Second line was to March station, third looped back to the Fen Line before Ely. Both of these stations are open, although March only has two platforms, down from a high of seven.
The Bramely Line to Wisbech is another closed line, although it is planned to be rebuilt and re-opened by the Bramley Line Heritage Railway Trust. I can't remember what the state is of the level crossing on the A47 though, just before Wisbech.
Thought March only used to have 6 not seven!
Regarding the Bramley Line, the crossing over the A47 has been removed again earlier this year, the track bed is all overgrown again and it doesn't look like it will ever reopen,
From the Bramley Line Trust aspect it has been quiet over the last 10 months, I was reading online last night they have chucked the towel in
The council are debating whether to buy the track bed or invest in it but again, just talk, which crops up every couple of months, someone from NR has said it will cost too much to open as it needs an expensive bridge over the A47 crossing, which is a load of tosh, all they need is to put in a 40mph limit within range of the crossing and rubble strips, really no different type of crossing or risk to that of the one on the A10 at Littleport
Reason NR don't want the line reopened as the trains have to somewhere to be viable, either Peterborough or Ely, as the Ely to Peterborough line is so congested at the moment and only going to get worse, it's not viable for the trains to run shuttle between Wisbech and March then back again as the Driver and Guard will end up waiting around March station 75% of their shift
Another reason they don't want to open it is because the track needs relaying from start to finish and NR don't have the staff to do it as they are all currently working on other money saving projects like the resignalling on the Breckland Line, the new stations at Cambridge and Peterborough etc
NR can this year go down there and lift the remaining track for good should they wish and the line will be gone forever, when and if they do this will be anyones guess bearing in mind the other projects they have on the go and they have to spend time clearing vegetation to get to the track, having said that they are sick of the topic, it's been ongoing for the last ten years and won't go away, so they might lift the line sooner rather than later :cry:
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Middleton Towers still sees some freight: it's active but I couldn't tell you how often.
Not forgetting The Royal Train too, yes The Royal Train has been down there twice within the last month, last time was a coupe of weeks ago at 8am in the morning and returned half an hour later, getting back to the freight there is a daily one operated on weekday mornings by Schenker sometimes two, then on a Tuesday, Thursday afternoon and Saturday morning another one operated by Freightliner, usually had a Class 66 on the front
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There's the Middleton Towers branch from King's Lynn, the last stub of the line to Swafham and Dereham. It might still be in use as a mineral extraction line (there's a big sand pit there) but it mostly seems to be unused.
Of course, the line to Dereham would have been mothballed until recently.
No Sand Pit at Middleton Towers, it's a rail transfer site, basically what happens is sand is bought to the site regular throughout the day by dumper lorries within a 20 mile radius of Middleton Towers where it is the transferred to train