Eccles Road railway station

Eccles Road
General information
Location	Quidenham, Breckland England
Grid reference	TM018900
Managed by	Greater Anglia
Platforms	2
Other information
Station code	ECS
Classification	DfT category F2
Key dates
30 July 1845	Opened
18 April 1966	Closed to freight
Passengers
2018/19	2,952
2019/20	2,390
2020/21	296
2021/22	1,276
2022/23	1,830
Notes Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

Eccles Road railway station is on the Breckland line in the east of England, serving the villages of Eccles, Quidenham and Wilby in Norfolk. The line runs between Cambridge in the west and Norwich in the east.

Eccles Road is situated between Harling Road and Attleborough, 104 miles 36 chains (168.1 km) from London Liverpool Street via Ely. The station is managed by Greater Anglia, which also operates most of the services calling at the station. Some East Midlands Railway also stop at Eccles Road.

The station takes its name from being outside of the now abandoned original village of Eccles^[1] although the church Eccles St. Mary still stands and is one of 124 original round-tower churches in Norfolk. A new settlement, also called Eccles, has developed around the station. The station is situated in the civil parish of Quidenham, about 2 miles (3 km) north of that village, and 1 mile (1.5 km) north-east of Snetterton Motor Racing Circuit.^[2]

The station is unstaffed and has two platforms, adjacent to a level crossing. Wooden level crossing gates used to be opened and closed manually by a signaller in the local signal box, which is dated 1883.^{[citation needed]} However, in 2012 the signal box was closed and the crossing was renewed with barriers controlled from Cambridge. The redundant signal box still stands across the road from the westbound (Cambridge) platform (as of 2024).

History

The Bill for the Norwich & Brandon Railway (N&BR) received Royal Assent on 10 May 1844. Work started on the line in 1844 and the line and its stations were opened on 30 July 1845. The line ran from Ely to Trowse, in Norwich. The link into Norwich was delayed due to the need to build a bridge over the River Wensum that kept the river navigable. 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 Eccles Road station became a Norfolk Railway asset.^[3]

Services

As of October 2024^[update], Monday to Saturday there are two trains per day eastbound to Norwich, at 06:55 and 07:56 - both are timed to arrive in Norwich before 09:00 and operated by Greater Anglia.

Westbound, there are two trains per day on weekday afternoons, one operated by East Midlands Railway which calls at Harling Road, Thetford, and Ely, before reversing and continuing to Liverpool Lime Street; and the other to Cambridge, operated by Greater Anglia. On Saturday afternoons there are two westbound services to Stansted Airport via Cambridge, both operated by Greater Anglia.^[4]

There is no Sunday service.

References

Eccles St Mary church

1. "Grab your ticket to ride into Norfolk by rail". 10 August 2012.
2. Ordnance Survey (1999). OS Explorer Map 230 - Diss & Harleston. ISBN 978-0-319-21862-4.
3. C.J. Allen ^{[full citation needed]}
4. "Timetable 10 Cambridge to Ely, Peterborough and Norwich" (PDF). Greater Anglia. 15 December 2019.

External links

• Map sources for Eccles Road railway station

• Train times and station information for Eccles Road railway station from National Rail

• St Mary's on the European Round Tower Churches Website

Preceding station		National Rail		Following station
Harling Road		Greater Anglia Breckland Line		Attleborough
Harling Road		East Midlands Railway Liverpool-Norwich Limited services		Attleborough

52.47062°N 0.96961°E / 52.47062; 0.96961

1. https://www.eastmidlandsrailway.co.uk/media/3150/download?inline