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 3.51 miles (5.65 km) from Ipswich where the passenger trains to Felixstowe start their journey, although the milepost reads 72ΒΌ 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 Woodbridge 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 (4.75 miles (7.64 km) 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 Derby Road station (6.10 miles (9.82 km) 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 Orwell station which was closed in 1959.
As the train slows for the approach to Trimley (10.55 miles (16.98 km) 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 Felixstowe station, opened in 1898 and 12.13 miles (19.52 km) 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 the it passes through the old Felixstowe Beach station (12.62 miles (20.31 km) 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.
Read more about this topic: Felixstowe Branch Line
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