Downham Market railway station

Downham Market
The southbound platform at Downham Market
Location
Place	Downham Market
Local authority	King's Lynn and West Norfolk
Grid reference	TF602033
Operations
Station code	DOW
Managed by	Great Northern
Owned by	Network Rail
Number of platforms	2
DfT category	E
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2010/11	0.407 million
2011/12	0.432 million
2012/13	0.453 million
2013/14	0.460 million
2014/15	0.492 million
History
Key dates	Opened 27 October 1846 (27 October 1846)
Original company	Lynn and Ely Railway
Pre-grouping	Great Eastern Railway
Post-grouping	London and North Eastern Railway
27 October 1846	Opened as Downham
1 June 1981	Renamed Downham Market
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Downham Market from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

Downham Market railway station serves the town of Downham Market in the English county of Norfolk. The station lies on the Fen Line from Cambridge to King's Lynn, which is electrified at 25 kV AC overhead. The station building is Grade 2 listed.

The station is served by Great Northern as part of their express service from London King's Cross to King's Lynn via Ely.

History

The Lynn & Ely Railway Bill received the Royal Assent on 30th June 1845. Work started on the line in 1846 and the line and its stations were opened on 27th October 1846. Downham Station opened with the line and was situated South of Stow Station and was a temporary end of the line. The line was completed to Ely the following year.

On New Years Day 1847 the Lynn & Ely took another step towards Ely when Downham station ceased to be a temporary terminus and the line was opened through to Denver Road Gate. ^[1]

Services

Outside peak hours the services run non-stop between London and Cambridge as part of the half-hourly "Cambridge Cruiser" service. One train per hour continues beyond Cambridge, stopping at all stations on the Fen Line to King's Lynn. These services currently use Class 365 electric multiple units. The station is also served by the Abellio Greater Anglia service between King's Lynn and London Liverpool Street service using Class 317 electric multiple units as part of its extended peak service timetable.

Footbridge

On 10 August 2009 Network Rail submitted a planning application for a new £1.5 million footbridge, describing the current foot crossing as 'one of the most dangerous in the country'. The plan was supported by then station operator First Capital Connect, with an intended completion date of summer 2011.^[2][3] The initial application was withdrawn following consultation with local councils, English Heritage and the Railway Heritage Trust and a revised plan submitted in December 2009 following changes to improve the appearance of the bridge.^[4] However, this proposal was rejected by King's Lynn and West Norfolk Council in April 2010, citing the lack of accessibility for disabled passengers and the effect of the bridge on the Grade 2 listed station building.^[5]

The foot crossing has since been closed and passengers must now use the nearby road level crossing to switch between platforms.^[6]

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Littleport		Great Northern London-King's Lynn		Watlington
		Abellio Greater Anglia Liverpool Street - King's Lynn (peak hours only)
	Historical railways
Denver Line open, station closed		Great Eastern Railway Fen Line		Stow Bardolph Line open, station closed

References

External links

Media related to Downham Market railway station at Wikimedia Commons

• Train times and station information for Downham Market railway station from National Rail

Coordinates: 52°36′20″N 0°22′02″E / 52.60560°N 0.36724°E / 52.60560; 0.36724