Norwich Bus Station

Last updated

Norwich Bus Station
NorwichBusStation.jpg
General information
LocationSurrey Street, Norwich, Norfolk, England
Coordinates 52°37′27″N1°17′34″E / 52.6243°N 1.2929°E / 52.6243; 1.2929
Operated by Konectbus
Bus stands14
Bus operators Megabus, First Eastern Counties, Konectbus, Sanders, Simonds, City Sightseeing Norwich, Norse, National Express and Neaves
Connections Norwich (approx. 1 mile)
History
Opened2005

Norwich Bus Station is situated off Surrey Street and Queen's Road, Norwich, Norfolk, England. It is served by a number of bus operators, such as Konectbus, Norse, First Eastern Counties, National Express, Megabus and City Sightseeing Norwich.

Contents

The land between Surrey Street and Bull Lane was acquired in April 1934 by the Eastern Counties Omnibus Company. The huge garage and station were designed by architect H J Starkey and it was opened in 1936 by the Lord Mayor Walter Riley. The garage had the biggest unsupported roof span in the country with no pillars or supports in the 52,000 sq ft of floor space. The garage structure was said to have weighed 220 tonnes and 650,000 bricks and nine miles of electric cable went into its construction. [1]

The Norwich PT Major transportation project, identified the need for a new bus station as the catalyst for the regeneration of an important social and commercial area of Norwich which was previously neglected. Funding was awarded in November 2002, Planning consent granted in December 2003, Demolition and Construction commenced in February 2004, partial opening of the through road for the Park & Ride was achieved April 2005. [2]

The new Bus Station opened on 30 August 2005 at a cost of £5 million and two months later than planned, with its distinctive steel roof it won the 2006 SCALA Civic Building of the Year Award. [3] The roof though has caused problems and in June 2012 the bus station had to be closed for two weeks to allow contractors to replace much of the roof to fix leaks. [4]

On average the bus station sees 7,800 bus movements, 200,000 passengers boarding, and the information centre helps 21,000 people per week.

An Alexander Dennis Enviro400 bus at the bus station operating route 501. E400 in Norwich.jpg
An Alexander Dennis Enviro400 bus at the bus station operating route 501.

Bus routes

Most local bus operations in Norwich depart from either Castle Meadow, near Norwich Castle, St. Stephen's Street or from Theatre Street, near Norwich's Theatre Royal, with the bus station reserved for long-distance express services, coach services or Park and Ride services, with a few local services operating out of the terminus.

Most notable routes which operate from the bus station, include First Eastern Counties flagship X1 and excel (Buses display “XL”) services. The X1 runs between Norwich and Lowestoft, via Great Yarmouth and the excel between Norwich and Peterborough, via Dereham and King's Lynn. Since 2013, modern, state of the art, double deck buses have been used on the route, offering passengers free WiFi, leather seats and air conditioning.

Competing with this, is Konectbus 'KonectExpress' service 8, operating between the bus station and Dereham and Toftwood.


First Eastern Counties service X2 also departs for Lowestoft, via the A146 road, calling at Loddon and Beccles.

Facilities

The travel centre contains a waiting area that can seat up to thirty people, male, female and disabled toilets, plus baby changing facilities as well as a café.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dereham</span> Human settlement in England

Dereham, also known as East Dereham, is a town and civil parish in the Breckland District of the English county of Norfolk. It is situated on the A47 road, about 15 miles (25 km) west of the city of Norwich and 25 miles (40 km) east of King's Lynn.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Norwich Airport</span> International airport in Norwich, Norfolk, England

Norwich Airport is an international airport in Hellesdon, Norfolk, England, 2.5 miles north of the city of Norwich. In 2017, Norwich Airport was the 28th busiest airport in the UK and busiest in East Anglia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mid-Norfolk Railway</span> Heritage railway in Norfolk, England

The Mid-Norfolk Railway (MNR) is a 17+12 miles (28.2 km) preserved standard gauge heritage railway, one of the longest in Great Britain. Preservation efforts began in 1974, but the line re-opened to passengers only in the mid-1990s as part of the "new generation" of heritage railways. The MNR owns and operates most of the former Wymondham-Fakenham branch line of the Norfolk Railway. The branch opened in 1847, was closed to passengers in stages from 1964 to 1969 as part of the Beeching cuts, and was finally fully closed to goods traffic in 1989.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wherry Lines</span>

The Wherry Lines are railway branch lines in the East of England, linking Norwich to Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft. There are 14 stations including the three termini. They form part of Network Rail Strategic Route 7, SRS 07.11 and are classified as a rural line.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reedham railway station (Norfolk)</span> Railway station in Norfolk, England

Reedham railway station is on the Wherry Lines in the East of England, serving the village of Reedham, Norfolk. It is 12 miles 13 chains (19.6 km) down the line from Norwich and is situated between Cantley to the west and, to the east, Berney Arms on the Great Yarmouth branch or Haddiscoe on the Lowestoft branch. It is commonly suffixed as Reedham (Norfolk) in order to distinguish it from the station of the same name in south London. Its three-letter station code is REE.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Norwich railway station</span> Railway station in Norwich, England

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cantley railway station</span> Railway station in Norfolk, England

