Bittern Line

Bittern line
A Class 156 train on the Bittern line in 2014
Overview
Status	Operational
Owner	Network Rail
Locale	Norfolk, England
Termini	Norwich Sheringham
Stations	10
Service
Type	Heavy rail
System	National Rail
Operator(s)	Greater Anglia
Rolling stock	Class 153 "Sprinter" Class 156 "Sprinter" Class 170 "Turbostar"
History
Opened	1874–77
Technical
Line length	30.4 miles (48.9 km)
Number of tracks	1-2
Character	Rural line
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Route map North Norfolk Railway (former M&GN to Melton Constable) Sheringham (original station — preserved) North Norfolk Railway Network Rail | Occasional use crossing Sheringham West Runton Cromer Beach Cromer High Roughton Road Norfolk and Suffolk Joint Railway to Yarmouth Beach via Mundesley-on-Sea Gunton (for Northrepps Aerodrome) to Cromer Beach via Mundesley-on-Sea to Yarmouth Beach M&GN to Melton Constable North Walsham Worstead Bure Valley Railway to Aylsham former line to County School Hoveton & Wroxham | for The Broads River Bure Salhouse Wherry Lines to Great Yarmouth & Lowestoft River Yare River Yare Great Eastern Main Line to London Liverpool Street Norwich

The Bittern line is a railway branch line in Norfolk, England, that links Norwich to Cromer and Sheringham. It passes through the Broads on its route to an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty on the north Norfolk coast. It is named after the bittern, a rare bird found in the reedy wetlands of Norfolk.

The line is approximately 30.4 miles (48.9 km) in length and there are 10 stations. It is part of the Network Rail Strategic Route 7, SRS 07.11, and is classified as a rural line.

Passenger services are operated by Greater Anglia, which also manages all of the stations.

History

The line was opened between Norwich and North Walsham in 1874 by the East Norfolk Railway, and was extended to Cromer by 1877. The rest of the line, between Cromer and Sheringham, was opened in 1887 using a section of the Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway line (a further section of the Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway running from Sheringham to Holt is preserved as the North Norfolk Railway).

The Bittern Line Partnership was set up by Norfolk County Council in 1997.

In November 2006 track renewal work began with whole lengths of the old track being lifted and new rails and sleepers being installed, along with new level crossing points. The work was carried out by Balfour Beatty on behalf of Network Rail.

The line was designated a community rail line by the Department for Transport in September 2007.

Passenger numbers are increasing, and the route has seen a number of service improvements in recent years, including additional services on the timetable.

Route

The towns and villages served by the route are:

• Norwich
• Salhouse
• Hoveton and Wroxham (connection with the Bure Valley heritage railway)
• Worstead
• North Walsham
• Gunton
• Roughton Road (a suburb of Cromer)
• Cromer (trains reverse)
• West Runton (for Beeston Regis)
• Sheringham (connection with the North Norfolk Railway)

Services

Passenger services are operated by Greater Anglia, and typically run every hour.

The line is also used by freight services which are operated by GB Railfreight, part of Groupe Eurotunnel S.A. Some freight services take gas condensate from a terminal at North Walsham to Harwich.

Infrastructure

Norwich station in 2005

The line is double track from Norwich to Hoveton and Wroxham where the line becomes single track, with a passing loop at North Walsham, and a two platform station at Cromer also allowing passing. The line is not electrified, has a loading gauge of W8 between Norwich and Roughton Road and W6 from Roughton Road to Sheringham, and a line speed of between 40-75 mph.

The line was resignalled in 2000, leading to the closure of a number of mechanical signal boxes with control moving to a panel in the Trowse Swing Bridge control room. This saw the end of one of the few remaining sections of single track main line controlled by tokens. It is arguable that this is not a real improvement since there have been a number of serious failures causing full or partial suspension of service during electrical storms. This is due to the system using high frequency pulses in the rail as opposed to standard track circuits to operate level crossings. The resignalling meant that Cromer signal box, the last surviving M&GN example, was decommissioned; however it has been saved as a museum.

The line uses Class 153, Class 156 and Class 170 diesel multiple units.

One of the main signalling problems lies in the data loggers at Whitlingham Junction which when the failsafe system trips them requires a manual reset. The same system has been installed on the Marston Vale line between Bedford and Bletchley, but the system was installed using automatic reset for the data loggers. Network Rail claim that they cannot justify the £93,000 to replace the manual ones at Whitlingham.

Proposed developments

Rackheath station

A new station is included as part of the Rackheath eco-town which would be served by a 15-minute service during peak time. The building of the town may also mean a short freight spur being built to transport fuel to fire an on-site power station. The plans for the settlement received approval from the government in July 2009.

The Sheringham Link

The second train to use the new level crossing, Saturday 24 April 2010

After a period of 36 years the link between the Bittern Line and the North Norfolk Railway was reinstated on 11 March 2010 on the occasion of the opening of a new level crossing at Sheringham. Occasional use by charter trains and visiting rolling stock is anticipated, not more than twelve times a year.

External links

• The Bittern Line
• The route of the line