Derby Road (Ipswich) railway station
Encyclopedia
Derby Road is a railway station serving the Rose Hill area of Ipswich
Ipswich
Ipswich is a large town and a non-metropolitan district. It is the county town of Suffolk, England. Ipswich is located on the estuary of the River Orwell...

 in Suffolk
Suffolk
Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...

. The station is situated on the Ipswich-Felixstowe line
Felixstowe Branch Line
The Felixstowe Branch Line is a railway line from Ipswich to Felixstowe in Suffolk. The line follows the East Suffolk Line from Ipswich to Westerfield, and then diverges to the south. Passenger services are operated by National Express East Anglia...

. In the eighties there were rail served coal and scrapyards here, but these have now closed. There were also rail served factories to the south-east serving Crane's and Ransome Simms & Jefferies, also now removed.

The station is served by National Express East Anglia.

History

Derby Road station was opened in 1877 when the line from Westerfield Junction to Felixstowe opened. It attracted much local criticism in Ipswich as, at the time, it was inconveniently placed for the rest of the town. Prior to opening day when the line was being inspected the mayor made representations for a new station some half mile to the north between Spring Road and Woodbridge Road.

Trams from Ipswich Cornhill used to arrive at the back of the station (in fact there was a horse tram shed at the side of the still existing Railway Hotel). Services ran to Felixstowe either from Ipswich or from Derby Road at busy times from a platform now covered by fencing belonging to the car sales company. Also a siding used to run behind the up platform and rolling stock was still stored there until the 1970s. The gent's toilet on the up platform was closed in the early 1980s. The signal box was removed in the late 1990s and the original up platform shelter was demolished in 2005 following years of vandalism. Part of the goods yard is now the garden/playground of Rose Hill School. Two Victorian Coal Merchants offices were removed in the early 1990s. The bridge under Derby Road was rebuilt in 2003 to take the higher containers from Felixstowe Docks. The temporary footbridge erected at this time is still extant although disused.

In the summer of 2011, a planning application was made which will see the demolition of the station buildings, removal of the car park and cycle racks. In its place, an old people's home will be built.

Train Services

The following services currently call at Derby Road:
Operator Route Material Frequency
NXEA Ipswich
Ipswich railway station
Ipswich railway station is a railway station serving the town of Ipswich in Suffolk, England. The station is located on the Great Eastern Main Line 68¾ miles east of London Liverpool Street towards Norwich...

 - Westerfield
Westerfield railway station
Westerfield is a railway station in Westerfield Suffolk, England. The station is a junction of the Felixstowe Branch Line to Felixstowe, and the East Suffolk Line to Lowestoft 6 km east of Ipswich. Westerfield is a small village north of Ipswich and the station is situated on the south side...

 - Derby Road - Trimley
Trimley railway station
Trimley is a railway station serving the village of Trimley St Mary, near Felixstowe, in Suffolk, England. The station is situated on the Felixstowe Branch Line east of Ipswich.The station is served by National Express East Anglia.-History:...

 - Felixstowe
Felixstowe railway station
Felixstowe is a railway station serving the town of Felixstowe in Suffolk, England. The station is the terminus of the Felixstowe Branch Line east of .It was opened by the Great Eastern Railway in 1898...

Class 153
British Rail Class 153
The British Rail Class 153 Super Sprinter is a single car diesel multiple unit converted from British Rail Class 155s.-Description:These units were originally built as two-car Class 155 units by British Leyland from 1987–88, but were converted by Hunslet-Barclay at Kilmarnock from 1991-92...

1x per hour

Former Service

When the line opened on May 1st 1877 Derby Road was served by 4 trains between Westerfield Junction and Felixstowe Pier. There were also two trains from Felixstowe that terminated at Derby Road and one that originated. By 1879 the service between Westerfield and Derby Road had increased to 6 trains per day and when the Great Eastern Railway took over the working of the line in September 1879 through working to Ipswich was begun. The 1939 timetable had 20 up (towards London) and 21 down services as well as three up and 4 down services that ran through to Liverpool Street. In 1951 the service had 19 workings in each direction (with 16 down and 15 up on a Sunday). By 1973 the service was operating 13 trains each way between Ipswich and Felixstowe Town station.

Orwell Halt

Between 'Derby Road' and 'Trimley' there was a station called 'Orwell
Orwell railway station
Orwell station is a disused station on the Felixstowe Branch Line. The station was opened on the 1st May 1877 and served the small village of Nacton. The main reason for its construction is that the builder of the Felixstowe Branch Line, "Colonel" George Tomline lived at nearby Orwell Park.The line...

'. Although situated in the middle of woods it was built to serve Colonel Tomline's House at Orwell Park. The station was the only original loop on the single track branch and according to the 1926 plan had a small goods yard. The station closed in 1955 although the station house is occupied and can be glimpsed through the trees especially after dark when it can look quite eerie. The Orwell Goods yard is also fairly obvious as a large clearing in the forest just south of the old station.

External links

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