Cantley railway station is on the Wherry Lines in the East of England, serving the village of Cantley, Norfolk. It is 10 miles (16 km) down the line from Norwich on the routes to Lowestoft and Great Yarmouth and is situated between Buckenham and Reedham. Its three-letter station code is CNY.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lowestoft railway station</span> Railway station in Suffolk, England

Lowestoft railway station serves the town of Lowestoft, Suffolk. It is the eastern terminus of the East Suffolk Line from Ipswich and is one of two eastern termini of the Wherry Lines from Norwich. Lowestoft is 23 miles 41 chains (37.8 km) down the line from Norwich and 48 miles 75 chains (78.8 km) measured from Ipswich; it is the easternmost station on the National Rail network in the United Kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wymondham railway station</span> Railway station in Norfolk, England, United Kingdom

Wymondham railway station is on the Breckland Line in the East of England, serving the town of Wymondham, Norfolk. The line runs between Cambridge in the west and Norwich in the east. It is situated between Spooner Row and Norwich, 113 miles 72 chains (183.3 km) from London Liverpool Street via Ely.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dereham railway station</span> Railway station in Norfolk, England

Dereham railway station is a railway station in the town of Dereham in the English county of Norfolk. The station is served by heritage services on the Mid-Norfolk Railway from Dereham to Wymondham.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">First Eastern Counties</span>

First Eastern Counties is a bus operator providing services in Norfolk and Suffolk in eastern England. It is a subsidiary of FirstGroup.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ashwellthorpe railway station</span> Former railway station in Norfolk, England

Ashwellthorpe was a railway station that existed in the village of Ashwellthorpe, Norfolk, on a cutoff line between Forncett and Wymondham. This entry covers the history of the line and the station.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Konectbus</span>

Konectbus is a bus operator based in Dereham in Norfolk, England. It is a subsidiary of the Go-Ahead Group and forms part of Go East Anglia.

Buses in Lowestoft in the English county of Suffolk provide public transport in and around the town. Buses were first introduced in the town by Lowestoft Corporation Tramways in 1927 and replaced original tram services by 1931.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Norwich park and ride</span> Park and ride bus service

Norwich Park and Ride is a park & ride bus service in the English city of Norwich, East Anglia. The first of the park and rides was opened in the early 1990s at Norwich Airport in Hellesdon, while the sixth site was opened in Thickthorn in 2005. With the addition of the final site, the Norwich Park & Ride became the largest park and ride services in the United Kingdom, and provided the scheme with over 5,000 permanent car parks – at the time the highest number for a park and ride scheme in the country. The scheme was awarded the British Parking Association Park and Ride award in 2004, and in the 2006/2007 financial year, 3.3 million people used the service, keeping 940,000 cars out of the city centre.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Excel (bus route)</span>

Excel is the brand name given to a number of bus services operated by First Norfolk & Suffolk, covering 80 miles (130 km) between Norwich bus station in Norfolk and Peterborough railway station in Cambridgeshire. Prior to February 2018, the route also extended from Norwich to Lowestoft in Suffolk via Great Yarmouth; this section of the route has since been replaced by Coastlink branded services X1 and X2. As of June 2021, the Excel route itself operates between Peterborough, King's Lynn and Norwich, with variations A, B, C and D providing different levels of service to intermediate villages.

The Wymondham to Wells Branch was a railway built in stages by the Norfolk Railway, Eastern Counties Railway and Wells and Fakenham Company between 1847 and 1857. The railway ran from Wymondham in the south, through Dereham and Fakenham to the coastal town of Wells-next-the-Sea; more specifically, the line ran from Wymondham South Junction, where it met the present-day Breckland Line. Passenger services along the line lasted until 1969; the railway continued to be used for freight until 1989. The southern section of the railway now forms the Mid-Norfolk Railway, with part of the northern section serving as the narrow gauge Wells and Walsingham Light Railway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Norfolk Railway</span> Railway company in Norfolk, England operating from 1845 to 1862

The Norfolk Railway was an early railway company that controlled a network of 94 miles around Norwich, England. It was formed in 1845 by the amalgamation of the Yarmouth and Norwich Railway opened in 1844, and the Norwich and Brandon Railway, not yet opened. These lines were built out of frustration that the Eastern Counties Railway line that was expected to connect Norwich to London failed to be completed. The Norfolk Railway also leased the Lowestoft Railway and Harbour company, and built a branch to Dereham and Fakenham, opened in 1846 and 1849 respectively.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Network Norwich</span> Bus service

Network Norwich is the brand name given to First Norfolk & Suffolk bus services in and around the city of Norwich. First launched in September 2012, the network now consists of nine colour-coded lines extending across Norwich city centre, outer suburbs, and surrounding towns and villages across Norfolk and into Suffolk.

References

  1. James, Derek (5 January 2020). "How Norwich bus station brought about major change to public transport in the 1930s". Eastern Daily Press. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
  2. "Norwich Bus Station - Case Study" (PDF).
  3. www.architecture.com Norwich Bus Station, Architect : NPS Property Consultants Ltd, Completion date : Jan 2005 Retrieved 2016-03.14.
  4. Norwich Evening News , Friday 11 March 2016, page 13.