Beccles railway station

Beccles railway station is a stop on the East Suffolk Line in the east of England, serving the town of Beccles, Suffolk. It is 40 miles 34 chains (65.1 km) down the line from Ipswich and 109 miles 11 chains (175.6 km) from London Liverpool Street; it is situated between Brampton and Oulton Broad South stations. Its three-letter station code is BCC and is managed by Greater Anglia, which also operates all trains that call.

Beccles
General information
Location	Beccles, East Suffolk England
Coordinates	52.4586°N 1.5697°E / 52.4586; 1.5697
Grid reference	TM426904
Owned by	Network Rail
Managed by	Greater Anglia
Platforms	2
Other information
Station code	BCC
Classification	DfT category F1
History
Original company	East Suffolk Railway[1][page needed]
Pre-grouping	Great Eastern Railway
Post-grouping	London and North Eastern Railway
Key dates
4 December 1854	Opened[1][page needed]
15 May 1858	Closed
1 June 1859	Reopened
31 January 1968	Closed to freight
10 December 2012	Passing loop opened[2]
Passengers
2019/20	0.110 million
2020/21	17,682
2021/22	97,838
2022/23	0.112 million
2023/24	0.118 million
Location
Notes Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

History

Beccles railway station in 1963

View southward, towards Ipswich

The East Suffolk Railway opened in 1854, operating as far as Halesworth. The line was then extended to Ipswich and Yarmouth South Town in 1859; the Beccles to Lowestoft line opened in the same year. The Waveney Valley Line from Tivetshall on the Great Eastern Main Line reached Beccles in 1863, making the town an important junction on the expanding Great Eastern Railway network.

The Waveney Valley Line closed to passengers in 1954 and the Yarmouth-Beccles Line closed to passengers in 1959. The Waveney Valley Line was then closed to freight traffic in 1963. The engine shed was demolished in 2006.

Passing loop development

Work began in early 2010 to develop a passing loop at Beccles to allow services to operate hourly on the single-track line. The lack of a double-track to allow trains to pass north of Saxmundham had previously made this frequency of service impossible.

By March 2010, the single track at Beccles was renewed with continuously welded rail and concrete sleepers. The track was also realigned from the southern approach to the station to allow room for the loop. The old track was lifted and placed alongside the disused platform and disposed of in late 2010. By March 2012, work had started to build the passing loop and, by May of that year, new turnout points were in place and work had begun on redeveloping the disused island platform. The old trackbed had also been removed.

Work was completed by December 2012 and enhanced services began on 10 December 2012.^[3] The £4 million scheme was jointly funded by Network Rail and Suffolk County Council.

Facilities

There is a café in the original station building adjoining the Lowestoft-bound platform.

There is a footbridge with quite steep ramps connecting the platforms and passenger information screens on both platforms.^[4]

Services

As of December 2024^[update], the typical Monday-Sunday off-peak service at Beccles is as follows:

Operator	Route	Rolling stock	Typical frequency
Greater Anglia	Lowestoft - Oulton Broad South - Beccles - Brampton (on request) - Halesworth - Darsham - Saxmundham - Wickham Market - Melton - Woodbridge - Ipswich	Class 755	1x per hour in each direction

One weekday early-morning train is extended through to Harwich International and there is a return from there in the evening.^[5]

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Brampton		Greater Anglia East Suffolk Line		Oulton Broad South
Disused railways
Geldeston Line and station closed		Great Eastern Railway Waveney Valley Line		Terminus
Aldeby Line and station closed		Great Eastern Railway Yarmouth to Beccles Line		Terminus