Melton is a railway station serving the village of Melton

Melton, Suffolk

Melton is a village in Suffolk, England, located approximately one mile north east of Woodbridge. The 2001 census recorded a population of 3718. The village is served by Melton railway station on the Ipswich-Lowestoft East Suffolk Line....

 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...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. The station is located on the 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...

-Lowestoft

Lowestoft

Lowestoft is a town in the English county of Suffolk. The town is on the North Sea coast and is the most easterly point of the United Kingdom. It is north-east of London, north-east of Ipswich and south-east of Norwich...

 East Suffolk Line

East Suffolk Line

The East Suffolk Line is an un-electrified secondary railway line running between Ipswich and Lowestoft in Suffolk, England. The traffic along the route consists of passenger services operated by National Express East Anglia, while nuclear flask trains for the Sizewell nuclear power stations are...

. The station was opened in 1859 but was closed in 1955 and remained closed until 1984 when, after a local campaign, the station was re-opened.

History

The railway line connecting the East Suffolk Railway (ESR) at to an extension of the Eastern Counties Railway

Eastern Counties Railway

The Eastern Counties Railway was an early English railway company incorporated in 1836. It was intended to link London with Ipswich via Colchester, and then on to Norwich and Yarmouth. Construction began in late March 1837 on the first nine miles, at the London end of the line.Construction was...

 (ECR) at was built by the ESR. The line opened on 1 June 1859, and Melton station opened with the line. The ESR was absorbed by the ECR on opening day.

On 1 July 1862, the ECR and other small railway companies amalgamated to become the Great Eastern Railway

Great Eastern Railway

The Great Eastern Railway was a pre-grouping British railway company, whose main line linked London Liverpool Street to Norwich and which had other lines through East Anglia...

 (GER). At the 1923 Grouping, the GER was amalgamated with other companies to form the London and North Eastern Railway

London and North Eastern Railway

The London and North Eastern Railway was the second-largest of the "Big Four" railway companies created by the Railways Act 1921 in Britain...

; this in turn was a constituent of British Railways at the start of 1948.

The station closed to passengers on 2 May 1955; the goods yard closed on 1 June 1972, although private sidings remained open for domestic coal traffic; and the station was reopened for passengers on 3 September 1984.

With the privatisation of British Rail

Privatisation of British Rail

The privatisation of British Rail was set in motion when the Conservative government enacted, on 19 January 1993, the British Coal and British Rail Act 1993 . This enabled the relevant Secretary of State to issue directions to the relevant Board...

, ownership of the line and station passed to Railtrack

Railtrack

Railtrack was a group of companies that owned the track, signalling, tunnels, bridges, level crossings and all but a handful of the stations of the British railway system from its formation in April 1994 until 2002...

 on 1 April 1994. The franchise to operate the passenger services on this route was won by Anglia Railways

Anglia Railways

Anglia Railways was a British train operating company, owned by GB Railways, which between 5 January 1997 and 31 March 2004 operated mainline trains out of London Liverpool Street station and a number of local rail services in East Anglia....

 in 1997; in 2004 National Express won the franchise and operated services using the branding 'one', which was renamed National Express East Anglia in 2008.

Train Services

The following services currently call at Melton:

Operator	Route	Material	Frequency	Notes
NXEA	(Harwich International Harwich International railway station Harwich International is a railway station serving Harwich International Port in Essex, England. The station is located on the electrified Mayflower Line from Manningtree to Harwich Town...  -) 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...  - Woodbridge Woodbridge railway station Woodbridge is a railway station serving the town of Woodbridge in Suffolk. The station is located on the East Suffolk Line .-History:...  - Melton - Wickham Market Wickham Market railway station Wickham Market is a railway station located in the village of Campsea Ashe in Suffolk, approximately two miles east of Wickham Market itself. The station is located on the Ipswich-Lowestoft East Suffolk Line....  - Saxmundham Saxmundham railway station Saxmundham is a railway station which serves the town of Saxmundham in Suffolk, England. It is located on the East Suffolk Line and is 36 km east of Ipswich....  - Darsham Darsham railway station Darsham is a railway station which serves the villages of Darsham and Yoxford in Suffolk, lying midway between the two communities, each of which is about one mile from the station. It is located on the East Suffolk Line between Lowestoft and Ipswich...  - Halesworth Halesworth railway station Halesworth is a railway station serving the town of Halesworth in Suffolk. The station is located on the Ipswich-Lowestoft East Suffolk Line.It is the nearest station to the town of Southwold, although some passengers from Southwold prefer to use Darsham station.The station is served by National...  - Brampton Brampton (Suffolk) railway station Brampton is a railway station serving the villages of Brampton and Redisham in Suffolk, which is approximately 1½ miles away. The station is located on the Ipswich-Lowestoft East Suffolk Line....  - Beccles Beccles railway station Beccles is a railway station on the East Suffolk Line and serves the town of Beccles in Suffolk. There is generally a two hourly service to Lowestoft and Ipswich .-History:...  - Oulton Broad South Oulton Broad South railway station Oulton Broad South is one of two railway stations serving Oulton Broad, a suburb of Lowestoft in Suffolk, England.The station is located on the Ipswich-Lowestoft East Suffolk Line...  - Lowestoft Lowestoft railway station Lowestoft railway station, formerly known as Lowestoft Central railway station, is a staffed railway station serving the town of Lowestoft in Suffolk. It is the terminus of the Wherry Line from Norwich and the East Suffolk Line from Ipswich. It is the easternmost station on the National Rail network...	Class 170	Every 2 Hours	Service to Harwich 1x per day
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...  - Woodbridge Woodbridge railway station Woodbridge is a railway station serving the town of Woodbridge in Suffolk. The station is located on the East Suffolk Line .-History:...  - Melton - Wickham Market Wickham Market railway station Wickham Market is a railway station located in the village of Campsea Ashe in Suffolk, approximately two miles east of Wickham Market itself. The station is located on the Ipswich-Lowestoft East Suffolk Line....  - Saxmundham Saxmundham railway station Saxmundham is a railway station which serves the town of Saxmundham in Suffolk, England. It is located on the East Suffolk Line and is 36 km east of Ipswich....	Class 156 British Rail Class 156 The British Rail Class 156 Super Sprinter is a diesel multiple-unit train . 114 of these units were built from 1987 to 1989 by Metro-Cammell at its Washwood Heath Works in Birmingham...	Every 2 Hours	Not Sundays

Future

In 2012 when a new passing loop

Passing loop

A passing loop is a place on a single line railway or tramway, often located at a station, where trains or trams in opposing directions can pass each other. Trains/trams in the same direction can also overtake, providing that the signalling arrangement allows it...

is opened at Beccles then an hourly service between Ipswich and Lowestoft will operate.