News from the East Anglian Branch of Railfuture, edited by Martin Thorne and Jerry Alderson.
Railfuture News Snippets 389 - 31/08/2025
Railway 200's 'Inspiration' exhibition train visited Norwich station on Thursday 7th to Sunday 10th August 2025, as part of its tour across Britain, and was opened during a special event on 7th August 2025 at Norwich station, ahead of its public opening. Visitors need to book to board the train, which "brings to life the past, present, and future of Britain's railways" and has sectins entitled 'Railway Firsts', 'Wonderlab on Wheels', 'Your Railway Future' and 'Partner Zone'. It is open for 10:00-17:00 (last entry at 16:00) each day. Entrance is free. After Norwich, it visited Lowestoft (Monday 11th to Thursday 14th August) with a railway photo exhibition and other free activities. Railfuture East Anglia had a stall at the station, thanks to the Wherry Lines Community Rail Partnership. On the Monday it was on the concourse, moving into the Parcels Office Museum for the remaining three days. Most of the Railfuture information leaflets wer esnapped up on the first day. An article in the Lowestoft Journal covers the visit, and says that there were 5,700 visitors to the trani during its eight-day stay at Norwich and Lowestoft stations. Several rail organisations, including Network Rail, North Norfolk Railway, Mid-Norfolk Railway, East Suffolk Lines Community Rail Partnership (CRP), the Essex and South Suffolk CRP — and Railfuture — were present.
On 10th August 2025, LNER announced that from 7th September 2025 it would be removing off-peak fares from as further 27 stations around London, meaning that passengers would be forced to pay for an expensive 'Anytime' fare unless there happen to be any advance fares left for when they want to travel. Railfuture is staunchly opposed to removing the cheaper fares, especially at weekends and Bank Holidays when the Anytime fare did not previously ever need to be bought. On 17 July Rail Minister Lord Peter Hendy told the House of Lords that he expected the changes made by LNER to be adopted by other inter-city operators "on the West Coast Main Line and on Great Western in due course". See the news story here.
The Fen Line Users Association (FLUA) had announced some more events for its 40th Anniversary celebrations. On Thursday 18th September 2025 they will be at Littleport remembering local railway hero James Nightall, having partnered with Littleport Town Council, which has organised a free talk (the story of James, who lost his life in the Soham railway disaster on 2nd June 1944) at 10:00 at the Youth and Community Building, Cornfield Lane, Littleport CB6 1EX. They will assemble at 12:00 at Littleport station where a commemorative plaque will be unveiled on Platform 1. Three days later, on Sunday 21st September, Downham Market station will be open as part of the town's Heritage Open Day event. This will be the first time the town has participated in this national scheme and a free vintage bus will connect the station with other buildings and events in the town itself. The station will have displays and an exhibition of railway memorabilia, and FLUA will be running a raffle with railway themed prizes. The event is free and runs from 10:00 to 16:00.
The two-month-long public consultation relating to the planning application by Universal Studios for a theme park next to the East West Rail line in Bedfordshire closed on Sunday 31st August 2025. Universal had published thousands of pages outlining its vision in July.
Greater Anglia says (see story) it has become the first train operating company in Brtain to introduce a 'streamlined' booking process for disabled and older rail passengers who require assistance. They now have the abiity to pre-book assistance at the same time as booking rail tickets on the Greater Anglia website, after the operator introduced new software, rather than using the separate national Transreport passenger assist website (used by most train companies) or by phone. This enhancement is hardly rocket science, and one may wonder why this wasn't possible years ago. Assistance can now be requested via the post-purchase screen, or the 'my bookings' page. The feature is supportted only for advance tickets i.e. where the train is known. Cynics may suggest that this is to push more people into buying advance fares. Around 60,000 Greater Anglia journeys already involve pre-booked assistance each year.
According to an article in the New Civil Engineer, the Department for Transport (DfT) says that the Ely Junction upgrade will be "considered" for future funding. Local MPs continue to push for this vital infrastructure upgrade.
Planned engineering work took place betweeen late evening on Saturday 23rd August, all day Sunday 24rd August and into the morning of Monday 25th for testing of the ETCS system as part of the East Coast Digital Programme (ECDP) on the East Coast Mainline. The railway was closed between Potters Bar and Peterborough, plus between Hertford North and Royston. On the Sunday, urgent unplanned work took place on the Fen Line to repair a cracked rail. Network Rail has advised that the East Suffolk line will be closed between Westerfield and Halesworth between Saturday 25th October and Sunday 2nd November 2025 to enable joined track, some of which is 100 years old, to be replaced with continuously welded rail, helping reduce noise from passing trains and improving passenger comfort. Train services will be replaced by buses between Ipswich and Halesworth.
