to the older part of the docks. It is possible to follow these to the North Freightliner Terminal and then back to Trimley, but this would involve crossing numerous level crossings on the way through the dock area.
History.
The first railway proposed for the small coastal town of Felixstowe was the Ipswich and Felixstowe Railway in 1865, to run from the GER station at Westerfield to Hog Lane in Felixstowe. In 1873 a tramway was proposed from Ipswich station to Landguard Common (near the mouth of the River Orwell) and Fagborough Cliff where it would connect with the ferry to Harwich. One of the tramway's promoters, Colonel George Tomline, suggested instead that a proper railway should be built instead, running from Westerfield to a pier to be constructed at Landguard Common. An Act of Parliament was granted for this scheme on 19 July 1875 under the name of the Felixstowe Railway and Pier Company. Two years later the name was changed to the Felixstowe Railway and Dock Company when a new Act authorised the construction of a dock at Languard Common close to the pier with an access channel and railway lines.
The railway was opened on 1 May 1877. Starting from Westerfield railway station, it served stations at Derby Road (Ipswich), (built primarily to serve the home of Colonel Tomline near Nacton), Felixstowe (not today's station, but one near the pier at Landguard Common). Tomline was criticised in the "Suffolk Chronicle" for building the stations where he "thinks people ought to be, rather than where people actually live". When a station was opened nearer to Felixstowe it was at , close to land Tomline was looking to develop but not well placed to serve the more established part of town. It is claimed that it was also sited here to be away from the Ordnance Hotel, owned by his rival John Chevalier Cobbold.
Great Eastern Railway (1879–1922).
On 1 September 1879 the Great Eastern Railway (GER) took over operation of the line, although the Felixstowe company retained ownership until 5 July 1887 when it sold the railway to the GER while retaining the dock (which had opened for traffic in April 1886) and associated railway lines, changing its name to the Felixstowe Dock and Railway Company to reflect its main interests. In May 1887 an Act of Parliament was granted for a line from Felixstowe to Felixstowe Ferry but this was never built and the scheme was abandoned in 1892 due to lack of capital.
From October 1879 some trains to Felixstowe ran through from where connections with the GER main line were more convenient. and was running trains through to Ipswich. An additional station was opened at on 1 May 1891. Three years later the old Felixstowe engine shed near the Beach station was reopened as a carriage painting depot; about 2,000 carriages were painted here each year until it was destroyed by a fire in the 1930s.
On 13 July 1891 Princess Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein, wife of Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany and a relative of Queen Victoria, arrived on a train at Felixstowe Beach station. She and five of her children stayed in the town on holiday until 6 August. This gave the town a boost as a holiday resort. Although the population of the town in 1891 was only 3,507 development was increasing along the higher ground north of the Beach station. In order to better serve this end of the town, the GER obtained powers in June 1893 for a short deviation to the line. A terminus station was built on what is now Hamilton Road. This was opened on 1 July 1898 and named Felixstowe Town station. The direct line from Trimley to Felixstowe Beach was closed and all trains therefore had to reverse at the Town station before continuing their journey. A new 'Orwell Hotel' was opened at the same time opposite the station entrance.
More hotels opened in the town around this time including the luxury Felix Hotel on the sea front in 1903 which, in 1919, was purchased by the GER and operated as a railway hotel until it was sold in 1952. A promenade was built along the seafront in 1903 and a pleasure pier opened in 1905. Lord Claud Hamilton, the Chairman of the GER, was invited to open the new Spa Pavilion in 1909. The developing resort was by now served by direct trains from London Liverpool Street station. In 1905 the 10:00 service from London (which had been introduced the previous year as a non-stop service to ) called at Westerfield to detach carriages for Felixstowe. It was only allowed two minutes to do this (reduced to a single minute in 1908), and the Felixstowe portion continued on its way just three minutes later. A non-stop train each way between Liverpool Street and Felixstowe Town was introduced in 1906. Another fast train was introduced in 1907 with a single stop at .
Traffic increased to such a degree that in August 1912 powers were obtained by the railway company to double the line from Westerfield to Felixstowe Town. The railway had been built wide enough for this back in 1877 except for the Spring Road Viaduct in Ipswich which would need to be rebuilt. This work did not happen as World War I broke out. Felixstowe was a prohibited area and the local population was encouraged to leave the area, hotels were converted into military hospitals, and additional sidings were laid in the docks to handle the increased freight traffic.
