Station code HAS DfT category F1 Number of platforms 2 Original company East Suffolk line | Grid reference TM388778 Managed by Abellio Greater Anglia 2011/12 76,676 | |
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Similar Darsham railway station, Brampton (Suffolk) railway st, The Southwold Sailors' R, Beccles railway station, Saxmundham railway station | ||
Halesworth is an unmanned railway station serving the town of Halesworth in Suffolk, England. The station is located on the Ipswich-Lowestoft East Suffolk Line. It is the nearest railway station to the town of Southwold.
Contents
The railway station is managed by Abellio Greater Anglia, who operate services between Ipswich and Lowestoft.
Features
Halesworth railway station was formerly situated on a level crossing. However, it was unusual in that the railway station platforms swung across the road rather than having the more typical gates. The crossing is now permanently closed.
The cabin from the mechanical signal box at Halesworth has been preserved at the County School railway station on the Mid-Norfolk Railway in Norfolk.
At 13:55 on 18 December 1941 a German Dornier bombed the station house killing the stationmaster, his wife and their young maid. The station house was rebuilt but reduced in size.
The Halesworth and District Museum now occupies the station, as well as the offices of Halesworth Area Community Transport.
The station has been 'adopted' by volunteers from the East Suffolk Lines Community Rail Partnership who maintain the planting and remove litter.
In 2015 an automatic ticket machine was installed enabling advance ticket purchases alongside tickets from train staff.
Services
The following services currently call at Halesworth:
A two-hourly service in each direction runs on Sunday.
Anglian Buses service 88A to Southwold via Wenhaston and 88 Bungay, Norwich connects with the trains from the stop on Bramblewood Way (the Ipswich platform).
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 3⁄4 miles (14.1 km) away.
The terminus was located alongside the mainline 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.