In East Anglia there are currently no battery trains, although a Greater Anglia emu was temporarily converted into a bemu for a trial just before the COVID-19 pandemic. The range of battery trains continues to increase, as battery technology improved, with Great Western Railway (GWR)'s adapted former District Line train achieving a 200-mile (322km) journey from Reading and back again, via London Paddington and Oxford on 20th August 2025. At the end of the journey GWR said there was a remaining battery charge of 22% which it estimated would have allowed the train to travel about a further 58 miles (93km). The previous record of 139 miles (224km) was set by German train company Stadler Deutschland in Berlin in 2021.
Taxpayers, via Greater Anglia (GA), are funding 28 community projects across the GA rail network at a cost of £350,000 in the second year of GA's 'Customer and Community Improvement Fund' initiative. There was a maximum of £50,000 available for any individual grant, which benefits both the community and the railway. Awards went to small-scale station enhancements, integrated transport projects, schemes to introduce new or disadvantaged groups to rail travel. Funding has also been awarded to education projects, biodiversity projects, arts and heritage schemes, tourism initiatives, anbd other ideas that help to promote rail services amongst local communities. For example, £3,132 went to the Essex and South Suffolk Community Rail Partnership for extra copies of their Railway 200 anniversary book and a further £320 for its for 'Try a Train' trips for local school primary groups to improve confidence and interest in train travel. Alresford Station Project has £12,500 for continued refurbishment works on the old station house, whilst Bures station adopters got £680. Heart2Heart Norfolk got £12,500 for trhe installation of defibrillators at several stations on the Wherry Lines, and £1,000 was spend to improve Gunton station's picnic area. North Norfolk District Council received £48,778 for enhanced information provision using digital technology at Sheringham, Cromer, North Walsham, and Hoveton & Wroxham stations with new screens added to provide live travel and local information. Saxmundham Museum received £3,000 to promote visits to Saxmundham Museum to rail users on the East Suffolk Line. A £9,334 grant to the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust is funding a free shuttle bus on Tuesdays and Saturdays to connect Ely railway station to Welney Wetland Centre, near Littleport. The bus will run for a trial period from Tuesday 2nd September to Saturday 29th November 2025. A longer list can be read here and on the GA website. Applications were received from local organisations and bodies, such as community rail partnerships, station adopters, local authorities, parish councils, community groups, charities, and other stakeholders in the region.
During September 2025 Network Rail will be carrying out bridge and overhead line works on the Great Eastern main line and Harwich branch (see news story), meaning buses will replace trains on all four weekends. On the Harwich branch line 16 overhead line stanchions will be replaced as they are starting to lean to one side. A total of 66 old wheel timbers will be replaced on the River Stour and Cattawade Creek bridges which carry the main line just outside Manningtree station.
The Lowestoft rail station heritage scheme recently received a boost when engineers from property services contractors Bell helped to restore and repaint a traditional pair of railway gates, which form a 60-foot backdrop to the site located in the short-stay car park at Lowestoft railway station. Martin Halliday, Development Officer at Community Rail Norfolk, parent organisation of the Wherry Lines Community Rail Partnership, said they were "hugely grateful" to Bell. The gates are centred on a section of rails which once led to the harbour and fish market. The heritage project, which aims to transform an area that was previously unwelcoming and unsightly, is being undertaken by the Lowestoft Central Project and Wherry Lines Community Rail Partnership, Greater Anglia resurfaced and relined the car park.
At Nottingham station, East Midlands Railway expanded the platform access restrictions for the centre footbridge on Monday 18th August (from late night: 23.00-05:00, to 19:00-06:00) to reduce fare evasion and also to "improve safety and deter vandalism. This will inconvenience passengers using the station in the early evening, who must now access platforms through the main station entrance via the ticket gates. Although the station is outside East Anglia, this station is used for interchanging by many passengers from/to East Anglia. More info here.
East Midlands Railway (EMR) has expended its 'penalty far'e area. This is not include its services between Norwich and Nottingham, although it does include Peterborough to Doncaster via Lincoln, which will commence on Sunday 14th September 2025.
