Watlington railway station

For the closed railway station of the same name in Oxfordshire, see Watlington railway station, Oxfordshire.

Watlington
Watlington railway station in 2005
Location
Place	Watlington
Local authority	King's Lynn and West Norfolk
Grid reference	TF612110
Operations
Station code	WTG
Managed by	First Capital Connect
Owned by	Network Rail
Number of platforms	2
Live arrivals/departures and station information from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage
2004/05 *	85,231
2005/06 *	85,423
2006/07 *	91,250
2007/08 *	100,664
2008/09 *	111,612
History
27 October 1846	Opened (Watlington)
1 June 1875	Renamed (Magdalen Road)
9 September 1968	Closed
5 May 1975	Reopened
3 October 1989	Renamed (Watlington)
National Rail - UK railway stations
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Watlington from Office of Rail Regulation statistics. Please note: methodology may vary year on year.

Watlington railway station serves the village of Watlington in Norfolk, England. Watlington station lies on the Fen Line from Cambridge to King's Lynn, which is electrified at 25 kV AC overhead.

History

Watlington station, originally part of the East Anglian Railway, became part of the Great Eastern Railway in 1862, and was renamed Magdalen Road in 1875 (a name which, perhaps, better reflects its lonely rural location in the middle of the flatlands of the East Anglian Fens). From 1848 onwards, Watlington was a junction, as the line once branched off from there to Wisbech. The branch, along with Magdalen Road station, was closed in 1969.

Due to local efforts, however, Magdalen Road station was re-opened in 1975, and in 1989 returned to its original title of Watlington. The signal box at the station, in active use today, still bears a Network SouthEast sign with its post-1875 name. The current southbound platform, behind the signal box, dates from the early 1990s; the original station buildings on the southbound side have since been converted into a private residence. The original wooden waiting room on the northbound platform was replaced around the same time, though the original platform still survives as part of an extended platform.

Before electrification, services were normally operated by InterCity (latterly Network SouthEast) locomotive-hauled trains, normally pulling British Rail Mark 2b coaches (many services featured restaurant cars). The locomotives were usually Class 37 diesel-electrics, sometimes Class 31s or 47s. Off-peak links were often provided by Metro-Cammell diesel multiple units.

The station is mentioned by author Lisa St Aubin de Teran in a memoir as being the station closest to her Norfolk home - she reminisced about conversations with the train guard who was checking tickets, where she requested that the train stop at the station (for many years, most trains only called at the station if a passenger requested it, rather than it being a regular timetabled stop).^{[citation needed]}

2007 Deaths

On 8 December 2007, two local teenagers - 16 year-old Shaun Barnes and 17 year-old Luther Storr - were struck and killed by the southbound 0506 service from King's Lynn to King's Cross approximately two miles north of the station. The train was travelling at around 90 mph at the time of the collisions. Ten months later an inquest recorded a verdict of accidental death.

Current services

The station is served by First Capital Connect as part of their 'Fen Line' service from London King's Cross to King's Lynn. Outside peak hours the services run non-stop between London and Cambridge as part of the half-hourly "Cambridge Cruiser" service. These services now normally use former-British Rail Class 365 electrical multiple units, although for some years Class 317 units were used (these units are still used on services operated by National Express East Anglia into London Liverpool Street).

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Downham Market		First Capital Connect London-King's Lynn		King's Lynn
Downham Market		National Express East Anglia Liverpool Street - Cambridge - King's Lynn (peak hours only)		King's Lynn
	Historical railways
Holme Line open, station closed		Great Eastern Railway Fen Line		St Germain's Line open, station closed
	Disused railways
Magdalen Gate		British Rail Eastern Region Wisbech branch		Terminus

References

• Oppitz, Leslie (2002). Lost Railways of East Anglia. Countryside Books. ISBN 1-85306-595-1. 
• Adderson, Richard; Kenworthy, Graham (2002). Mitchell, Vic. ed. Ely to King's Lynn, including the Stoke Ferry branch. Middleton Press. ISBN 1-901706-53-1. 

External links

• Media related to Watlington railway station at Wikimedia Commons
• Map sources for Watlington railway station
• Train times and station information for Watlington railway station from National Rail