King's Lynn | |
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The station building from the outside
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Location | |
Place | King's Lynn |
Local authority | King's Lynn and West Norfolk |
Coordinates | 52°45′14″N 0°24′12″E / 52.75385°N 0.403251°ECoordinates: 52°45′14″N 0°24′12″E / 52.75385°N 0.403251°E |
Grid reference | TF623200 |
Operations | |
Station code | KLN |
Managed by | Great Northern |
Owned by | Network Rail |
Number of platforms | 3 (2 in use) |
DfT category | D |
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections from National Rail Enquiries |
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Annual rail passenger usage* | |
2011/12 | 869,000 |
2012/13 | 879,836 |
2013/14 | 913,458 |
2014/15 | 970,890 |
2015/16 | 973,660 |
History | |
27 October 1846 | Opened |
1846-1848 | Dereham line opens |
1862 | Hunstanton line opens |
1865 | South Lynn station opens |
1871 | Current station built |
1959 | South Lynn station and M&GN closes |
1968 | Dereham branch closes, services to Wisbech end |
1969 | Hunstanton branch closes |
1992 | Line electrified at 25 kV AC overhead, station refurbished |
National Rail – UK railway stations | |
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at King's Lynn from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year. | |
King's Lynn railway station serves the town of King's Lynn in Norfolk, England. The station is the terminus of the Fen Line from Cambridge, which is electrified at 25 kV AC overhead. It has been the only railway station in the town since the closure of South Lynn railway station in 1959.
The Bill for the Lynn and Ely Railway received Royal Assent on 30 June 1845. Work started on the line in 1846 and so the railway arrived at Lynn on 27 October 1846. The original line ran South to Downham with the 1st station after Lynn being St Germain's. It took another two years to reach Ely. Great Eastern Railway. Lynn, when opened was a Joint station (Lynn & Ely and Lynn & Dereham). However, on 22 July 1847 the Lynn & Ely and Lynn & Dereham were amalgamated to form the East Anglian Railway. A spur connecting the harbour was opened in 1849, and at one point was a complicated network of lines, boasting two swing bridges, serving premises on and around the town's South Quay. Another short branch, about three-quarters of a mile long, connecting the docks was opened in 1862 by the King's Lynn Docks & Railway Company. The railway was initially not welcomed by the port authorities in King's Lynn; they predicted that sea-bound trade would decline, and were later proved correct when through-trains to London ended up carrying the majority of freight to the capital.
Lynn opened as a junction station. The Lynn & Dereham Railway Act of 21 July 1845, authorised a line which weaved a 26-mile (42 km) route to Dereham. The line opened to Narborough, on 27 October 1846, the same day the Lynn & Ely opened to Downham. The line was extended to Swaffham, on 10 August 1847, opening in stages between 1846 and 1848. The line ran out of Lynn in a South-Easterly direction with Middleton being the first station after Lynn. this later became part of the Great Eastern Railway.