Breckland Line
Encyclopedia
The Breckland Line runs from Cambridge
in Cambridgeshire
to Norwich
in Norfolk
, in East Anglia
, England
. It is so called because it runs through the Breckland
region of Norfolk. The line also passes through Thetford Forest
. The line is part of the Network Rail Strategic Route 5
, SRS 05.09 and part of SRS 05.05. It is classified as a secondary line except between Ely
and Cambridge
which is classified as London and South East commuter line.
& Robert Stephenson
. It was opened as the Norfolk Railway on the 30th July 1845 and Eastern Counties Railway
opened a route from Cambridge via Ely to Brandon on the same day.
between Cambridge and Ely, at 25 kV AC
. It has a loading gauge of W8 except for the section connecting the Ipswich to Ely Line
to the Ely to Peterborough Line
which is W10, and has a line speed of between 80-105 mph.
With its well preserved stations, semaphore signalling and prior to Spring 2009 lineside telegraph poles, along with sections of jointed rail on wooden sleepers (gradually being replaced) the line has a very historical feel to it, although many sections are cleared for 90 mph running, with 100 mph being feasible.
grid references
for stations):
Passenger services are operated by several operators.
The line between Cambridge and Ely, part of the Fen Line
to King's Lynn
, is electrified
at 25 kV AC
, using overhead wires. The rest of the route between Ely and Norwich is not electrified, other than the final section into Norwich station, after joining with the electrified line from London.
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...
in Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire is a county in England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the northeast, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the west...
to 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...
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...
, in East Anglia
East Anglia
East Anglia is a traditional name for a region of eastern England, named after an ancient Anglo-Saxon kingdom, the Kingdom of the East Angles. The Angles took their name from their homeland Angeln, in northern Germany. East Anglia initially consisted of Norfolk and Suffolk, but upon the marriage of...
, 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...
. It is so called because it runs through the Breckland
Breckland
The Breckland as a landscape region is an unusual natural habitat of England. It comprises the gorse-covered sandy heath that exists in the north of the county of Suffolk and the south of Norfolk. An area of considerable interest for its unusual flora and fauna, it lies to the south east of another...
region of Norfolk. The line also passes through Thetford Forest
Thetford Forest
Thetford Forest is the largest lowland pine forest in Britain, Thetford Forest Park is located in a region straddling the north of Suffolk and the south of Norfolk in England...
. The line is part of the Network Rail Strategic Route 5
Network Rail Route 5 (West Anglia)
Strategic Route 5 - West Anglia is the designation given by Network Rail to a grouping of railway lines in the East of England that encompasses the West Anglia Main Line and its various branch lines...
, SRS 05.09 and part of SRS 05.05. It is classified as a secondary line except between Ely
Railways in Ely
The Railways in Ely are an important interchange point between several routes in England. There are junctions north and south of the town where rail routes from Suffolk and Norfolk connect with routes to London, the Midlands, the north of England, and Scotland...
and Cambridge
Cambridge railway station
Cambridge railway station is a railway station serving the city of Cambridge in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located at the end of Station Road, off Hills Road, 1 mile south-east of the city centre...
which is classified as London and South East commuter line.
History
The Norwich & Brandon Railway was incorporated in 1844 and backed by GeorgeGeorge Stephenson
George Stephenson was an English civil engineer and mechanical engineer who built the first public railway line in the world to use steam locomotives...
& Robert Stephenson
Robert Stephenson
Robert Stephenson FRS was an English civil engineer. He was the only son of George Stephenson, the famed locomotive builder and railway engineer; many of the achievements popularly credited to his father were actually the joint efforts of father and son.-Early life :He was born on the 16th of...
. It was opened as the Norfolk Railway on the 30th July 1845 and 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...
opened a route from Cambridge via Ely to Brandon on the same day.
Infrastructure
The line is double track throughout but is only electrifiedRailway electrification in Great Britain
Railway electrification in Great Britain started towards of the 19th century. A great range of voltages have been used in the intervening period using both overhead lines and third rails, however the most common standard for mainline services is now 25 kV AC using overhead lines and the...
between Cambridge and Ely, at 25 kV AC
25 kV AC
The 25 kV Alternating current railway electrification system is commonly used in railways worldwide, especially for high-speed rail.-Overview:This electrification system is ideal for railways that cover long distances and/or carry heavy traffic...
. It has a loading gauge of W8 except for the section connecting the Ipswich to Ely Line
Ipswich to Ely Line
The Ipswich to Ely Line is a railway line linking East Anglia to the English Midlands via Ely. There is also a branch line to . Passenger services are operated by National Express East Anglia...
to the Ely to Peterborough Line
Ely to Peterborough Line
The Ely to Peterborough Line is a railway line in England, linking East Anglia to the Midlands. It is a part of the Network Rail Strategic Route 5, SRS 05.07 and is classified as a secondary line.-Service:...
which is W10, and has a line speed of between 80-105 mph.
With its well preserved stations, semaphore signalling and prior to Spring 2009 lineside telegraph poles, along with sections of jointed rail on wooden sleepers (gradually being replaced) the line has a very historical feel to it, although many sections are cleared for 90 mph running, with 100 mph being feasible.
