Railways in Ely

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Coordinates: 52°23′28″N 0°16′00″E / 52.39116°N 0.26659°E / 52.39116; 0.26659
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

52°23′28″N 0°16′00″E / 52.39116°N 0.26659°E / 52.39116; 0.26659

Sketch map of railways in the Ely area
Ely railway station is a busy interchange point as evidenced by this photo of passengers boarding a First Capital Connect service
The frontage and main entrance at Ely railway station

The Railways in

rail freight operating companies use these routes and four passenger train operating companies
provide services through Ely.

Ely station

Main article: Ely railway station

up
) while east-to-west services use platform 3; however, the track layout and signalling allow any route to use any platform in either direction.

The original station was opened in 1845 but the

Abellio Greater Anglia
.

Ely North Junction

Ely North Junction is located at

Peterborough to Birmingham route
.

Immediately east of Ely North Junction is Potter Distribution Depot which has substantial railfreight facilities. Cemex operates an asphalt and building materials depot at the site.

Ely West Curve

Ely West Curve (also known as the 'Adelaide loop', the 'Ely avoiding line' and the 'Ely freight loop') is a

Ely to Peterborough Line in the down (northbound) direction. Ely West Curve was laid in on 1 October 1890, to allow freight trains from the Midlands and north to run directly onto the King's Lynn and Norwich lines in the down (northbound) direction without reversal thus avoiding Ely station. Later, it was used by an increasing number of passenger trains, particularly holiday expresses to the Norfolk coast. In 1966 regular passenger traffic over the curve ceased.[1] Currently there is one passenger train per week, in one direction only, which uses the Ely West Curve. This is the East Midland Railway 15:54 Sunday service from Norwich to Manchester Piccadilly.[2]

Ely Dock Junction

Hawk Bridge was rebuilt in 2007 wide enough to accommodate double track

Ely Dock Junction is just under a mile south of Ely station 52°23′04″N 0°15′40″E / 52.38458°N 0.26101°E / 52.38458; 0.26101 on the London-King's Lynn main line. From the junction, the non-electrified single-track

Ely to Ipswich line diverges to the southeast. The line serves Newmarket, Bury St Edmunds and Ipswich where it connects with the ex-GER main line from London Liverpool Street station
to Norwich.

Hawk Bridge is half-a-mile east of Ely Dock Junction 52°22′48″N 0°15′54″E / 52.37993°N 0.26492°E / 52.37993; 0.26492 and carries the Newmarket line over the River Great Ouse. The original bridge was severely damaged by a freight train derailment which occurred on 22 June 2007.[3][4] A replacement was erected, and opened on 20 December 2007. The new bridge carries a single line (as did the old) but has been built wide enough to allow the line to be doubled at a later date. The speed restriction has also been raised from 20 to 60 mph (32 to 97 km/h).[5]

Images

  • A Class 158 operated by East Midlands Trains stands at Ely station on a Norwich to Liverpool service
    A Class 158 operated by East Midlands Trains stands at Ely station on a Norwich to Liverpool service
  • A Class 170 operated by CrossCountry approaching Ely station from the north
    A Class 170 operated by CrossCountry approaching Ely station from the north
  • A Class 153 operated by Abellio Greater Anglia leaving Ely Dock Junction on a service to Ipswich with the ex-GER mainline in the background and Ely Cathedral on the skyline
    A
    Abellio Greater Anglia leaving Ely Dock Junction on a service to Ipswich with the ex-GER mainline in the background and Ely Cathedral
    on the skyline
  • Rebuilt in 2007, Hawk Bridge carries the single-track Ely-Newmarket line over the River Great Ouse
    Rebuilt in 2007, Hawk Bridge carries the single-track
    Ely-Newmarket line over the River Great Ouse
  • Looking in the down direction (towards March) on the Ely to Peterborough Line north of Ely North Junction
    Looking in the down direction (towards
    Ely to Peterborough Line
    north of Ely North Junction
  • Ely West Curve (seen from a train window) branching west from Ely North Junction towards the Ely to Peterborough Line
    Ely West Curve (seen from a train window) branching west from Ely North Junction towards the
    Ely to Peterborough Line
  • Ely West Curve looking towards Ely North Junction – note the tight radius of the curve necessitating a check rail
    Ely West Curve looking towards Ely North Junction – note the tight radius of the curve necessitating a check rail
  • The electrified London to King's Lynn mainline south of Ely Dock Junction looking in the up direction (towards London)
    The electrified London to King's Lynn mainline south of Ely Dock Junction looking in the up direction (towards London)
  • A class 56 heads a northbound aggregates train through Ely station. Note the semaphore signals which were removed during the electrification and resignalling scheme.
    A class 56 heads a northbound aggregates train through Ely station. Note the semaphore signals which were removed during the electrification and resignalling scheme.

References and sources

  1. ^ Gordon 1968, p. 152
  2. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 March 2016. Retrieved 21 March 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. ^ Felstead, Kelly (5 February 2009). "Ely train crash report released". Newmarket Journal. Newmarket: Johnston Press. Retrieved 25 May 2010.
  4. ^ Delgado, Ian (August 2007). Pigott, Nick (ed.). "Headline News: Derailment shuts line". The Railway Magazine. 153 (1276). London: IPC Media: 9.
  5. ^ Pigott, Nick, ed. (March 2008). "Network News: New bridge opens at Ely". The Railway Magazine. 154 (1283). London: IPC Media: 80.
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