Wherry Lines

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Wherry Lines
Overview
Type Heavy rail
Locale Norfolk
Operation
Owner Network Rail
Operator(s) Greater Anglia
Rolling stock Class 47
Class 90
Class 153 "Super Sprinter"
Class 156 "Super Sprinter"
Class 170 "Turbostar"
Technical
Line length ~24 mi (39 km)
Track gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 12 in) standard gauge
Wherry Lines
Legend
0m 00ch Norwich
0m 30ch Great Eastern Main Line
River Yare(Old course)
Whitlingham
1m 70ch Bittern Line
A47
4m 66ch Brundall Gardens
5m 63ch Brundall
5m 72ch Brundall Junction
7m 64ch Buckenham
Lingwood
10m 02ch Cantley
Acle
12m 14ch Reedham
12m 34ch Reedham Junction
Berney Arms
Breydon Junction
A12
Great Yarmouth
A143
Haddiscoe (1st station)
16m 15ch Haddiscoe
Haddiscoe Junction on Yarmouth-Beccles Line
River Waveney
18m 00ch Somerleyton
A1117
22m 06ch Oulton Broad North
22m 16ch East Suffolk Line
Former Yarmouth-Lowestoft Line
23m 41ch Lowestoft

The Wherry Lines are railway lines in England, from Norwich to Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft. These lines pass through The Broads. The line is part of the Network Rail Strategic Route 7, SRS 07.11 and is classified as a rural line.[1] The name of the line is taken from the Norfolk wherries, which played an important role in the transport of goods and people around the broads before road and rail transport became widespread.

History

The line was first opened from Norwich to Great Yarmouth by the Norwich and Yarmouth Railway in 1844, running via Reedham. The link from Reedham to Lowestoft was added in 1847 by Samuel Morton Peto as part of the Norfolk Railway. Finally, the northern route from Norwich to Great Yarmouth was added in 1882 by the Great Eastern Railway.

Community rail

On 1 February 2007, the services operating on the line were designated community rail services[2] as part of The Community Rail Development Strategy which aims to increase passenger numbers and income, improve the management of costs, and develop a greater sense of community involvement.[3]

Infrastructure

The lines from Norwich to Brundall and on to Lowestoft are double track with the lines between Brundall and Great Yarmouth and Reedham and Great Yarmouth being single track. The line is not electrified, has a loading gauge of W8 except between Lowestoft and Oulton Broad North junction where it is W6, and has a line speed of between 40-60 mph.

Rolling stock

Passenger services are provided by Greater Anglia, using Class 153 "Super Sprinter", Class 156 "Super Sprinter" or Class 170 "Turbostar" diesel multiple units, as the routes are not electrified. Most services originate from Norwich, but some services operate through from London Liverpool Street via Norwich. These through services are formed of Class 90 electric locomotives with Mk3 coaching stock, which are dragged from Norwich by a Class 47 diesel locomotive.

References

  1. "Route 7 - Great Eastern". Network Rail. Retrieved 2009-05-20. 
  2. "Community rail - new life for local lines". Department for Transport. 
  3. "Community Rail Development Strategy". Department for Transport. 

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike; additional terms may apply for the media files.