The station at Diss was proposed by the Ipswich & Bury Railway as part of their route to Norwich. Such were the changes in the railway industry that in 1847 the Ipswich & Bury Railway became part of the Eastern Union Railway, which started operating in 1849. This became part of the Eastern Counties Railway in 1854, which amalgamated with several other companies in 1862 to form the Great Eastern Railway. In 1873 there was an incident at Diss when a goods train a and passenger train collided in foggy conditions, injuring four passengers. In 1883 a signal box was opened, possibly replacing an earlier structure. Following the 1921 grouping the GER amalgamated with other railways to form the London and North Eastern Railway. On nationalisation in 1948 the station and its services came under the management of the Eastern Region of British Railways. Some goods shunting at Diss was carried out by horses as late as 1959. In 1985 the line through Diss was electrified by British Rail to the 25 kV overhead system and the following year electrically-hauled InterCity services commenced. At the same time the signal box was closed as power-signalling was introduced to the area. Following the privatisation of British Rail the ownership of the tracks and station passed to Railtrack until 2002, and then to its successor Network Rail. During this period the operation of the station and train services has been franchised to Anglia Railways, then National Express East Anglia and currently Abellio Greater Anglia.
Description
A goods yard was located on the "up" side of the line equipped with a shed for the loading and unloading of goods as well as cattle pens. Until the 1880s the Scole Estate Railway had a connection into the station yard. As of 2013 the station has a waiting room on each platform and toilets on the up side. It has a ticket office and ticket machines, one located on each platform. The old station master's house, which is part of the station and mostly the station's upstairs accommodation, is currently being used by one of the town's taxi companies.
Services
Services at Diss are operated by Abellio Greater Anglia between London Liverpool Street and every 30 minutes in each direction. As well as the express services between London and Norwich, a local all-stations service also called at Diss serving other stations such as, and. This local service was withdrawn in 1966 when the smaller stations were closed.
