Brandon railway station
Encyclopedia
Brandon railway station serves the town of Brandon
Brandon, Suffolk
Brandon is a small town and civil parish in the English county of Suffolk. It is in the Forest Heath local government district.Brandon is located in the Breckland area on the border of Suffolk with the adjoining county of Norfolk...

 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...

, although the station is actually situated across the county boundary in Norfolk
Norfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...

. The station is managed by National Express East Anglia, which provides services east to Thetford
Thetford
Thetford is a market town and civil parish in the Breckland district of Norfolk, England. It is on the A11 road between Norwich and London, just south of Thetford Forest. The civil parish, covering an area of , has a population of 21,588.-History:...

, Attleborough
Attleborough
Attleborough is a market town and civil parish in Norfolk, England situated between Norwich and Thetford. The parish falls within the district of Breckland and has an area of 21.90 km² with a Mainline to both Norwich and Cambridge....

, Wymondham
Wymondham
Wymondham is a historic market town and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It lies 9.5 miles to the south west of the city of Norwich, on the A11 road to Thetford and London.- Before The Great Fire :...

 and Norwich
Norwich
Norwich is a city in England. It is the regional administrative centre and county town of Norfolk. During the 11th century, Norwich was the largest city in England after London, and one of the most important places in the kingdom...

, and west to Ely
Ely, Cambridgeshire
Ely is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, England, 14 miles north-northeast of Cambridge and about by road from London. It is built on a Lower Greensand island, which at a maximum elevation of is the highest land in the Fens...

 and Cambridge
Cambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...

. Brandon station has been un-staffed since the 1980s.

Currently, the station is served by (approximately) hourly services west to Cambridge and east to Norwich, operated by National Express East Anglia. East Midlands Trains
East Midlands Trains
East Midlands Trains is a British passenger train operating company. Based in Derby, it provides train services in the East Midlands, chiefly in the counties of Lincolnshire, South Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, Derbyshire and Northamptonshire, and between the East Midlands and London...

 operates a single morning service to Norwich (07:20 Monday to Friday; 07:22 on Saturday; no service Sunday).

Prior to the re-introduction of a direct service between Cambridge and Norwich 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....

 (the franchise now incorporated into National Express East Anglia), Central Trains
Central Trains
Central Trains was one of the original 25 train operating companies to emerge from the break-up of British Rail between 1994 and 1997. The company operated local, urban and secondary express services across central England and Mid Wales.-Overview:...

 served the station as a stop on its route between Norwich and Liverpool. The Norwich to Liverpool route is now operated by East Midlands Trains.

Brandon station saw a large jump in the number of passengers using the station in 2007–2008; this shows a growing demand for rail travel in the area and also bears testament to the value of a regular and frequent rail service at rural stations. The current regular hourly service was publicised and introduced in 2007.

Until Spring 2009, an original telegraph pole route remained in situ from here to Wymondham. This was one of the last remaining in the UK.

In January 2009 a student from Cambridge University was killed by a train at the station.

Friends of Brandon Station

In January 2006 the Friends of Brandon Station launched an initiative to look after the station, improve the appearance and facilities, promote the fast and frequent services to Norwich, Ely and Cambridge, and to seek a new tenant for the station buildings, with the ultimate goal of re-opening the station to the public. The Friends have joined both ACorP (the Association of Community Rail Partnerships) and the Adopt-a-Station scheme operated by National Express East Anglia.

External links

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