It is known that a 9.2" coastal howitzer was based in the area between 1914 and 1915. Its precise location is unknown but believed to be in the pier station area.
London and North Eastern Railway (1923–1947).
In 1923 the Great Eastern Railway became a part of the new London and North Eastern Railway (LNER). Passenger traffic regained its pre-war volumes; Derby Road station being especially popular as it connected with the Ipswich tram system and many extra trains started there. In 1938 the LNER received new powers to double the line from Westerfield to Felixstowe Town and enlarge the station there. While an additional platform was provided at Felixstowe in 1939, the second track along the branch again failed to materialise due to the outbreak of World War II.
Fewer through trains were run from London than before World War I, but from 1929 until 1939 there was a regular 'Eastern Belle' Pullman service. This train had been operating as the 'Clacton Pullman' but in 1929 was rescheduled to run from London to different LNER resorts in East Anglia resorts each weekday, which resulted in it coming to Felixstowe once a fortnight. It left Liverpool Street at 11:00, took less than two hours to reach Felixstowe, and returned at 19:35. The fare was 5 shillings.
In World War II Felixstowe once again became restricted area. From September 1940 an armoured train with a Howitzer was stationed on the line with a modified Class F4 locomotive to power it. The gun was one of two with the other being allocated Wrabness Station and part of the 27th Army Field Regiment (although by October the 9th Super-Heavy Battery Royal Artillery. The unit was initially based at Derby Road (and the headquarters function remained there) but the gun soon moved to Orwell. It patrolled lines in the area and sidings were provided for it at Levington Bridge and Trimley. Some of the crew was at one point billeted in the waiting room at Orwell, as well as various converted rail vehicles. A gun shed was built in 1941 and still exists at Levington and the top part of the building used to slide back to allow the gun to fire.
The three LNER C14 Class locomotives that were based at Felixstowe (numbers 6123, 6128 and 6130) were put into store at Westerfield for most of the year so that traffic could be concentrated into heavier trains behind larger locomotives. Passenger trains were withdrawn from Felixstowe Pier; it was reopened on 3 June 1946.
British Railways (1948–1997).
In 1948 the LNER became the Eastern Region of British Railways. The docks were badly silted after the war and were damaged further by the fatal flood on 1 February 1953. Passenger trains to Felixstowe Pier had been withdrawn completely from 2 July 1951.
The British Railways Modernisation Plan of 1955 proposed to electrify the branch in connection with similar work on the main line from Liverpool Street to Ipswich, although this failed to be completed north of Colchester at the time. Instead an accelerated diesel-powered service was introduced on 15 June 1959. Orwell station was closed, but the time from Ipswich to Felixstowe Town was reduced from 35 to 24 minutes which allowed a diesel multiple unit to work there and back within an hour. At the end of the year it was reported that the new service had increased the number of passengers carried by 70%. A further change was introduced on 2 November 1959 when daily services were withdrawn between Felixstowe Town and Felixstowe Beach, thereafter they were run only during the summer until the end of the 1967 season when it closed never to reopen. Earlier that year the branch had been converted to "Pay Train" operation, with all fares being collected by the guard so that staff were no longer needed at the stations other than signalmen.
In 1964 it was reported that freight traffic on the branch included agricultural machinery, bricks, chocolate, coal and coke, custard and jelly, explosives, glassware, grain, motor cars scrap metal, sugar beet, and timber. Public freight facilities had been withdrawn from Westerfield and Trimley on 13 July 1964, and from both stations at Felixstowe on 5 December 1966. The following year saw the completion of a new container terminal at the docks which was served by Freightliner trains. This helped to contribute to the docks handling 2,019,270 tons in 1969 which was more than nine times the traffic of ten years earlier. On 13 May 1970 a new direct line to Felixstowe Docks was opened. This used the same alignment as in 1877 to 1898 and removed the need of trains to reverse at Felixstowe Town. At the same time the station was reduced to just a single platform and the 1898 line from there towards the docks was closed.
In February 1975 there were three freightliner trains running to the docks on weekdays and two on Saturdays. Two of these went to Parkeston which also had a freightliner terminal, to be formed into longer trains whilst the other train went direct to Stratford and Willesden in North London. Steel coil traffic was also operating over the branch at this date as one of these trains was recorded hitting the level crossing gates at Trimley on 7 February 1975.
