"Ipswich railway station is on the Great Eastern Main Line (GEML) in the East of England, serving the town of Ipswich, Suffolk. It is 68 miles 65 chains (110.7 km) down-line from London Liverpool Street and it is situated between Manningtree to the south and Needham Market to the west. It is also the junction where the East Suffolk Line from Lowestoft, which also is used by services from the Felixstowe Branch Line, join the GEML. Its three-letter station code is IPS.
The station is currently operated by Abellio Greater Anglia, which also runs all trains serving the station.
The Eastern Union Railway (EUR) opened its first terminus in Ipswich, called Ipswich Stoke Hill, in 1846 on Station Road at the other end of the current tunnel close to the old quay for the steamboats and the aptly named Steamboat Tavern. The Ipswich Steam Navigation Company had been formed in 1824/25 during a period of "steamship mania" and briefly offered services from the quay between Ipswich and London calling at Walton-on-the-Naze.
The current station is just to the north of Stoke tunnel, which was constructed as part of the Ipswich to Ely Line which opened as far as St. Edmunds in late 1846.
The station was re-sited to its present location in 1860 and the main building was thought to be principally the work of Peter Bruff; he had certainly started the structure. The actual design was in the Italianate style and submitted by architect Sancton Wood (1816-1886) as part of a competition. When the new station was completed, a new road (Princes Street) linking the station to the town was also opened.
By the 1860s the railways in East Anglia were in financial trouble and most were leased to the Eastern Counties Railway (ECR). Although they wished to amalgamate formally, they could not obtain government agreement for this until 1862, when the Great Eastern Railway (GER) was formed by the amalgamation. The island platform at Ipswich was added by the GER in 1883.
Ipswich engine shed (shed code 32B) opened in 1846 and was at the south end of Stoke tunnel. It was the third-largest shed in the Great Eastern area during the steam era, after those at Stratford and Cambridge.
At the beginning of World War 1 soldiers of the Norfolk Yeomanry regiment were deployed to Ipswich to guard key railway bridges in the area. They were relieved by the 9th field company Royal Engineers.
In 1923 the GER amalgamated with other railways to form the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER).
On 30 April 1932 the LNER arranged an exhibition of railway stock at Ipswich. The show was opened by Sir Arthur Churchman, of tobacco family fame, and over 16,000 visited the show. The proceeds were divided between the Ipswich and East Suffolk Hospital and railway charities. The exhibits were (class/wheel arrangement/number/name):
'Hush Hush' W1 class 4-6-4 No. 10000;
A1 Class 4-6-2 No. 4476 Royal Lancer with corridor tender and "Flying Scotsman" headboard;
Class D49 4-4-0 No. 201 "The Braham Moor". This last locomotive was brand new and had not been in service.
The show also included a sleeping car and a new composite corridor coach.
In 1948 following nationalisation of the railways Ipswich became part of the British Railways Eastern Region.
In the early 1980s the railway through Ipswich was electrified and in May 1985 electric services operated by class 86 locomotives started to operate to London Liverpool Street. At this point the line from Norwich had not been electrified and for a year diesel locomotives were detached and electric locomotives attached at Ipswich (in the London-bound direction and the reverse in the other direction). During 1985-86 the line to Norwich was electrified and through electric working commenced.
The station's original lifts were removed in 1993 when the line was electrified.
Following the privatisation of British Rail, services from Ipswich were operated by Anglia Railways from 1997 until 2004, after which the franchise was won by National Express East Anglia (operating under the 'one' brand, including 'one' Great Eastern and 'one' Anglia, until February 2008).
In the five years between 2004–05 and 2008–09, patronage rose by 50% from 2 million per year to 3 million per year. Ticket barriers were installed in the station building in 2009 and the exit gate on platform 2 was closed permanently.
New lifts, which had been promised for many years since they were removed in 1993 were opened in June 2011.
In October 2011 the Department for Transport awarded the new franchise to Abellio, the services formerly operated by National Express transferring to Greater Anglia in February 2012. Abellio then became responsible for the operation of Ipswich station."
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