Eccles Road railway station is on the

Breckland line The Breckland line is a secondary railway line in the east of England that links in the west to in the east. The line runs through three counties: Cambridgeshire, Suffolk and Norfolk. It takes its name from the Breckland region of Norfolk, ...

in the east of England, serving the villages of Eccles, Quidenham and Wilby in Norfolk. The line runs between in the west and in the east. Eccles Road is situated between and , from

London Liverpool Street Liverpool Street station, also known as London Liverpool Street, is a central London railway terminus and connected London Underground station in the north-eastern corner of the City of London, in the ward of Bishopsgate Without. It is the t ...

via . 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 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.Ordnance Survey (1999). ''OS Explorer Map 230 - Diss & Harleston''. . The station is unstaffed and has two platforms, adjacent to a

level crossing A level crossing is an intersection where a railway line crosses a road, path, or (in rare situations) airport runway, at the same level, as opposed to the railway line crossing over or under using an overpass or tunnel. The term a ...

. Wooden level crossing gates used to be opened and closed manually by a signaller in the local signal box, which is dated 1883. However, in 2012 the signal box was closed and the crossing was renewed with automatic barriers controlled from Cambridge. The redundant signal box stands across the road from the westbound (Cambridge) platform, and was expected to be demolished when the barriers were replaced in 2017.

History

The Bill for the

Norwich & Brandon Railway The Norwich & Brandon Railway (N&BR) was the second railway in Norfolk, England, after the Yarmouth & Norwich Railway (Y&NR). Its Act of Parliament on 10 May 1844 authorised it to build a line between Norwich and the small town of Brandon, actual ...

(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 The Yarmouth & Norwich Railway (Y&NR) was the earliest railway in Norfolk, England. It was formed after it became apparent that it would be a number of years before the Eastern Counties Railway would extend their railway into Norfolk. Its Act o ...

with the N&BR came into effect and so Eccles Road station became a Norfolk Railway asset.

Services

, from Monday to Saturday there are two trains per day eastbound to , both 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 , , and , before reversing and continuing to ; and the other to , operated by Greater Anglia. On Saturday afternoons there are two westbound services to via Cambridge, both operated by Greater Anglia. There is no Sunday service.

References

External links

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St Mary's on the European Round Tower Churches Website
{{coord, 52.47062, N, 0.96961, E, type:railwaystation_region:GB_source:enwiki-osgb36(TM018900), display=title Railway stations in Norfolk Former Great Eastern Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1845 Railway stations served by East Midlands Railway Greater Anglia franchise railway stations 1845 establishments in England Quidenham