There has been criticism that the large unit at Norwich Station, former home of M&S, is still empty nearly a year after Greater Anglia had announced that an "established food operator" to move into the retail space in October 2024. According to a Norwich Evening News article on 9th August 2025, the site remains empty and there are no signs that any business is preparing to open. The M&&S Food Store had opened in early December 2018 but close following the COVID pandemic and the lease was given up.
The BBC has reported that the speed limit for buses on the Cambridgeshire Guided Busway has been reduced from 50mph to 30mph on a one-and-a-half-mile section between Pagram Way and the Park Lane crossing in Histon to reduce the risk to pedestrians. The move comes after a 13-year-old boy was seriously injured by a single-decker bus travelling towards Cambridge on 4th March 2025 on the guided busway north of King's Hedges Road in Orchard Park, between Cambridge and Histon. One of the selling points of the busway was the speed of the buses away from the roads, but the decision by Cambridgeshire County Council not to safely segregate it has led to accidents and, now, a reduction in the speed of the service.
On Friday 1st August 2025, the Mid-Suffolk Light Railway, based at at Wetheringsett, near Stowmarket, and affectionately known as the Middy, invited special guests to celebrate an extension of its track. The public travelled on the extended line, which now offers almost a 2km round trip, on Saturday 2nd (a rare Saturday running day) and Sunday 3rd August. See BBC news story.
The Nene Valley Railway (NVR), near Peterborough, is deperately seeking younger volunteers to replace many of its volunteers as they get older. In late August 2025, the NVR hosted the "Invest Your Future" STEM event, where dozens of companies from engineering and rail were on hand to offer young people job opportunities and experience. See BBC news story.
The North Norfolk Railway, which from Sheringham to High Kerlling (pretending to be "Holt", also known as the Poppy Line, has been hailed as one of Britain's best 16 best heritage railways accoridng to The Times. Its article praised the line's rich history and picturesque views of the countryside, saying: "Day-trippers remain its biggest fans, particularly for its cream tea, fish-and-chip and gin-tasting specials."
Several guest steam engines visited North Norfolk Railway (NNR) from 23rd to 28th August 2025 for its 'Festival on Rails' celebrating its 50th anniversary and its Summer Steam Gala that tok place from 29th to 31st August 29 to 31, which had six engines in action each day. Promoting the events, the NNR's Marketing Manager, Hannah Drury, said: "The week promises to be a spectacular celebration of what has been achieved in the half-century since the first train steamed from Sheringham to Weybourne in 1975. The line extended to Holt in 1989 and now attracts 150,000 visitors every year, so we're determined to put on a great show." See the Eastern Daily Press (EDP) article for more information.
On 27th - 28th September 2025, between 10:30 and 18:00, the Whitwell & Reepham Railway will presents its Cavalcade Gala, a special event marking 200 years of railway travel. It will include brake van rides and signal box visits as well as its usual offerings. Entry to the site is free with tickets for all-day travel available to buy on the day. There's plenty of parking at Reepham High School, with a free shuttle service to and from the station. Disabled parking is at the station.
Members of the Fen Line Users Association visited Cambridge Power Signalbox (PSB) on Saturday 9th August 2025. A photo of the group at the ground floor entrance can be viewed here (the woman is Sallie Bates from Network Rail). This and other photos will be included in RAIL EAST issue 207.
On Saturday 13th and 20th September 13 2025 March station will be opening up its out-of-use platforms and rooms for tours (organised by the Friends of March sttion, FOMRS) during the Heritage Open Days festival. It is part of the Railway 200 celebrattion of the 200th anniversary of the birth of the modern railway. There will be a display available that showcases the history of March Station that has been put together by volunteers from FOMRS. The tour will run from 10:00 to 15:00 on both days and pre-booking for the tour is not required. There will be tea, coffee, and cakes. See news story.
According to an article in the East Anglian Daly Times (EADT), East Suffolk Council has refused an application from the Halesworth Southwold Narrow Gauge Railway (HSNGR) Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) for permission to lay railway 250 metres of track at the Recycling Centre in Station Road, Blythburgh. There were concerns about a public footpath, which would be closed when trains were running, with the council receiving 14 objection letters. It is unclear at the moment whether it is a public right of way. The HSNGR aims to recreate part of the former Southwold railway station facilities and trackwork at Blythburgh with a heritage centre for the study of the original line and its purpose. Permsison for this first stage was given in December 2024, and it covered the laying of track from the recycling centre to the Church Path and through the surviving platform at Blythburgh, retention of the signal hut, wooden platforms next to the Coal Shed and a storage container.
