Brandon railway station

Brandon
Location
Place	Brandon
Local authority	Breckland
Coordinates	52°27′14″N 0°37′27″E / 52.4539°N 0.6243°E / 52.4539; 0.6243Coordinates: 52°27′14″N 0°37′27″E / 52.4539°N 0.6243°E / 52.4539; 0.6243
Grid reference	TL784872
Operations
Station code	BND
Managed by	Abellio Greater Anglia
Number of platforms	2
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2004/05	23,556
2005/06	32,086
2006/07	35,656
2007/08	50,232
2008/09	65,818
2009/10	71,406
2010/11	84,648
2011/12	89,522
2012/13	101,396
2013/14	102,090
History
Original company	Eastern Counties Railway
Pre-grouping	Great Eastern Railway
Post-grouping	London and North Eastern Railway
30 July 1845 (1845-07-30)	Opened as Brandon
1 July 1923	Renamed Brandon (Norfolk)
1 March 1925	Renamed Brandon
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Brandon from Office of Rail Regulation statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

View eastward, towards Norwich in 1969

Brandon railway station serves the town of Brandon in Suffolk, England, although the station is actually situated across the county boundary in Norfolk. The station is managed by Abellio Greater Anglia, which provides services east to Thetford, Attleborough, Wymondham and Norwich, and west to Ely and Cambridge. Brandon station has been un-staffed since the 1980s.

Currently, the station is served by (approximately) hourly services west to Cambridge and east to Norwich, operated by Abellio Greater Anglia. East Midlands Trains operates a single morning service to Norwich (07:20 Monday to Friday; 07:22 on Saturday; no service Sunday).

Prior to the re-introduction of a direct service between Cambridge and Norwich by Anglia Railways (the franchise now incorporated into Abellio Greater Anglia), Central Trains served the station as a stop on its route between Norwich and Liverpool. The Norwich to Liverpool route is now operated by East Midlands Trains.

Brandon station saw a large jump in the number of passengers using the station in 2007–2008; this shows a growing demand for rail travel in the area and also bears testament to the value of a regular and frequent rail service at rural stations. The current regular hourly service was publicised and introduced in 2007.

Until Spring 2009, an original telegraph pole route remained in situ from here to Wymondham. This was one of the last remaining in the UK.

Friends of Brandon Station

In January 2006 the Friends of Brandon Station launched an initiative to look after the station, improve the appearance and facilities, promote the fast and frequent services to Norwich, Ely and Cambridge, and to seek a new tenant for the station buildings, with the ultimate goal of re-opening the station to the public. The Friends have joined both ACorP (the Association of Community Rail Partnerships) and the Adopt-a-Station scheme operated by National Express East Anglia.

In popular culture

The station was used as a location in an episode of the BBC TV series Dad's Army.^[1]

References

External links

• Train times and station information for Brandon railway station from National Rail
• The Brandon, Suffolk Website
• Friends of Brandon Station

Preceding station		National Rail		Following station
Ely		Abellio Greater Anglia Breckland Line		Thetford
Lakenheath Limited Service
Ely		East Midlands Trains Liverpool-Norwich Limited Service