Freight traffic to Derby Road continued into the 1980s serving a domestic coal depot and a scrap yard. Rail traffic to Cranes finished in mid-1970s and to Ransome, Sims and Jefferies in 1980.
The station buildings at Felixstowe were converted to shops after the railway stopped using them. They were listed Grade II on 23 December 1980.
In 1981 the Felixstowe Dock and Railway Company obtained an Act of Parliament to allow it to construct of new railways. The first part to come into use was an extension of the existing dock lines to a new Northern Freightliner Terminal. Work on the remainder started in March 1986. This saw the line extended to Trimley station. When it opened on 16 February 1987 it allowed trains to reach the new terminal without crossing a series of level crossings in the dock area and also the public level crossing at Felixstowe Beach. The line to Trimley involved heavy earthworks and cost £2,000,000 but the company received a 40% grant under Section 8 of the Railways Act 1974 as it would reduce road traffic.
Post-privatisation.
In the 1990s British Rail was privatised and the ownership of the line passed to Railtrack. When that company was wound up it was transferred to Network Rail. Passenger services were franchised, first to Anglia Railways on 5 January 1997, then to One on 1 April 2004 (which was rebranded National Express East Anglia on 22 February 2008), and then to Abellio Greater Anglia on 5 February 2012.
Railtrack initiated an upgrading of the Felixstowe branch line in 1997, the first time that it had done this speculatively in anticipation of it receiving increased revenue from freight train operators. The passing loop at Derby Road was extended so that two container trains could pass, the signalling replaced and transferred to the control of Power Signalling Box, and the line speed was increased. The aim was to allow an hourly passenger train service to operate while accommodating more freight trains. The line as far as Felixstowe Beach was maintained to passenger standard in case a service to there is resumed in the future. Electrification was again considered as most Freightliner trains were by then being worked by electric locomotives to Ipswich where they had to be changed to diesel for the short trip to Felixstowe, but the cost of this could not be justified. The work cost £8,000,000 and was completed by June 1999.
In 2008 the Secretary of State for Transport approved the 'Felixstowe Branch Line and Ipswich Yard Improvement Order'. This empowered the rebuilding of Ipswich Yard and the laying of a second track for from Trimley westwards to Levington.
During the 2012 Summer Olympics Freightliner diverted ten Felixstowe trains each day through either Cambridge or Ely to free up capacity at Stratford which was next to the main venue for the games.
In 2011 Network Rail submitted plans for a new double track curve at Ipswich to be known as the Bacon Factory Curve. This avoided the necessity of any train running between Felixstowe and the Ely Line having to reverse in Upper Yard. Work started early in 2013 and was completed in March 2014 with the first train running on 24 March 2014 This is one of a number of enhancements between Felixstowe and Nuneaton which are designed to allow trains to reach the West Coast Main Line without travelling over congested lines in the London area.
In October 2017 final approval was given for a £60.4m project which includes doubling between Trimley station and Grimston Lane foot crossing. Work started on 7 April 2018 and was predicted to end in Autumn 2019. However, the work was completed by May 2019 and saw changes to the infrastructure at Trimley station where trains from the Felixstowe direction could now access the disused platform road and the establishment of a double track as far as a new junction called Gun Lane Junction just over a mile west of Trimley station. Both lines can be worked bi-directionally and with the increase in freight traffic that resulted from the additional capacity a number of level crossings were either abolished or upgraded to improve safety.
New Class 755 trains from Swiss manufacturer Stadler Rail were introduced to the line on 19 November 2019.
Accidents.
On 1 September 1900, there was a collision at Felixstowe station. An up passenger train started off for Ipswich despite the signal not being set to permit this move. There was a freight train arriving at the time and the two trains collided at relatively low speed resulting in 12 injuries. The investigation was undertaken by Lt Colonel P G Donop for the Board of Trade. After interviewing all the staff involved (train crew, signalman and station master) concluded that the fault lay with the driver (which he readily admitted) who had passed the signal at danger. The locomotives involved were GER 474 (a GER Class T19) on the goods train and 791 (a GER Class M15) on the passenger train. A postcard showing the post-accident scene was produced.
