Place Cantley Station code CNY DfT category F2 Number of platforms 2 Original company Eastern Counties Railway | Grid reference TG381036 Managed by Abellio Greater Anglia 2011/12 16,174 | |
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Address Norwich NR13 3SP, United Kingdom Similar Lingwood railway station, Salhouse railway station, Reedham (Norfolk) railway st, Brundall railway station, Acle railway station | ||
Cantley railway station is on the Wherry Lines in the east of England, serving the village of Cantley, Norfolk. It is 10 miles (16 km) down-line from Norwich on the route to Lowestoft and is situated between Buckenham and Reedham. Its three-letter station code is CNY.
Contents
History
The Bill for the Yarmouth & Norwich Railway (Y&NR) received Royal Assent on 18 June 1842. Work started on the line in April 1843 and the line and its stations were opened on 1 May 1844. The Y&NR was the first public railway line in Norfolk and was situated east of Buckenham Station and west of Reedham Station. On 30 June 1845 a Bill authorising the amalgamation of the Y&NR with the Norwich & Brandon Railway came into effect and Cantley station became a Norfolk Railway asset.
2 years after the Norfolk Railway took over the company decided that Cantley Station lacked custom so the station was closed.
During the four years that the station was closed the NR was taken over by the Eastern Counties Railway (ECR). The ECR reviewed the closure of Cantley and decided that the station was worth reopening. In January 1851, the ECR decided to reopen Cantley Station and it has remained open ever since.
By the 1860s 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, Cantley 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>
The system settled down for 60 years, 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). Cantley 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 Cantley became a BR station.
Following privatisation of the railways, Railtrack became responsible for infrastructure maintenance in 1994. Following Railtrack's financial problems Network Rail took over operation of the infrastructure in 2002.
The operation of the line was privatised in 1997 when the franchise was awarded to Anglia Railways, which operated it until April 2004 when National Express East Anglia won the replacement franchise, operating under the brand name 'one' until February 2008. From February 2012 Abellio Greater Anglia took over operating the franchise.
Current usage
The station is served by Abellio Greater Anglia, with majority of services operating between Norwich and Lowestoft. A few services operate to Great Yarmouth via the remote Berney Arms railway station. This line diverges from the Lowestoft route just east of Reedham. Services are operated by diesel multiple units of Classes 153, 156 or 170.