Hopes that the new homes being built on the Ipswich Garden Suburb would boost rail services at Westerfield station are unlikely to be realised for many years.

At present the station is served by all trains on the Felixstowe branch - but only a few peak-hour services on the line between Ipswich and Lowestoft.

It had been hoped that the development of up to 3,500 new homes on the northern fringe of Ipswich could give a boost to the station which will be on the edge of the new district and should eventually have new footpaths and cycleways to it.

But a survey of new homes already occupied on the Henley Gate development - the first part of the suburb to have homes occupied - attracted no response.

That was a disappointment for the East Suffolk Travellers' Association (ESTA) which hopes to persuade Greater Anglia to stop more trains at the station.

Nigel Wall edited the findings of the survey for ESTA and said they were encouraged that a large number of residents from the village itself would like to use the station more - but were disappointed to get no response from any resident of the new development.

He felt the lack of any footpaths or cycleways to the station could be a factor.

Jonathan Denby from Greater Anglia said changing timetables, even for a comparatively minor amendment, required a large amount of planning.

He said: "The earliest this could happen would be 2025/6 but to be honest I think we would need to see clear evidence before we went ahead with this."

The fact that the area nearest the station will be the last to be developed on the Ipswich Garden Suburb means it might not reach its full potential until the mid-2030s or possibly later - by which time there could be further major changes to the rail system.