Bittern Line

The Bittern Line is a railway line from Norwich to Cromer and Sheringham in Norfolk, England. It is one of the most scenic in the East of England traversing the Norfolk Broads on its route to the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty on the North Norfolk Coast.

Route

The towns and villages served by the route are listed below.
*Norwich
*Salhouse
*Hoveton and Wroxham
**Connection with the narrow-gauge Bure Valley heritage railway.
*Worstead
*North Walsham
*Gunton
*Roughton Road (a suburb of Cromer)
*Cromer (reverse)
*West Runton for Beeston Regis
*Sheringham also for Beeston Regis

Details on this page are verified by Norfolk County Council's Community Railways [e-mail]

ervices

Passenger services are operated by National Express East Anglia using the Class 153, Class 156 or Class 170 diesel multiple units. The line is named after the bittern, a rare bird found in the reedy wetlands of Norfolk. The line also sees freight services taking gas condensate from a terminal at North Walsham to Harwich and a new service sending spent ballast to North Walsham for onwards sale and disposal. These freight services are operated by GB Railfreight a wholly owned division of First Group.

History

The line was opened between Norwich and North Walsham in 1874 by the East Norfolk Railway, and it reached Cromer by 1877. The rest of the line, between Cromer and Sheringham, was opened in 1887, and is the remains of the Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway line from Melton Constable. Part of that line from Sheringham to Holt is preserved as the North Norfolk Railway. It is double track as far as 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 often suggested to be a possible closure at times when talk of line closures is in the news, although in fact it sees good passenger numbers, which are on the increase, and has seen a number of service improvements in recent years, including 2 additional trains in the evening (one an hour after the previous last train, and one filling in a 2 hour gap before the last train), and in the next timetable will see the Sunday service improved from 2 hourly to hourly.

The line was resignalled a few years ago, leading to the closure of a number of mechanical signal boxes with control moving to a panel in the Trowse Swing Bridge control room, although it is arguable if this is 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 microwave links rather than a hard wired system. This saw the end of one of the few remaining sections of single track main line controlled by tokens.

The Bittern Line Partnership set up by Norfolk County Council in 1997 will be celebrating its tenth anniversary during May 2007. It was designated by the Department for Transport as a community rail line on 28 September 2007.

The line is not electrified.

Investing in the future

In November 2006 the essential track renewal work was begun on the Bittern Line. Whole lengths of the old track have been lifted and new rail and sleepers installed along with new level-crossing points. This will improve the ride comfort and safety and greatly reduce the noise level for neighbours of the railway track. The work was carried out by Balfour Beatty on behalf of Network Rail. The work involved lifting and removal of the old track by crane, excavating the track bed and then replacing the rail and components using a specialized track laying machine. The service on the line was cancelled during the three weeks of the first period of the track renewal. This work represents the great achievements by all concerned who have made the Norwich-North Walsham-Cromer-Sheringham a more viable railway for the future. Many thanks for this ongoing work is due to the main Bittern Line Community Rail Partnership between Norfolk County Council, National Express East Anglia other local authorities, businesses and local communities.

The Sheringham Link

After a time period of 36 years plans are taking shape to link the Bittern line back to the close by North Norfolk Railway. [ [http://www.norfolk-orbital-railway.co.uk/documents/Press%20Release%20December%202007.doc Press Release] December 2007] After prolonged discussions between Network Rail, North Norfolk Railway and The Holt, Melton Constable and Fakenham Railway Company, plans have been agreed to the provision of an "occasional use" link between the existing Network Rail station at Sheringham and the North Norfolk Railway's tracks. Although the length of the new link is only a matter of a few yards the agreement represents a major step forward towards the eventual provision of a permanent link and new interchange station facilities. This link would only initially available for special occasional use and for the delivery of rolling stock and occasional rail tour through-working. As of July 2008 the link has gained planning permission and may be rebuilt as early as 2009

References

External links

* [http://www.bitternline.com/ The Bittern Line]
* [http://www.bitternline.com/route.htm The Route of the Line]