TWO DECADES OF PROGRESS
With two trains an hour between Norwich and Ely and two, sometimes three trains
an hour between Ely and Peterborough it is easy to take today's level of
service for granted. Yet this pattern has only been in place since 2002 and back
in the 1980s the service on the route was very different.
To gain a sense of perspective we have taken a snapshot of the service in 1986,
1996 and 2007. We have looked at the service towards Ely and Peterborough; only
minor differences would have applied in the opposite direction. We have also
compared the number of stops at intermediate stations and overall journey
times.
Historically the emphasis was on north-south travel. Only in 1988 did the
east-west cross country services begin to change that pattern as reflected in
the priorities in the Ely track remodelling four years later.
By comparison with today's clock face departures, trains often ran at irregular
intervals. At various times there were some very local workings such as an
additional journey from Norwich to Thetford and another from Norwich to
Attleborough. Norwich-Birmingham trains in the 1970s and 1980s sometimes
bypassed Ely.
If you have any further comparative data we would be pleased to hear from you.
Number of journeys (Monday to Friday)
Journey |
1986 |
1996 |
2007 |
Norwich to Ely |
9 |
14 |
30 |
Norwich to Cambridge |
4 |
1 |
17 |
Norwich to Peterborough |
5 |
13 |
13 |
Norwich to Liverpool |
0 |
11 |
10 |
Cambridge to Birmingham |
4 |
15 |
17 |
March to Peterborough |
19 |
24 |
29 |
Average journey times (Monday to Friday)
Journey |
1986 |
1996 |
2007 |
Norwich to Ely |
1hr 27mins |
57mins |
55mins |
Norwich to Cambridge |
1hr 44mins |
1hr 18mins |
1hr 15mins |
Norwich to Peterborough |
1hr 45mins |
1hr 34mins |
1hr 29mins |
Norwich to Liverpool |
n/a |
5hrs 33mins |
5hrs 32mins |
Cambridge to Birmingham |
3hrs 26mins |
2hrs 49mins |
2hrs 43mins |
Number of station stops from Norwich (Monday to Friday)
Journey |
1986 |
1996 |
2007 |
Wymondham |
10 |
9 |
19 |
Attleborough |
10 |
9 |
19 |
Thetford |
15 |
14 |
30 |
Brandon |
9 |
8 |
17 |