Thetford  | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| General information | |||||
| Location | Thetford,Breckland England | ||||
| Grid reference | TL867836 | ||||
| Managed by | Greater Anglia | ||||
| Platforms | 2 | ||||
| Other information | |||||
| Station code | TTF | ||||
| Classification | DfT category E | ||||
| History | |||||
| Opened | 30 July 1845 | ||||
| Passengers | |||||
| 2019/20 |  0.287 million | ||||
| 2020/21 | 73,700 | ||||
| 2021/22 |  0.226 million | ||||
| 2022/23 | 0.277 million | ||||
| 2023/24 | 0.296 million | ||||
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Thetford railway station is on theBreckland line in the east of England, serving the market town ofThetford,Norfolk. The line runs betweenCambridge in the west andNorwich in the east.
Thetford is situated betweenBrandon andHarling Road, 93 miles 50 chains (150.7 km) fromLondon Liverpool Street viaEly. The station is managed byGreater Anglia, which operates most of the services, typically one to two trains per hour in either direction.East Midlands Railway operates a regular service between Norwich andLiverpool Lime Street viaNottingham andManchester Piccadilly.
It is the nearest station to theCenter Parcs holiday village atElveden Forest, approximately 5 miles (8 km) to the west.
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 fromNewport inEssex toBrandon inSuffolk. 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 Thetford station became a Norfolk Railway asset.
The line opened on 30 July 1845, including theEastern Counties Railway Brandon to Newport line. However, the line only went as far asTrowse, on the outskirts of Norwich, as the contractors were having to build a swing bridge to cross theRiver Wensum. Thetford station was, when opened, located betweenBrandon andRoudham Junction.
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 Thetford station, on 8 May 1848.
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 theGreat Eastern Railway (GER) was formed by the amalgamation. Actually, Thetford 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.[1] Also in the 1860s the GER opened a line from Roudham towards Swaffham. Roudham was renamed Roudham Junction.
A decade later the Bill received Royal Assent, promoting a line linkingBury St Edmunds (on theIpswich to Cambridge line) and Thetford. The Act was passed on 5 July 1873 and work was started by the Thetford & Watton Railway (T&WR) in 1874. The T&WR opened the first part of the line on 15 November 1875. The line went south and terminated at Thetford Bridge, the first station after Thetford going towards Bury St. Edmunds. The opening made Thetford a joint GER and T&WR station. Four months later the rest of the line opened to Bury St. Edmunds. Two years later the GER took over the T&WR and joint working at Thetford ended.
The system remained in place for the next four decades, apart from the disruption of First World War. The difficult economic circumstances that existed after the war led the Government to pass theRailways Act 1921, which led to the creation of the "Big Four". The GER amalgamated with several other companies to form theLondon & North Eastern Railway (LNER). Thetford became an LNER station on 1 January 1923.
Onnationalisation in 1948, Thetford came under the auspices of theEastern Region of British Railways.
Five years after nationalisation, British Railways decided to close theThetford to Bury St Edmunds line. Thetford lost its junction status on 8 June 1953.
As part of theBeeching rationalisation plan, British Railways closed theRoudham Junction and Swaffham line, includingRoudham Junction station, on 15 June 1964. With the closure of Roudham Junction, Harling Road became the next station after Thetford going towards Norwich. The 1960s also saw steam locomotives withdrawn and replaced by diesel multiple units.
Upon sectorisation in the 1980s the station and its services came under theRegional Railways brand.
Onprivatisation of British Rail, most services and management of the station passed toAnglia Railways on 5 January 1997, with services towards the Midlands transferring toCentral Trains on 2 March 1997.
On 1 April 2004, the station and its operations were transferred toNational Express East Anglia (NXEA). NXEA trains were initially branded as One. Three years later, on 11 November 2007, the Central Trains franchise was broken up and the Liverpool-Norwich services were taken over byEast Midlands Trains.
In February 2012, the station and its other services were transferred toAbellio Greater Anglia. In August 2019, all East Midlands Trains services were transferred toEast Midlands Railway upon the expiry of EMT's franchise.
The original station building of knapped flint was constructed by theNorwich & Brandon Railway in 1845. The brickwork extension dates from 1889 and the year is engraved on its façade. The station complex is a Grade IIlisted building.
The station is served byGreater Anglia andEast Midlands Railway.
The typical off-peak service frequency (Monday to Saturday) is:
On 6 February 2024, anEast Midlands Railway service struck a tree between Thetford and Harling Road and derailed, leaving one person with minor injuries.[3]
| Preceding station |  National Rail | Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Greater Anglia | ||||
(Limited services) | ||||
| East Midlands Railway Liverpool-Norwich | ||||
(Limited services) | (Limited services) | |||
| Historical railways | ||||
Line and station open | Great Eastern Railway | Line open, station closed | ||
| Disused railways | ||||
| Terminus | Great Eastern Railway | Line and station closed | ||
52°25′08″N0°44′44″E / 52.4190°N 0.7455°E /52.4190; 0.7455
