Harling Road railway station

Harling Road railway station is on the Breckland line in the east of England, serving the villages of Larling, Roudham and East Harling, Norfolk. The line runs between Cambridge in the west and Norwich in the east.

Harling Road
LocationEast Harling, Breckland
England
Grid referenceTL978879
Managed byGreater Anglia
Platforms2
Other information
Station codeHRD
ClassificationDfT category F2
Key dates
30 July 1845Opened as Harling
September 1849Renamed Harling Road
28 December 1964Closed to freight
Passengers
2015/16 1,872
2016/17 3,022
2017/18 3,074
2018/19 2,880
2019/20 3,794
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

Harling Road is situated between Thetford and Eccles Road, 101 miles 35 chains (163.2 km) from London Liverpool Street via Ely. 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 Harling Road.

History

The Bill for the Norwich & Brandon Railway (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 with the N&BR came into effect and so Harling station became a Norfolk Railway asset.[1]

Description

The station is situated approximately 1.5 miles (2.4 km) north-west of East Harling, the village from which it takes its name. A footpath links the station to the village.

Harling Road is a small station and until recently had remained largely outdated. The wooden level crossing gates adjacent to the station used to be opened and closed manually by a signaller in the Harling Road signal box. In December 2012 the signal box was closed and the crossing was renewed with automatic barriers with warning lights.

Passenger facilities are basic, with a car-park and seating in a shelter on the eastbound (Norwich) platform only. There is a bicycle shelter on the westbound (Cambridge) platform. There is no ticket office, and tickets may be bought from the conductor on the train.

Harling Road is located in a rural area, and is ideally placed to provide access to the countryside for those who can not, or do not wish to, make use of a car for transportation. There is easy access to several long-distance footpaths, including the Peddars Way, Angles Way, Icknield Way, Iceni Way and the Hereward Way. There are a number of other opportunities with Knettishall Heath, West Harling Heath and Wayland Wood (where the events that inspired the Babes in the Wood took place) all being within walking distance.

Services

As of December 2019, from Monday to Saturday there are two trains per day eastbound to Norwich, 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 Thetford and Ely before reversing and continuing to Liverpool Lime Street; and the other to Cambridge, operated by Greater Anglia. On Saturday afternoons there are two westbound services to Stansted Airport via Cambridge, both operated by Greater Anglia.[2]

There is no Sunday service.

References
  1. C.J. Allen
  2. "Timetable 10 Cambridge to Ely, Peterborough and Norwich" (PDF). Greater Anglia. 15 December 2019.
Preceding station   National Rail   Following station
Abellio Greater Anglia
East Midlands Railway
Liverpool-Norwich
Limited services
  Historical railways  
Roudham Junction
Line open, station closed		   Great Eastern Railway
Norfolk Railway		   Eccles Road
Line and station open

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