 Advert from the Illustrated London News 17 August 1907 | |
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Service type | Passenger train |
| First service | 1907 |
| Last service | 1914 |
| Former operator(s) | GER |
| Route | |
| Termini | London Liverpool Street Cromer, Sheringham, Mundesley |
| Service frequency | Daily during July, August and September |
The Norfolk Coast Express was a named passenger train operating in the United Kingdom. [1]
The train was introduced for the summer season in 1907 by the Great Eastern Railway. [2] It was timed to leave London Liverpool Street at 1:30 pm, and arrive in Cromer at 4:25 pm, Sheringham at 4:43 pm, and Mundesley at 4:34 pm. The returning service departed Sheringham at 12:36 pm, Mundesley at 12:47 pm, Cromer at 1:00 pm, arriving in London Liverpool Street at 3:55 pm. It was scheduled to run non-stop between Liverpool St. and North Walsham in both directions, utilising the water troughs at Ipswich. It was the first, and until 1950, the only express to run non stop along the GEML.
For this new service the Great Eastern Railway provided new locomotives and rolling stock. The length of the train was 638 feet (194 m) with a trailing weight of 317 tons. It provided accommodation for 96 first class, and 320 third class passengers. The dining facilities provided luncheon for 108 passengers at one time. Luncheon was provided for half a Crown [3] (equivalent to £14.07in 2021). [4]
The train was suspended in 1914 following the outbreak of the First World War and did not resume afterwards.
The North Norfolk Railway (NNR) – also known as the "Poppy Line" – is a 5+1⁄4-mile (8.4 km) heritage steam railway in Norfolk, England, running between the towns of Sheringham and Holt. The North Norfolk Railway is owned and operated as a public limited company, originally called Central Norfolk Enterprises Limited. The railway is listed as exempt from the UK Railways (Interoperability) Regulations 2000.
The Great Central Railway in England was formed when the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway changed its name in 1897, anticipating the opening in 1899 of its London Extension. On 1 January 1923, the company was grouped into the London and North Eastern Railway.
National Express East Anglia (NXEA) was a train operating company in England owned by National Express that operated the Greater Anglia franchise from April 2004 until February 2012. Originally trading as One, it was rebranded National Express East Anglia in February 2008. It provided local, suburban and express services from London Liverpool Street to destinations in Essex, Hertfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Suffolk and Norfolk in the East of England.
The Great Eastern Railway (GER) was a pre-grouping British railway company, whose main line linked London Liverpool Street to Norwich and which had other lines through East Anglia. The company was grouped into the London and North Eastern Railway in 1923.
The Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway (M&GNJR) was a railway network in England, in the area connecting southern Lincolnshire, the Isle of Ely and north Norfolk. It developed from several local independent concerns and was incorporated in 1893. It was jointly owned by the Midland Railway and the Great Northern Railway, and those companies had long sponsored and operated the predecessor companies.
The Bittern Line is a railway branch line in Norfolk, England, that links Norwich to Sheringham. It passes through the Broads on its route to an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty on the north Norfolk coast. It is named after the bittern, a rare bird found in the reedy wetlands of Norfolk.
Norwich railway station is the northern terminus of the Great Eastern Main Line in the East of England, serving the city of Norwich, Norfolk. It is 114 miles 77 chains (185.0 km) down the main line from London Liverpool Street, the western terminus.
Durham is a railway station on the East Coast Main Line, which runs between London King's Cross and Edinburgh Waverley. The station, situated 14 miles 3 chains south of Newcastle, serves the cathedral city of Durham in County Durham, England. It is owned by Network Rail and managed by London North Eastern Railway.
Darlington railway station is on the East Coast Main Line in the United Kingdom, serving the town of Darlington, County Durham. It is 232 miles 50 chains north of London King's Cross. It is situated between Northallerton to the south and Durham to the north. Its three-letter station code is DAR.
North Walsham railway station is on the Bittern Line in Norfolk, England, serving the town of North Walsham. It is 16 miles (26 km) down the line from Norwich, between Worstead to the south and Gunton to the north.
The Norfolk and Suffolk Joint Railway (NSJR) was a British joint railway company.
