March railway station

March railway station is on the Ely–Peterborough line in the east of England and serves the town of March, Cambridgeshire. It is 85 miles 76 chains (138.3 km) measured from London Liverpool Street via Ely and is situated between Manea and Whittlesea stations.

March
LocationMarch, Fenland
England
Coordinates52.5605°N 0.0905°E / 52.5605; 0.0905
Grid referenceTL418978
Managed byGreater Anglia
Platforms2
Other information
Station codeMCH
ClassificationDfT category E
Passengers
2015/16 386,610
2016/17 395,950
2017/18 403,972
2018/19 407,914
2019/20 385,956
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

The station, which was opened in 1847, was once a major junction with a number of lines radiating from the town. The station has been the scene of a number of accidents including a double train crash in 1896.[1]

The station has since reduced in importance, with several lines being dismantled or mothballed. The regional route between Ely and Peterborough still runs through the station and an increasing number of freight trains pass through.

The station originally had seven platforms. However, two of these are now filled-in bay platforms and the track has been removed from a further west-facing bay on the southern side of the station. There are now just two operational platforms, although track has been re-laid on two disused platforms on the northern side of the station and it is anticipated that these may be used should proposals to re-open the line to Wisbech come to fruition. The nearby Whitemoor marshalling yard returned to use in 2004 having been disused since the early 1990s.

Spalding, St Ives and Wisbech branches

March was once a junction for lines to Spalding (opened in 1867 by the Great Northern Railway and subsequently vested jointly with the Great Eastern Railway in 1879), St Ives (opened in 1848) and Watlington via Wisbech.[2] The Spalding line was closed by British Rail in November 1982 and was completely lifted a few years later. The St Ives branch was closed completely in March 1967 as a result of the Beeching cuts, whilst the Wisbech line (known as the Bramley Line) closed to all traffic in 2000 having lost its regular passenger services (through to Kings Lynn) in September 1968. The trackwork however remains intact and there are proposals to reopen the line as a heritage line run and maintained by enthusiasts.

Services

On weekdays, Greater Anglia operates one train every two hours in each direction between Ipswich and Peterborough.[3]

CrossCountry operates an hourly service eastbound to Cambridge and westbound services towards Peterborough, Leicester and Birmingham.

An hourly East Midlands Railway service between Norwich and Liverpool Lime Street normally runs through without stopping, though a few morning and evening peak trains do call.[4]

References
  1. "Boston Guardian". www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
  2. Disused Stations - MarchDisused Stations; Retrieved 2014-01-10
  3. GB eNRT December 2015 Edition, Table 14
  4. GB National Rail Timetable 2015-16, Tables 47 & 49

Media related to March railway station at Wikimedia Commons

Preceding station   National Rail   Following station
Abellio Greater Anglia
CrossCountry
(Limited service)
(Limited service)
East Midlands Railway
Liverpool–Norwich
(Limited service)
(Limited service)
  Proposed Heritage railways
Terminus   Bramley Line   March Elm Road
  Historical railways  
Eastrea
Line open, station closed		   Great Eastern Railway
Peterborough to Ely		   Stonea
Line open, station closed
Disused railways
Terminus   British Rail
Eastern Region
Wisbech Line		   Coldham
Line and station closed
Guyhirne
Line and station closed		   Great Northern and Great Eastern Joint Railway
Doncaster to March		   Terminus
Terminus   Great Northern and Great Eastern Joint Railway
March to St Ives		   Wimblington
Line and station closed
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