On 25 September 1900, at 08:45, GER Class Y14 0-6-0 locomotive 522, which was then just a year old, stopped at a signal on the Ipswich side of the level crossing at Westerfield awaiting a route to the Felixstowe branch. Shortly afterwards the boiler exploded killing driver John Barnard and his fireman William Macdonald, both of whom were based at Ipswich engine shed. The boiler was thrown over the level crossing and ended up on the down platform. The locomotive was reported to have had a history of boiler problems although in the official report the Boiler Foreman at Ipswich was blamed. The victims were buried in Ipswich cemetery and both their gravestones have a likeness of a Y14 locomotive carved onto them.
On 19 July 1933, a signalling error caused a locomotive to run back into a rake of carriages after it had uncoupled from them. 13 people were injured.
On 14 March 2018, a freight train collided with a car at the Routs crossing off Felixstowe Road near Nacton. One person, the driver of the car, was seriously injured. The driver of the train had no injuries.
Signalling.
When the line was opened the trains on its single line were regulated by a staff and ticket signalling system. This ensured that only one train at a time was on each end of the line; a loop at Orwell allowed two trains to pass. An additional section was created between Felixstowe Pier and Beach stations when the latter opened. Tyers Electric Train Tablet was in use on the line by 1891 and trains could pass at Felixstowe Beach. An additional passing loop came into use in May 1891 when Trimley station opened, and another one was created at Derby Road in November that year. Signal boxes were provided at every station and at Felixstowe Dock Junction which was the boundary between the branch and the lines of the dock company. This was closed in 1928 and replaced by a ground frame. When a train ran down to the pier it needed the signalman from Felixstowe Beach to accompany it to operate the signals.
In 1969 the section from Felixstowe towards the dock was converted to staff and ticket working so to provide more flexibility to cope with the increasing number of freight trains. The remodelling of Felixstowe in 1970 saw the closure of Felixstowe Town Signal Box, the electric signals and junction with the line to Felixstowe Beach being operated from Trimley. The passing loop at Trimely was taken out of use in 1986 when it was altered to become the connection to the Port of Felixstowe's new branch line.
In 1999 the remaining signal boxes at Westerfield, Derby Road, Trimley and Felixstowe Beach were closed, control of the branch being transferred to Colchester Panel Signal Box. Colour light signals and motor-driven points are fitted throughout, while level crossings at Trimley and Felixstowe Beach are monitored by CCTV. Signal passed at danger (SPAD) indicators were fitted at several places to act as a warning to drivers should they pass a red signal.
Services.
The following list provides a snapshot of timetables to show how they have changed over the years. Up trains are those going to Ipswich and down trains are those towards Felixstowe.
Container traffic.
At the end of 1967 there were 2 "Mini-Liner" trains from Felixstowe Freightliner Terminal to Harwich where they were combined with other Freightliner wagons for the remainder of their journey. By 1977 there were 2 regular trains working via Harwich, one to and from Coatbridge near Glasgow and the other to and from Birmingham, Liverpool and Manchester. A third train ran directly to and from Stratford in London. By 1986 this had grown to 12 to 13 trains each way each day, and the completion of the new line to the North Freightliner Terminal and additional ship berths on the new Trinity Quay in 1987 were expected to boost this to 18 to 20.
The privatisation of British Rail saw the Freightliner services transferred to a new Freightliner (UK) company, but other freight operators have now added their own services to Felixstowe which has added to the number of trains running over the branch. The first of these was operators was GB Railfreight which started a service to in February 2002. On 1 October 2011 it introduced its sixth service from Felixstowe (this one running to Trafford Park in Manchester) which brought the total number of freight trains running over the branch to 29 each way each day.
The number of containers that are handled by rail at Felixstowe has been growing, with new records reported on a number of occasions in recent years:
A new container terminal opened on 6 June 2013 located below Fagbury Cliff at the north east end of the port. This is known as the North Terminal; the original North Terminal opened in the 1980s has been renamed the Central Terminal. The new terminal is reached from Trimley via a new junction at the north end of the Central Terminal. The nine sidings are served by three gantry cranes and will be able to handle 35-wagon trains; the Central and South terminals can only handle trains of between 21 and 24 wagons so longer trains have to be split into smaller units by shunting locomotives. To make sufficient space for such long trains, the new North terminal has been equipped with a locomotive traverser at the north east end. Once an incoming locomotive has uncoupled from its train it can move onto the traverser which then moves it to an empty track where it can then move to the other end of a train ready for departure.
