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Bittern Line
A Class 156 train at Worstead in 2008
Overview
Status	Operational
Owner	Network Rail
Locale	Norfolk, England
Termini	Norwich Sheringham
Stations	10
Service
Type	Heavy rail
System	National Rail
Operator(s)	Greater Anglia
Rolling stock	Class 755
History
Opened	1874–77
Technical
Line length	30 miles 22 chains (48.7 km)
Number of tracks	1–2
Character	Rural line
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Route map (Click to expand)

v t e Bittern Line
Legend
North Norfolk Railway (former M&GN to Melton Constable) Sheringham (NNR preserved station) Sheringham West Runton Cromer Beach Cromer High Roughton Road Norfolk and Suffolk Joint Railway to Yarmouth Beach via Mundesley-on-Sea Gunton (for Northrepps Aerodrome) to Cromer Beach via Mundesley-on-Sea to Yarmouth Beach M&GN to Melton Constable North Walsham Worstead Bure Valley Railway former line to County School Hoveton & Wroxham for The Broads River Bure Salhouse Wherry Lines to Great Yarmouth & Lowestoft River Yare River Yare Great Eastern Main Line to London Liverpool Street Norwich

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.

The line is 30 miles 22 chains (48.7 km) in length and there are 10 stations. It is part of Network Rail Strategic Route 7, SRS 07.11, and is classified as a rural line.

Passenger services are operated by Greater Anglia, which also manages all of the stations.

History

The line was granted permission in 1864 and the first stretch was opened between Norwich and North Walsham in 1874 by the East Norfolk Railway. It was extended to Cromer by 1877 before being extended to Sheringham in 1877, using a section of the Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway line. From the early twentieth century until the end of steam services, in 1962, the Great Eastern Railway operated coastal holiday services from London Liverpool Street under names such as the Norfolk Coast Express and The Broadsman.

Following the closure of the majority of the Midland and Great Northern network, the line operated as a single branch between Norwich and Melton Constable before the section between Sheringham and Melton Constable was closed in 1964. The remainder of the line was listed for closure in 1967 but survived the proposal after being declined by the Secretary of State for Transport.

The Bittern Line Partnership was set up by Norfolk County Council in 1997. and was designated a community rail line by the Department for Transport in September 2007.

The section of the line between Sheringham and Holt which was closed in the 1960s remains in use as a heritage railway line operated as the North Norfolk Railway (NNR - also known as the Poppy Line). After a period of 36 years, the link between the Bittern line and the North Norfolk Railway was reinstated in 2010 with the opening of a new level crossing at Sheringham.

Sheringham railway station was upgraded in 2019 to accommodate the new Class 755s

Stations

The following table summarises the line's 10 stations, their distance measured from Norwich, and their estimated number of passenger entries/exits in 2018/19 and 2022/23:

Services

Passenger services are operated by Greater Anglia. The typical service is one train per hour in each direction between Norwich and Sheringham. Calling patterns are varied, with some trains stopping at all stations while others omit some of the lesser-used stations along the line, such as Salhouse, Gunton and Roughton Road.

In 2019, new Class 755 bi-mode trains began to replace the previous mixture of Class 153, Class 156 and Class 170 diesel multiple units.

The line is also used by freight trains which are operated by GB Railfreight. Some trains carry gas condensate from a terminal at North Walsham to Harwich International Port.

Infrastructure

The line is double-track from Norwich to Hoveton & Wroxham, where it becomes single-track with a passing loop at North Walsham, and two platforms at Cromer also allowing passing. The line is not electrified; it has a loading gauge of W8 between Norwich and Roughton Road and W6 from Roughton Road to Sheringham. The maximum speed is 75 miles per hour (121 km/h).

The line was re-signalled in 2000, leading to the closure of a number of mechanical signal boxes and control moving to a panel at the Trowse Swing Bridge control room. This saw the end of one of the few remaining sections of single-track main line controlled by tokens. The Cromer signal box has been preserved.

Proposed developments

Rackheath station

A new station is proposed as part of the Rackheath eco-town. The building of the town may also mean a short freight spur being built to transport fuel to fire an on-site power station. The plans for the settlement received approval from the government in 2009.

References

1. "Home". Bittern Line.
2. OS Explorer Map 252 – Norfolk Coast East. ISBN 978-0-319-23815-8
3. ^ "Route 7 – Great Eastern" (PDF). Network Rail. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 June 2011. Retrieved 20 May 2009.
4. ^ Holland, Julian; Spaven, David (2012). Britain's Scenic Railways. Fulham Palace Road, London: Times Books Group Ltd. pp. 78–81. ISBN 978-0-00-792671-8.
5. Proposed withdrawal of passenger services between Melton Constable – Sheringham. 1963-1964
6. Proposed withdrawal of passenger services between Norwich – Sheringham. 1967
7. Closures Railway World issue 354 November 1969 page 472
8. "New, longer Sheringham station platform to be installed ready for new trains -". Greater Anglia. 12 February 2019. Retrieved 28 January 2024.
9. ^ "table-1410-passenger-entries-and-exits-and-interchanges-by-station.ods". ORR (Office of Rail and Road). 14 December 2023. Retrieved 28 January 2024.
10. Anderson, Stuart (13 November 2019). "Greater Anglia's new bi-mode trains roll into service on Bittern Line". North Norfolk News. Eastern Daily Press. Archived from the original on 13 November 2019. Retrieved 14 November 2019.
11. "Transport". Rackheath eco-community. Archived from the original on 15 July 2009. Retrieved 16 July 2009.
12. "Airfield eco-town plan selected". BBC News. 16 July 2009. Retrieved 19 July 2009.

External links

• The Bittern Line website by Greater Anglia
• The route of the line

v t e Railway lines in the East of England
Primary	North–South East Coast Main Line Stevenage Peterborough Midland Main Line Luton Airport Parkway Luton Bedford West Coast Main Line Watford Junction London–Norwich Great Eastern Main Line Shenfield Chelmsford Witham Marks Tey Colchester Manningtree Ipswich Norwich
Secondary	Hertford loop line Lea Valley lines London, Tilbury and Southend line Watford DC line West Anglia Main Line Cambridge West London Route
Others	Abbey Line Birmingham–Peterborough line Bittern Line Braintree branch line Breckland line Crouch Valley line East Suffolk line Ely–Peterborough line Felixstowe branch line Fen line Gainsborough line Hertford East branch line Hitchin–Cambridge line Ipswich–Ely line Marston Vale line Mayflower line Peterborough–Lincoln line Shenfield–Southend line Sunshine Coast Line Wherry Lines
Heritage	Colne Valley Railway Epping Ongar Railway Lincolnshire Wolds Railway Mid-Norfolk Railway North Norfolk Railway Mangapps Farm Railway Mid-Suffolk Light Railway

• Rail transport in Norfolk
• Railway lines in the East of England
• Community railway lines in England
• North Norfolk
• Railway lines opened in 1887
• Standard gauge railways in England