East Suffolk Line

[90sWereBetter]

A couple of queries regarding aspects of this line.

Oulton Broad Swing Bridge: I noticed that, despite the line being single track between Oulton Broad junction and Beccles, there is space for a second track on the bridge itself, which I would imagine there was a second track at one stage or another. Is there any reason why the line was singled here, and how long has it been singled on the bridge?

Bealings Station: Is this the only closed station on the line, and would there ever be a business case for reopening, unlikely that may be?

Also, what is the future of the RETB signalling system, as Wikipedia states that the technology is redundant, and that it was supposed to be replaced by 2011. What could replace it?

 

[samw13]

Also, what is the future of the RETB signalling system, as Wikipedia states that the technology is redundant, and that it was supposed to be replaced by 2011. What could replace it?

The RETB system was replaced during the 2012 upgrade and installation of Beccles Loop by December 2012

 

[Bald Rick]

The line was singled with the introduction of RETB in the 80s. To be honest it was lucky not to be closed.

 

[Gareth Marston]

The line was singled with the introduction of RETB in the 80s. To be honest it was lucky not to be closed.

The same statement can be made about most lines in the uk, the road lobby didn't get its way entirely thankfully.

 

[TheEdge]

Bealings Station: Is this the only closed station on the line, and would there ever be a business case for reopening, unlikely that may be?

As far as I know Bealings is the only closed station on the remaining mainline (ignoring all the old branches of the East Suffolk and the line to Yarmouth South Town)

I doubt there is much of a case in re-opening it and there is very little left of it, the buildings are in private use and the platforms are ruins. Also its not that far from Woodbridge which is, I think is the busiest intermediate station on the line.

As already said RETB went with the 2012 upgrade.

 

[Tobbes]

As far as I know Bealings is the only closed station on the remaining mainline (ignoring all the old branches of the East Suffolk and the line to Yarmouth South Town)

I doubt there is much of a case in re-opening it and there is very little left of it, the buildings are in private use and the platforms are ruins. Also its not that far from Woodbridge which is, I think is the busiest intermediate station on the line.

As already said RETB went with the 2012 upgrade.

Bealings could reopen if there were enough local development. You'd probably build a new station on the other side of the LC from the old station, but as it is on an incline, I'm not sure what the rules would be.

Tobbes

 

[Buttsy]

I've always wondered about the viability of building a platform on this line at Oulton Broad North. It could easily be linked to the existing Norwich platform to keep down costs and provide potentailly better connections in the area.

 

[TheEdge]

I've always wondered about the viability of building a platform on this line at Oulton Broad North. It could easily be linked to the existing Norwich platform to keep down costs and provide potentailly better connections in the area.

Why?

There is perfectly good connections at Lowestoft already, when the train from Ipswich doesn't actually form the next train to Norwich they connect nice and tidy with the xx:50 (or xx:00)

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

As far as I know Bealings is the only closed station on the remaining mainline (ignoring all the old branches of the East Suffolk and the line to Yarmouth South Town)

At the time of the closure of Bealings station, being the only closed railway station on that specific line, were there any tentative moves afoot to close any other of the railway stations on that line which were then withdrawn ?

Perhaps those with local knowledge may assist here.

 

[TheEdge]

Well wiki has Bealings down as a pre-Beeching (1956) closure so I doubt any others were planned with it.

I would assume the ESL was the sort of line the good doctor would want closed, I imagine the massive stripping down of all the stations was the method of saving it.

 

[ashworth]

Why?

There is perfectly good connections at Lowestoft already, when the train from Ipswich doesn't actually form the next train to Norwich they connect nice and tidy with the xx:50 (or xx:00)

Whilst I'd like to generally agree with that, the connections are quite tight if there is any late running on the East Suffolk Line, especially when they won't even hold the Norwich train at Lowestoft for a couple of minutes!

A few months ago I was travelling, late one afternoon with two elderly relatives from Brampton to Nottingham, and the East Suffolk Line train was running approx. 10 minutes late. The guard tried to be very helpful by ringing through and explaining that there were passengers for Norwich who had to make onward connections at Norwich for Nottingham and they refused to hold the Norwich train. I can understand how things are these days with penalties etc but they are both run by the same TOC and we weren't running very late. What really annoyed me was that we pulled into Lowestoft at the side of the Norwich train only to see it immediately depart. It would only have been a matter of delaying it 2 minutes.
Fortunately when we finally arrived in Norwich there was still one more departure that day to Nottingham but it did result in us arriving in Nottingham quite late at night.

 

[steamybrian]

Well wiki has Bealings down as a pre-Beeching (1956) closure so I doubt any others were planned with it.

I would assume the ESL was the sort of line the good doctor would want closed, I imagine the massive stripping down of all the stations was the method of saving it.

Melton closed in 1955 but was reopened in 1984

The whole of the ESL was in the Beeching Report to be closed but Gerald Feines (then the General Manager of Eastern Region) calculated that by destaffing the stations and with economies he could make the line profitable.
(mentioned in his autobiography "I tried to run a railway")

 

[Dr_Paul]

The whole line up to Lowestoft used to be double-track when I travelled it back in the late 1960s/early 1970s. I saw the two closed stations near Woodbridge, and was pleasantly surprised many years later when I looked at a map and noticed that Melton had reopened. The Lowestoft to Yarmouth South Town line was still open when I first visited Lowestoft in 1965, I remember when it closed closed. There were also at that time a couple of lines across the main road into Lowestoft harbour, although goods wagons were towed across by a tractor, the little four-wheel locos that my dad remembers from the 1950s had long gone by then. The freight-only branch to Lowestoft South was still in place, but I don't recall ever seeing anything on it.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Melton closed in 1955 but was reopened in 1984

Interesting to note that the 2010/2011 passenger figures for Melton show a total of 43,716.