Place Attleborough Station code ATL DfT category F1 | Grid reference TM051950 Managed by Abellio Greater Anglia 2011/12 0.171 million Number of platforms 2 | |
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Address Attleborough NR17 2AS, United Kingdom Similar Eccles Road railway st, Harling Road railway st, Thetford railway station, Watlington railway station, Shippea Hill railway station | ||
Attleborough railway station is on the Breckland Line in the east of England, serving the town of Attleborough, Norfolk. The line runs between Cambridge in the west and Norwich in the east.
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Attleborough is situated between Eccles Road and Spooner Row, 108 miles 19 chains (174.2 km) down-line from London Liverpool Street via Ely. The station is managed by Abellio Greater Anglia, which also operates most of the services calling at the station. Some East Midlands Trains also stop at Attleborough.
History
The Bill for the Norwich & Brandon Railway (N&BR) received Royal Assent on 10 May 1844. The line was to link with an Eastern Counties Railway (ECR) project of a line from Newport in Essex to Brandon in Norfolk. Once complete the line would enable trains to travel from Norwich to London. Work started on the line in 1844.
One month before the N&BR opened a Bill authorising the amalgamation of the Yarmouth & Norwich Railway with the N&BR came into effect and so Attleborough station became a Norfolk Railway asset.[1]
The line opened on 30 July 1845 including the ECR Brandon to Newport line. However, the line only got to Trowse, in the suburbs of Norwich, as the contractors were having to build a swing bridge to cross the navigable River Wensum. Attleborough station was, as it is now, situated east of Eccles Road station and west of Spooner Row station.
Two years after opening the Norfolk Railway closed Spooner Row Railway Station in September 1847. This meant Wymondham was the next station east of Attleborough.
The ECR and its rival the Eastern Union Railway (EUR) were both sizing up the NR to acquire and expand their railway empire. The ECR trumped the EUR by taking over the NR, including Attleborough Station on 8 May 1848.
Seven years after the ECR took over the NR they decided to reopen Spooner Row Railway Station. This was achieved on 01 December 1855. So once again trains heading towards Norwich came to Spooner Row station after Attleborough.
Five years after Spooner Row reopened the ECR closed Spooner Row for a second time on 1 August 1860. So once again Wymondham was the next station east of Attleborough.
Two years after Spooner Row station closed the railways in East Anglia were in financial trouble, and most were leased to the Eastern Counties Railway, which wished to amalgamate formally but could not obtain government agreement for this until an Act of Parliament on 7 August 1862, when the Great Eastern Railway (GER) was formed by the amalgamation. Actually, Attleborough became a GER station on 1 July 1862 when the GER took over the ECR and the EUR before the Bill received the Royal Assent.[4]<CJ Allen - Great Eastern - page46>
20 years after the GER was formed the GER decided to reopen Spooner Row on 01-Mar-1882. This was the final closure and since 1882 Spooner Row was the next station from Attleborough going towards Norwich.
The system settled down for the next 4 decades, apart from the disruption of First World War. The difficult economic circumstances that existed after World War 1 led the Government to pass the Railways Act 1921 which led to the creation of the Big Four. The GER was absorbed into the London & North Eastern Railway (LNER). Attleborough became a LNER station on 1 January 1923.
A generation later, in 1947, the Government of the day passed the Transport Act which nationalised the Big Four and created British Railways (BR). On 1 January 1948 Attleborough became a BR station.
In the 1960s saw BR close the Ticket Office at Attleborough.
In 5 January 1997 train services serving Attleborough were privatised with most services passing to Anglia Railways and services towards the West Midlands were taken over by Central Trains on 2 March 1997.
On 1 April 2004 Anglia trains handed over their franchise to National Express-East Anglia (NE-EA). NE-EA trains were branded as One. Three years later, on 11 Nov 2007 the Central Trains franchise was broken up and services to Norwich were taken over by East Midland Trains who still run that franchise today (Feb-2016).
In 2008 National Express East Anglia, then the operating company, opened a new ticket office at Attleborough as part of its Rural Stations Restaffing Initiative, almost 41 years to the day since the original office was closed.
Four years (2008) after NE-EA took over train services the "One" brand was dropped and the National Express name predominated. One year later (2009) deep into the financial recession, NX walked away from the East Coast franchise and so the Government announced that the NX-EA franchise would not be extended for three years in 2011.
The Coalition Government did give short extensions to NX-EA until Feb 2012. By then the Government granted the franchise to Abellio-Greater Anglia (AGA). AGA took over on 5 Feb 2012 and was extended to October this year (2016).
Last year (2015) the Government nationalised Network Rail so only the Train Operating Companies remained private.
Wooden level crossing gates adjacent to the station used to be opened and closed manually by a signaller in the local signal box. However, in 2012 the signal box was closed and the crossing was renewed with automatic barriers with warning lights.
Services
As of December 2015, from Monday to Saturday there is typically one train per hour eastbound to Norwich operated by Abellio Greater Anglia. There are also three trains per day to Norwich operated by East Midlands Trains.
There is typically one train per hour westbound to Cambridge operated by Abellio Greater Anglia. There are three trains per day to Ely operated by East Midlands Trains; from Ely these services continue to Liverpool Lime Street via Peterborough and Nottingham.
On Sundays there is typically one train per hour to Norwich and one to Cambridge, operated by Abellio Greater Anglia.