Sheringham railway station is the northern terminus of the Bittern Line in Norfolk, England, serving the town of Sheringham. It is 30 miles 22 chains down the line from Norwich. Its three-letter station code is SHM.
Mundesley /ˈmʌndz.li/ is a coastal village and a civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. The village is 20.3 miles (32.7 km) north-north east of Norwich, 7.3 miles (11.7 km) south east of Cromer and 136 miles (219 km) north east of London. The village lies 5.6 miles (9.0 km) north-north east of the town of North Walsham. The nearest railway station is at North Walsham, for the Bittern Line which runs between Sheringham and Norwich. The nearest airport is Norwich Airport. The village sits astride the B1159 coast road that links Cromer and Caister-on-Sea, and is at the eastern end of the B1145 a route which runs between King's Lynn and Mundesley. Mundesley is within the Norfolk Coast AONB. It has a resident population of around 2,695, measured at 2,758 in the 2011 Census. The River Mun or Mundesley Beck flows into the sea here. On 5 September 2022 Mundesley beach won the North Norfolk District Council Battle of the Beaches to be recognised as the top beach in North Norfolk in a close run off against West Runton beach.
Cromer High railway station was the first station opened in Cromer, Norfolk, in England. It is situated to the south on the outskirts of the town on a steep escarpment. Built initially by the short-lived East Norfolk Railway, the station was incorporated into the Great Eastern Railway, who had operated the services from the beginning. It served as the terminus of Great Eastern Railway services from London and Norwich. Initially named Cromer on opening, it was renamed Cromer High on 27 September 1948.
Cromer Links Halt was a railway station on the outskirts of Cromer. It was on the now disused Norfolk and Suffolk Joint Railway line between Roughton Road Junction and Overstrand station. It opened on 9 July 1923, only to close thirty years later on 7 April 1953.
Cromer is a railway station in the English county of Norfolk. Because the Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway (M&GNJR) line approached Cromer from the west, following the coastal clifftops, it avoided the steep escarpment which had prevented the earlier line from Norwich running all the way into the town. Consequently, it became possible to build a far more conveniently located station, near to the town centre and the beach. The station opened as Cromer Beach on 16 June 1887 and was renamed Cromer on 20 October 1969, following the closure of Cromer High station in 1954. It is 26 miles 52 chains (42.9 km) down the line from Norwich. Cromer is one of only two former Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway stations to remain operational on the National Rail network; the other being the neighbouring West Runton. Sheringham and Weybourne are the other two surviving M&GNJR stations, both still served today on the heritage North Norfolk Railway.
Sheringham is the name of a preserved railway station in Sheringham, Norfolk. It was once part of the Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway network and closed in 1967 when a new station was opened by British Rail approx. 200m eastwards. Since 1975 it has served as the eastern terminus of the North Norfolk Railway. In March 2010, the link to Network Rail was reinstated.
The Norfolkman was an express passenger train between London Liverpool Street station and Norwich. In the Summer, the service was extended to the Norfolk coast, first at Sheringham and later at Cromer.
The Yarmouth–Lowestoft line was an East Anglian railway line which linked the coastal towns of Yarmouth, Gorleston-on-Sea and Lowestoft. It opened on 13 July 1903 as the first direct railway link between the two towns and was constructed by the Great Eastern Railway and the Midland and Great Northern Railway in the hope of encouraging the development of holiday resorts along the coast. In the event, although the line was built to high standards and considerable cost, intermediate traffic did not develop and competition from buses and trams eroded the little that had been generated. Fish traffic was carried in large quantities until the 1930s when it fell into decline. In 1953, when major repairs to the Breydon Viaduct were required, it was decided to discontinue through services from the Midland and Great Northern to Lowestoft and to divert London trains to Lowestoft via Norwich. After the Midland and Great Northern and Yarmouth–Beccles line closed to passengers in 1959, the Yarmouth–Lowestoft line was upgraded to accommodate the diverted traffic, but after services were switched to Yarmouth Vauxhall in 1962, it was singled and the stations made unstaffed halts. With only a local service running between vandalised stations, the decision was taken to close the route on 4 May 1970 in favour of bus services which were judged adequate for most of the year.
The Broadsman was a named passenger train operating in the United Kingdom.