Motive power.
Felixstowe Railway and Pier.
The line was initially worked by three 2-4-0 side tank locomotives built by the Yorkshire Engine Company . They had 4 ft 7½in (1,410mm) driving wheels and 14in by 20in (366mm by 508mm) cylinders. They were transferred to the Great Eastern Railway and moved to London where they worked as shunting locomotives until withdrawn in 1888. Locomotives were kept in an engine shed at Felixstowe Beach.
The railway also possessed 19 passenger carriages and 15 goods wagons.
GER, LNER and BR steam.
The GER closed the locomotive shed at Felixstowe Beach and instead operated the line with locomotives from Ipswich engine shed. Until January 1959 there was a small sub-shed at Felixstowe Town where crews were based and locomotives could receive limited servicing. The class numbers listed below refer to the LNER classification scheme unless stated to be GER or BR instead.
Other classes made less frequent visits to the branch, often on summer passenger trains. These included LNER Class B12, B12/3, B17, D1, D9, D14/2, D15, D16, D16/3 and N5 in the 1930s. In the 1950s D16/3, F6, V1 and BR Standard 4 class locomotives were reported.
Diesel power.
The first diesel multiple unit (DMU) to be tested on the branch visited on 16 November 1955 but it was decided that the steam-hauled trains could handle the traffic volumes better, although eight-car DMUs did work excursion trains from the London Midland Region to Felixstowe the following year. The branch passenger service was eventually converted to DMU operation on 5 January 1959.
The first DMUs at Felixstowe were lightweight types built by Metropolitan Cammell and British Railways' Derby Works. These were soon replaced by heavier types from Gloucester Railway Carriage and Wagon (later ), Metropolitan Cammell (), Birmingham Railway Carriage and Wagon ( and Cravens (). In the 1980s these were replaced by new 'Sprinter' types, initially two-car Class 150/2s and s. Since a more frequent timetable has been possible following the 1997 resignalling most trains were one-car s, although 'Turbostars' were occasionally seen.
From 19 November 2019 Class 755/3 bi- mmode units took over operation of the branch passenger services.
The first diesel locomotive believed to have visited Felixstowe was Brush Type 2 D5503 which brought an excursion train from London Liverpool Street on 12 April 1959.
Private sidings.
The following sidings have been connected to the Felixstowe branch line at various times but were not owned by the railway company.
Port of Felixstowe.
The branch was built by the Felixstowe Railway and Pier Company. When most of the line was sold to the Great Eastern Railway, the builders retained the lines in the dock area and changed the company name to Felixstowe Dock and Railway. As the docks have expanded since the 1960s, so to have the railways to serve them. A Freightliner Terminal was opened in 1967 and this was followed by a Northern Freightliner Terminal and branch to which was completed in 1987.
In June 2013 the Northern terminal was renamed Central Terminal when a new North terminal opened on an adjacent site. This new terminal is the first in the United Kingdom that can handle 30-wagon trains capable of carrying 90 TEUs. It is equipped with three Liebherr rail mounted gantry cranes but these will be increased to six when traffic expands.
The following locomotives have worked for the Port of Felixstowe (as it is now known), most of which have been former British Rail locomotives.
Freightliner UK also keep a Class 08 at Felixstowe for shunting its trains. The locomotive is exchanged from time to time for maintenance purposes.
Cranes.
In 1927 American firm Crane-Bennett opened a rail served works south of Derby Road. Rail traffic finished in mid-1970s.
The following locomotives are known to have worked at Cranes.
Ransomes.
In 1950 a private siding was installed at Ransomes, Sims & Jefferies' works south of Derby Road. Rail traffic finished in 1980.
The following locomotives are known to have worked at Ransomes.
Proposed developments.
As of August 2019 there are no proposed changes to the Felixstowe branch.
Film and television.
Felixstowe Town featured in the 1954 film "The Sea Shall Not Have Them" with two scenes of an Ipswich-based LNER Class F6 2-4-2T locomotive arriving at the station.
The branch line featured in the final episode of . Palin was given a lift by a lorry driver from Felixstowe Port to Felixstowe Town Station, and is shown boarding a class 101 DMU to Ipswich.
An episode of Michael Portillo's third BBC "Great British Railway Journeys" finished at the Port of Felixstowe where the growth of railways in the docks was explained.