(22-03-2007)

Council Gathering Support for Beccles Loop

A push to increase the frequency of train services along the East Suffolk Line is receiving a boost
from Waveney District Council. The council backs what is known as the Beccles Loop: a plan to construct a short section of dual track at Beccles station. This would allow services on the line to
effectively double from every two hours to hourly in each direction. 

Waveney District Council is sending letters to every parish and town council within
the district asking for their support. All responses with be forwarded to Suffolk County Council; a report will then be produced and submitted to Network Rail.

Passenger numbers on the East Suffolk Line have risen 15% in just the last year;
some peak trains are now at or near capacity with Lowestoft to London through services proving very popular. Installing the extra track at Beccles would double capacity, and the increase in services to every hour would appeal to motorists
whose daily schedules and work patterns may differ from the current every-other
-hour service.

In 1984 British Rail singled two sections of the East Suffolk Line as part of a modernisation plan. Twelve miles between Woodbridge and Saxmundham were singled, as was a sixteen mile section from Halesworth to the junction with the
Wherry Lines, just east of Oulton Broad South station. It is this sixteen mile section which restricts train services to every two hours in each direction.