Fen Line

Fen Line
Legend
96m 75ch King's Lynn Hunstanton branch to Middleton Towers Kings Lynn Harbour branch Harbour Junction Midland & Gt Northern Rly St Germain's 90m 69ch Watlington Wisbech branch Holme Stow Bardolph 86m 08ch Downham Market Denver Downham & Stoke Ferry Rly Cut Off channel River Wissey River Little Ouse Ouse Bridge Hilgay 76m 02ch Littleport Breckland Line Ely to Peterborough Line River Great Ouse 70m 30ch Ely Ipswich to Ely Line Ely branch 61m 01ch Waterbeach Cambridge North (proposed) Cambridge & Huntingdon Rly River Cam Cambridge to Mildenhall Rly Ipswich to Ely Line Cambridge branch 55m 52ch Cambridge Varsity Line Shepreth Branch Junction Cambridge Line West Anglia Main Line

The Fen Line is a railway in the United Kingdom that runs between the cities of Cambridge and Ely Cambridgeshire and the town of King's Lynn, Norfolk; the line is so called because it runs through The Fens. The line is part of the Network Rail Strategic Route 5 and comprises SRS 05.06 and part of 05.05. It is classified as a secondary line except between Cambridge and Ely which is classified as a London and South East commuter line.

Services

Great Northern

Great Northern operate through services to London King's Cross (via the Cambridge Line). These services operate non-stop between London and Cambridge for most of the day, as part of the half-hourly "Cambridge Express" service. One train an hour is extended beyond Cambridge to serve all stations to King's Lynn.

These services usually use Class 365 electrical multiple units. Three Class 365 EMUs have received names associated with the line:

• The Fenman (365 518) - previously a "named train" that used to operate on this line, consisting of locomotive-hauled InterCity (British Rail) trains;
• Robert Stripe Passengers' Champion (365 527) was named on 10 March 2006, after the 21st Anniversary of the Fen Line Users Association;
• Nelson's County (365 531) had a special livery applied to the outside which shows various scenes of West Norfolk.

Abellio Greater Anglia

Abellio Greater Anglia operate a few direct services between London Liverpool Street and King's Lynn or Ely (via the West Anglia Main Line). These services operate only run during the morning and evening peaks, and use Class 317 and Class 379 units. And by Abellio Greater Anglia services between Cambridge and Norwich (via the Breckland Line).

CrossCountry

The section between Cambridge and Ely is also used non-stop by CrossCountry services to Stansted Airport. (and onward to Birmingham New Street via Peterborough)

Signalling

The line is double tracked except between Littleport and Downham Market and between Watlington and King's Lynn where it is bi-directionally signalled single track. In the Down direction, the entrance to the single line sections is protected additionally by SPAD indicators.

Signal boxes controlling the line are;

• Cambridge power box
• Littleport
• Downham Market
• Magdalen Road (Watlington)
• King's Lynn

The signalling system is Track circuit block with multiple aspect colour light signals- with the exception of:

• one semaphore signal at King's Lynn which controls entry to the One Train In Section freight-only line from King's Lynn to Middleton Towers
• two semaphore shunt signals at Downham Market station

Infrastructure

Traction current for electric trains is provided by 25 kV AC OHLE controlled by Romford Electrical Control Room. There are Neutral Sections at Shepreth Branch junction, Milton Fen and just north of Littleport bypass. The line has a loading gauge of W8 except for the section connecting the Ipswich to Ely Line to the Ely to Peterborough Line which is W10.

Passenger volume

These are the statistics of the numbers of passengers on the line from the year beginning April 2002 to the year beginning April 2013. Comparing each station between the first and last years, King's Lynn has increased by 53%, Watlington by 105%, Downham Market by 85%, Littleport by 138%, Ely by 90%, Waterbeach by 95% and Cambridge by 79%.

Station usage
Station Name	2002–03	2004–05	2005–06	2006–07	2007–08	2008–09	2009–10	2010–11	2011–12	2012–13	2013–14
King's Lynn	593,675	641,668	622,034	656,624	680,230	739,282	750,738	821,772	869,006	879,836	913,458
Watlington	64,091	85,231	85,423	91,250	100,665	111,612	107,956	113,898	129,146	137,874	131,742
Downham Market	248,368	277,744	276,900	307,013	361,433	365,612	360,032	406,690	432,014	452,674	460,056
Littleport	94,363	119,198	122,655	146,218	148,836	156,124	149,428	178,254	199,804	206,596	225,024
Ely	1,038,708	1,255,362	1,278,724	1,420,734	1,505,730	1,583,246	1,579,948	1,731,956	1,824,036	1,878,426	1,976,134
Waterbeach	176,639	197,594	213,500	227,281	250,039	277,470	266,020	301,376	312,216	335,660	344,722
Cambridge	5,478,112	6,060,475	6,137,423	6,522,309	6,997,887	7,571,838	7,661,146	8,245,416	8,823,236	9,168,938	9,824,859
The annual passenger usage is based on sales of tickets in stated financial years from Office of Rail Regulation statistics. The statistics are for passengers arriving and departing from each station and cover twelve month periods that start in April. Please note that methodology may vary year on year.

External links

Media related to at Wikimedia Commons

• Fen Line Users Association (FLUA)
• Norfolk Railway Society