There is finally to be a tenant occupying the vacant retail space at Cambridge North station, which has been empty for almost 8.5 years, since the station opened in May 2017. Railfuture has been told that it will be a gym — somewhat surprising given the need for changing rooms, showers, toilets and lockers in such a small area, and the rival gym facilities in the hotel next door. Perhaps they have been offered a low rent initially, given the need to install facilities and plumbing, but clearly much higher rent than the £1,500 per month that Railfuture understands Costa Coffee is charged for its small kiosk. Let's hope that some empty discussed station buildings at Bury St Edmunds, Brandon and even Trimley can finally find a new purpose.
Representatives from the Melton Constable Trust, which promotes the Norfolk Orbital Railway, will be present at the Mid-Norfolk Railway on Saturday 13th September at Dereham station and Sunday 14th September 2025 at County School station to talk with supporters about the Trust's work.
STATIONS
Hull-based Spencer Group wins contract to build new Waterbeach Town station
Keywords: [WaterbeachStation]
Following a tender process, the Greater Cambridge Partnership (GCP) has awarded Spencer Group the contract — costed at valued at £28.5m + VAT — to construct the replacement station at Waterbeach, to serve the new town that is being built to the north of the village, for completion by the end of 2027. The GCP and Spencer Group are now working on finalising elements of the contract. A total budget of £43.35m has been agreed for the station, with the GCP providing £20m and Homes England (the UK government's housing and regeneration agency) providing a grant for the rest. The developer will be required to repay this grant to Homes England.
According to Councillor Brian Milnes, Chair of the GCP executive board, "the new railway station was a core requirement of the Waterbeach development's planning permission and our objective is to ensure rail travel is a preferred choice for residents." A statutory public consultation on the closure of the existing station is expected to take place towards the end of 2025." Interestingly, the GCP website says, in the "What's going to happen to the old station?" FAQ entry that the Department for Transport will have a consultation on whether to close the existing station." The word "whether" implies a possibility that the old station will stay open, which is something that neither the GCP nor Nertwork Rail has ever stated previously.
Middleton Towers Restoration Group's efforts frustrated by land-owner Sibelco
Keywords: [MiddletonTowersBranch]
The Middleton Towers Restoration Group has been trying to turn the formewr station buildings and area into a railway heritage experience since 2021 and recently began some of the restoration works. However, the former station master's house, the old booking office and yard are owned by industrial sand mining company Sibelco, which the group claims is making things more difficult. According to an article in the Lynn News, Alex Brammer, director of the restoration group, said: "We are appealing to Sibelco to establish a mutual and positive working relationship to secure the entire site of the former Middleton Towers Railway Station. Sibelco has not replied to our emails, where we offered to maintain the yard and the front of the station house, as well as the former booking office on the platform, in return for front site access and parking our vehicles and future customers' vehicles in a segregated yard." The group also claims that the company has switched off the water on the site, which is needed for concrete and brickwork, despite offering to cover the associated water bill. In the past, Sibelco is believed to have stated the project is "incompatible" with its operations, and it has already rejected proposals for the yard maintenance as it has its own gardener.
Network Rail has given the group access to the parts of the site that it owns, enabliong them to appointed NGR Construction Ltd to install a fence along the platofrm, to separate their area from the running line used by the sand trains. As of 3rd August 2025, a fence had been erected along half the length of the platform (see here to the level crossing access point. Network Rail approved the fencing plans, in which the posts wil be paermant, but temporary fence panels will be installed initially — £1,000 towards the fencing costs has come from their Councillor Community Grant earlier in 2025.
See https://www.middletontowers.org.uk/our-proposals for the group's plans to establish a tea room and gardens. In July 2025 the group submitted a Rural Communities Project Fund (REPF) stage 2 application Borough Council of King's Lynn & West Norfolk. Alex Brammer founded the Middleton Towers Restoration Group in July 2021, and by early 2024, the group signed a basic asset protection agreement (BAPA) with Network Rail, which essentially kickstarted their project after more than three years of background preparation. It claims to have more than 800 supporters.
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Railfuture East Anglia Branch News Snippets 389 - 31/08/2025
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Railfuture is a non-profit making pro-rail campaiging organisation, which is run entirely by unpaid volunteeers, including production of Rail News Snippets for the East Anglian branch of Railfuture.
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