Wickham Market railway station

Wickham Market railway station is on the East Suffolk Line in the east of England, located in Campsea Ashe, Suffolk, approximately 2 miles (3.2 km) east of Wickham Market itself. The station is 15 miles 64 chains (25.4 km) down the line from Ipswich and 84 miles 43 chains (136.0 km) measured from London Liverpool Street; it is situated between Melton and Saxmundham. Its three-letter station code is WCM.

Wickham Market
Location
PlaceCampsea Ashe
Local authorityEast Suffolk
Coordinates52.1510°N 1.3987°E / 52.1510; 1.3987
Grid referenceTM326557
Operations
Station codeWCM
Managed byAbellio Greater Anglia
Number of platforms1
DfT categoryF1
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections
from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2014/15 43,804
2015/16 44,332
2016/17 46,392
2017/18 47,890
2018/19 50,932
History
Original companyEast Suffolk Railway
Pre-groupingGreat Eastern Railway
Post-groupingLondon and North Eastern Railway
1 June 1859Opened
National Rail – UK railway stations
  • Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Wickham Market from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.

It is managed by Abellio Greater Anglia, which also operates all trains that call.

Wickham Market was formerly a junction for the Framlingham branch line. The branch closed to passenger services in November 1952, and to freight in April 1963.[1]

History

The railway line connecting the East Suffolk Railway (ESR) at Halesworth to an extension of the Eastern Counties Railway (ECR) at Woodbridge was built by the ESR, as was the Framlingham branch.[2] The main line and the Framlingham branch both opened on 1 June 1859,[2] and Wickham Market station opened at the same time.[3] The ESR was absorbed by the ECR on opening day.[2]

On 1 July 1862, the ECR and other small railway companies were amalgamated to form the Great Eastern Railway (GER).[4] Upon the 1923 Grouping, the GER was combined with other railways into the London and North Eastern Railway;[5] this in turn was a constituent of British Railways at the start of 1948.

The Framlingham branch closed to passenger trains in November 1952; it retained freight services until April 1965.[6] In the meantime, the goods yard at Wickham Market closed in July 1964.[7]

With the privatisation of British Rail, ownership of the line and station passed to Railtrack on 1 April 1994. The franchise to operate the passenger services on this route was won by Anglia Railways in 1997; in 2004 National Express won the franchise and operated services using the brand name 'one', which was renamed National Express East Anglia in 2008. In February 2012, the operation of the train service was taken over by Abellio Greater Anglia, a company run by Abellio, the trading name of Dutch railways.

Services

As of December 2016 the typical Monday-Saturday off-peak service at Wickham Market is as follows:

Operator Route Rolling stock Typical frequency
Abellio 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

On Sundays frequency reduces to one train every two hours in each direction. Trains direct to and from London Liverpool Street were withdrawn in 2010.

One weekday early-morning train is extended through to Harwich International and there is a return from there in the evening.[8]

Notes
  1. http://www.suffolkcamra.co.uk/pubs/place/118
  2. Allen 1956, p. 216.
  3. Butt 1995, p. 250.
  4. Allen 1956, p. 46.
  5. Allen 1956, p. 199.
  6. McCarthy, McCarthy & Cobb 2007, p. 13.
  7. McCarthy, McCarthy & Cobb 2007, p. 112.
  8. Table 13 National Rail timetable, May 2016

References
  • Allen, Cecil J. (1956) [1955]. The Great Eastern Railway (2nd ed.). Hampton Court: Ian Allan.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Yeovil: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 1-85260-508-1. R508.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • McCarthy, Colin; McCarthy, David; Cobb, Michael (August 2007). Waller, Peter (ed.). Norfolk and Suffolk. Railways of Britain. Hersham: Ian Allan. ISBN 978-0-7110-3223-1. 0708/c1.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
Preceding station National Rail Following station
Abellio Greater Anglia
East Suffolk Line
Disused railways
TerminusGreat Eastern Railway
Framlingham Branch
Line and station closed
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