Route
The towns and villages served by the route are listed below (Ordnance SurveyOrdnance Survey
Ordnance Survey , an executive agency and non-ministerial government department of the Government of the United Kingdom, is the national mapping agency for Great Britain, producing maps of Great Britain , and one of the world's largest producers of maps.The name reflects its creation together with...
grid references
British national grid reference system
The Ordnance Survey National Grid reference system is a system of geographic grid references used in Great Britain, different from using latitude and longitude....
for stations):
| Places | Grid references |
| 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... |
|
| 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 :... |
|
| Spooner Row Spooner Row Spooner Row is a small village in the English county of Norfolk. It is situated some south-west of the town of Wymondham and south-west of the city of Norwich. The village is within the civil parish of Wymondham.... |
|
| 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.... |
|
| Quidenham Quidenham Quidenham is a small rural village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk.It covers an area of and had a population of 576 in 183 households as of the 2001 census... (Eccles Road Eccles Road railway station Eccles Road railway station is a rural railway station in the English county of Norfolk. It is served by local services operated by East Midlands Trains and National Express East Anglia on the Breckland Line from Norwich to Peterborough and Cambridge. The station is unstaffed and has two... ) |
|
| East Harling East Harling East Harling is a village in the English county of Norfolk. The village forms the principal settlement in the civil parish of Harling, and is located some 8 miles east of the town of Thetford and 25 miles south-west of the city of Norwich.The village is served by Harling Road railway... (Harling Road Harling Road railway station Harling Road railway station is a rural railway station serving the village of East Harling in Norfolk. It is served by local services operated by East Midlands Trains and National Express East Anglia on the Breckland Line 36 km west of Norwich to Peterborough and Cambridge.-The station:The... ) |
|
| 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:... |
|
| 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... |
|
| Lakenheath Lakenheath Lakenheath is a village in Suffolk, England. It has around 8,200 residents, and is situated in the Forest Heath district of Suffolk, close to the county boundaries of both Norfolk and Cambridgeshire, and at the meeting point of the The Fens and the Breckland natural environments.Lakenheath is host... |
|
| Shippea Hill | |
| 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... |
|
| 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... |
Services
Some of the stations it serves see just one stopping train in each direction per day, mostly in the Norwich direction in the morning and from Norwich in the evening.Passenger services are operated by several operators.
- National Express East Anglia operate an hourly service between Cambridge and Norwich using Class 170 diesel multiple unitDiesel multiple unitA diesel multiple unit or DMU is a multiple unit train consisting of multiple carriages powered by one or more on-board diesel engines. They may also be referred to as a railcar or railmotor, depending on country.-Design:...
s. - East Midlands TrainsEast Midlands TrainsEast 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...
operate services between Ely and Norwich, as part of the Norwich-Liverpool route. Services are operated by Class 158British Rail Class 158British Rail Class 158 Express Sprinter is a diesel multiple-unit train, built for British Rail between 1989 and 1992 by BREL at its Derby Works. They were built to replace many locomotive-hauled passenger trains, and allowed cascading of existing Sprinter units to replace elderly 'heritage' DMUs...
diesel multiple unitDiesel multiple unitA diesel multiple unit or DMU is a multiple unit train consisting of multiple carriages powered by one or more on-board diesel engines. They may also be referred to as a railcar or railmotor, depending on country.-Design:...
s. - CrossCountryCrossCountryCrossCountry is the brand name of XC Trains Ltd., a British train operating company owned by Arriva...
operate services between Ely and Cambridge as part of the Birmingham New Street-Stansted Airport route. Services are operated by Class 170 diesel multiple unitDiesel multiple unitA diesel multiple unit or DMU is a multiple unit train consisting of multiple carriages powered by one or more on-board diesel engines. They may also be referred to as a railcar or railmotor, depending on country.-Design:...
s. - First Capital ConnectFirst Capital ConnectFirst Capital Connect is a passenger train operating company in England that began operations on the National Rail network on 1 April 2006...
operate services between Cambridge and Ely as part of their Fen LineFen LineThe Fen Line is a railway in the United Kingdom that runs between the cities of Cambridge, Cambridgeshire and King's Lynn, Norfolk; the line is so called because it runs through The Fens. The line is part of the Network Rail Strategic Route 5 and comprises SRS 05.06 and part of 05.05...
service to King's LynnKing's LynnKing's Lynn is a sea port and market town in the ceremonial county of Norfolk in the East of England. It is situated north of London and west of Norwich. The population of the town is 42,800....
. Services are usually operated by Class 365British Rail Class 365The British Rail Class 365 "Networker Express" are dual-voltage 25 kV AC and 750 V DC) electric multiple units built by ABB at York from 1994 to 1995. These were the last units to be built at the York factory before it closed...
electrical multiple units.
The line between Cambridge and Ely, part of the Fen Line
Fen Line
The Fen Line is a railway in the United Kingdom that runs between the cities of Cambridge, Cambridgeshire and King's Lynn, Norfolk; the line is so called because it runs through The Fens. The line is part of the Network Rail Strategic Route 5 and comprises SRS 05.06 and part of 05.05...
to King's Lynn
King's Lynn
King's Lynn is a sea port and market town in the ceremonial county of Norfolk in the East of England. It is situated north of London and west of Norwich. The population of the town is 42,800....
, is electrified
Railway electrification in Great Britain
Railway electrification in Great Britain started towards of the 19th century. A great range of voltages have been used in the intervening period using both overhead lines and third rails, however the most common standard for mainline services is now 25 kV AC using overhead lines and the...
at 25 kV AC
25 kV AC
The 25 kV Alternating current railway electrification system is commonly used in railways worldwide, especially for high-speed rail.-Overview:This electrification system is ideal for railways that cover long distances and/or carry heavy traffic...
, using overhead wires. The rest of the route between Ely and Norwich is not electrified, other than the final section into Norwich station, after joining with the electrified line from London.