Halesworth railway station is on the East Suffolk Line in the east of England, serving the town of Halesworth, Suffolk. It is also the nearest station to the seaside town of Southwold. It is 31 miles 74 chains (51.4 km) down the line from Ipswich and 100 miles 53 chains (162.0 km) measured from London Liverpool Street; it is situated between Darsham and Brampton. Its three-letter station code is HAS.
It is managed by Greater Anglia, which also operates all trains that call.
History
The "moveable platforms", still in use, seen in 2011
The first station at Halesworth was opened in 1854 but closed four years later and a new station opened in 1859 on an adjacent site.[1] The station was formerly situated on a level crossing. However, it was unusual in that the platforms swung across the road rather than having typical crossing gates.[2] The crossing is now permanently closed, although the platforms are still in use.
On the afternoon of 18 December 1941, a German Dornier bombed the station house,[3] killing the stationmaster, his wife and their young maid. The station house was rebuilt at a reduced size.
The Halesworth and District Museum[4] and the offices of Halesworth Area Community Transport[5] now occupy the station building.
The station is unstaffed but has been "adopted" by volunteers from the East Suffolk Lines Community Rail Partnership[6] who maintain the plantings and remove litter.
Services
As of December 2019[update] the typical Monday-Sunday off-peak service at Halesworth is as follows:
One weekday early-morning train is extended through to Harwich International and there is a return from there in the evening.[7]
Southwold Railway
From 1879 to 1929 Halesworth was also the western terminus of the 3 ft (914 mm) gauge Southwold Railway which ran to Southwold.[8]
The terminus was located alongside the main railway station, allowing cross-platform interchange of passengers and having transfer sheds for the exchange of goods between the narrow gauge wagons of the Southwold Railway and the standard gauge wagons used on the main line.[8]
Disused terminal platforms of the former Southwold Railway at Halesworth, 1940
In 1933 a siding was laid to serve the dairy (the big building in the picture) and milk tanks ran from Halesworth to Ilford (London) on a daily basis. The dairy closed on 30 April 1968 although rail traffic may have ceased before that date.[9]
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