Downham Market railway station (formerly Downham) is on the Fen line in the east of England, serving the town of Downham Market, Norfolk. It is measured from London Liverpool Street and is situated between and stations. The station and all trains calling are operated by Great Northern. The station building of 1846, built of carrstone with pale brick dressings, is a Grade II listed building.
History
The Lynn and Ely Railway Act 1845 (8 & 9 Vict. c. lv) received royal assent on 30 June 1845. Work started on the line in 1846 and the line and its stations were opened on 27 October 1846. Downham station, as it was known at the time, was situated south of and was the temporary terminus of the line. The line to Ely was completed and opened on 25 October 1847. Downham station ceased to be a temporary terminus when the line was opened through to Denver Road Gate.CJ Allen and RVJ Butt The name was changed to Downham Market from 12 May 1981.
The wooden signal box, built for the Great Eastern Railway in 1881, was listed Grade II in 2013. It is still in use today and is lever-operated.
In early 2017, the station was redecorated to commemorate Network SouthEast, the British Rail division that operated services across England's south east 30 years previously. With assistance from the Railway Heritage Trust, paintwork and signage has been returned to a style that mimics that of the late 1980s.
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.Bridge for 'one of UK's most dangerous rail crossings' - Norfolk News - EDP24 First Capital Connect - Planning application submitted for new footbridge at Downham Market The initial application was withdrawn following consultation with local councils, English Heritage and the Railway Heritage Trust and a revised plan submitted in December 2009 following changes to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.Network Rail - Press Releases - Downham station footbridge: improved application submitted 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 II listed station building.Borough of Kings Lynn and West Norfolk Development Control Board - April 2010 The foot crossing has since been closed and passengers must now use the nearby road level crossing to switch between platforms.
Facilities The station is well equipped with a ticket office and ticket machine, a car park and cycle storage, a taxi rank, accessible toilets, a refreshment kiosk and help points. There is one waiting room and one waiting shelter.
Passenger volume +Passenger volume at Downham Market2004–052005–062006–072007–082008–092009–102010–112011–122012–132013–142014–152015–162016–172017–182018–192019–202020–212021–222022–232023–242024–25Entries and exits277,744276,900307,013361,433365,612360,032406,690432,014452,674460,056491,744500,442523,846533,410549,562512,772129,058341,550386,270399,600440,550 The statistics cover twelve month periods that start in April.
Services The typical off-peak service in trains per hour is: 1 tph to 1 tph to
Additional services call at the station during the peak hours.
References
Bibliography
External links