Norwich railway station: Difference between revisions

| caption = Norwich railway station in June 2008

{{Rail pass box |pass_year=2015/16 |passengers={{decrease}} 4.049 million}} -->

{{Rail pass box |pass_year=2017/18 |passengers={{increase}} 4.156 million}} -->

[[File:Norwich Thorpe station geograph-2835036-by-Ben-Brooksbank.jpg|thumb|right|LNER Thompson B1 4-6-0 in January 1958]]

'''Norwich railway station''' (formerly '''Norwich Thorpe''') is the northern terminus of the [[Great Eastern Main Line]] in the [[East of England]], serving the cathedral city of [[Norwich]], Norfolk. It is {{convert|114|mi|77|chain|km|lk=in}} down the main line (measured via Ipswich) from [[Liverpool Street station|London Liverpool Street]], the western terminus.<ref>{{cite book |last=Padgett |first=David |editor-last=Brailsford |editor-first=Martyn |title=Railway Track Diagrams 2: Eastern |edition=4th |date=October 2016 |orig-year=1988 |publisher=Trackmaps |location=Frome |isbn=978-0-9549866-8-1 |at=map 7A }}</ref>

The original station was opened by the [[Yarmouth & Norwich Railway]] (Y&NR), which was the earliest railway in Norfolk. The YNR's [[Acts of Parliament in the United Kingdom|Act of Parliament]] of 18 June 1842 authorised the issue of £200,000 worth of shares to build a line between the two towns, via [[Reedham (Norfolk) railway station|Reedham]] and the [[River Yare|Yare valley]]. The chairman was [[George Stephenson]] and the chief engineer was his son, [[Robert Stephenson]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Allen, Cecil J.|title=The Great Eastern Railway|edition=6th|year=1975|publisher=[[Ian Allan Publishing|Ian Allan]]|location=Shepperton}}</ref> Construction started in April 1843 and the {{convert|20+1/2|mi|0|adj=on}} line was completed within a year. There was an inspection and inaugural run on 12 April 1844 and a ceremonial opening on 30 April 1844, followed the next day by the beginning of regular passenger services.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Hawkins|first1=Chris|title=Great Eastern in Town and Country|date=1990|publisher=Irwell Press|location=Pinner UK|isbn=1 -871608 -16 -3|page=1}}</ref>

By the 1860s, the railways in East Anglia were in financial trouble and most were leased to the [[Eastern Counties Railway]]. They wanted to amalgamate them formally, but government agreement could not be obtained until an Act of Parliament on 7 August 1862, when the [[Great Eastern Railway]] (GER) was formed by the amalgamation. Actually, Norwich Thorpe and Norwich Victoria became GER stations on 1 July 1862, when the GER took over the ECR and the EUR before the Bill had received the Royal Assent.<ref>{{cite book|last=Vaughan|first=Adrian|title=Railwaymen, Politics and Money|year=1997|publisher=John Murray|location=London|isbn=0 -7195 -5150 -1|pages=[https://archive.org/details/railwaymenpoliti0000vaug/page/134 134, 135]|url=https://archive.org/details/railwaymenpoliti0000vaug/page/134}}</ref><ref>C.J. Allen - Great Eastern - page 46</ref>

The new station was built, at the cost of £60,000, by Messrs Youngs and Son, of Norwich, from designs by Messrs J Wilson and [[W. N. Ashbee]], the company's engineer and architect respectively.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Kay|first1=Peter|title=Essex Railway Heritage|date=2006|publisher=Peter Kay|location=Wivenhoe UK|isbn=978 -1 -899890 -40 -8|page=29}}</ref> The attractive station building was constructed around a central clock tower (the clock was supplied by Dixons and Co of London Street, Norwich) with two-storey matching wings either side. A portico was built onto the clock-tower section.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Hawkins|first1=Chris|title=Great Eastern in Town and Country|date=1990|publisher=Irwell Press|location=Pinner UK|isbn=1 -871608 -16 -3|pages=11–14}}</ref> There was a circulating area with a high ceiling and the roof was supported by ironwork supplied by contractor Barnard Bishop and Barnard. The roof extended partly down the platforms, which were then covered by canopies for part of their length. There were initially five platforms, with engine-release roads between platforms 2 and 3, and 4 and 5, which allowed locomotives to be detached from trains without the need to shunt the carriages out of the station.

During [[World War II]] the station was bombed in June 1940 and April 1942.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Hawkins|first1=Chris|title=Great Eastern in Town and Country|date=1990|publisher=Irwell Press|location=Pinner UK|isbn=1 -871608 -16 -3|page=18}}</ref>

Platform 6 was added in 1954 and a modern booking hall was built in 1955.<ref name="Norwich Railway Station">{{cite web|title=Norwich Railway Station|url=http://www.heritagecity.org/research-centre/industrial-innovation/norwich-railway-station.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110203085020/http://www.heritagecity.org/research-centre/industrial-innovation/norwich-railway-station.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=3 February 2011|website=Norwich Heart|publisher=Norwich Heritage and Economic Regeneration trsuttrust|access-date=31 May 2015}}</ref>

On 1 April 1994, under the Railways Act 1993, ownership of the station passed to a new private company, [[Railtrack]], which was restructuredtransferred intoto the state-controlled non-profit [[Network Rail]] in 2004October 2002 after experiencing financial difficulties.

Train services to Norwich were later privatised, with most services passing to [[Anglia Railways]] in January 1997. Services towards the West Midlands were taken over by [[Central Trains]] in March 1997. Anglia trains handed over their franchise to [[National Express East Anglia]] in 2004. Three years later, on 11 November 2007, the Central Trains franchise was broken up and West Midlands services to Norwich were taken over by [[East Midlands Trains]]. The National Express East Anglia franchise passed to [[Abellio Greater Anglia]] on 5 February 2012. All services operated by East Midlands Trains were transferred to [[East Midlands Railway]] in August 2019, after EMT's franchise expired.

[[File:2018 at Norwich station - on the concourse.JPG|thumb|right|Station concourse with the platforms ahead in September 2018]]

*Platforms 4-6: Greater Anglia rural services to {{rws|Great Yarmouth}}, {{rws|Lowestoft}} and [[Sheringham railway station|Sheringham]]. Platform 4 is also used occasionally at peak times for inter-city services to London Liverpool Street. Platform 6 is also infrequently used for services to Cambridge and Stansted Airport.

[[Norwich engine shed]] was located to the south and west of the station. This depot closed in 1982 and was replaced by a new facility at [[Crown Point TMD|Crown Point]] which, in 2015, is responsible for the maintenance of the main line electric fleet and local diesel multiple units.

Before carriages were lit by electric lighting they were lit by gas. Norwich had an [[oil gas]] works and carriages north of a line from Harwich to Cambridge were supplied with oil gas.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Pember|first1=Geoff|title=Lineside features 7:Large locomotive depots|journal=Great Eastern Journal|date=April 1983|volume=35|page=9}}</ref> The gas was distributed to other stations in a dedicated fleet of ten tank wagons. Use of the facility declined in the 1930s although up until the 1950s catering vehicles were still supplied.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Kenworthy|first1=Graham|title=Norwich Gas Works|journal=Great Eastern Journal|date=October 1998|volume=96|page=52}}</ref>

*{{cite magazine|title=£2m Norwich station rebuild almost complete|magazine=[[RAIL (magazine)|RAIL]]|issue=346|publisher=EMAP Apex Publications|date=16–29 December 1998|ppage=11|issn=0953-4563|oclc=49953699}}

{{Railway stations served by Abellio Greater Anglia}}