Yarmouth to Lowestoft Line

The Yarmouth–Lowestoft line was an East Anglian railway line which linked the coastal towns of Yarmouth and Lowestoft. It opened on 13 July 1903 as the first direct railway link between the two towns and was constructed by the Great Eastern Railway and the Midland and Great Northern Railway in the hope of encouraging the development of holiday resorts along the coast. In the event, although the line was built to high standards and not insubstantial cost, intermediate traffic refused to develop and competition from buses and trams eroded the little that had been generated. Fish traffic was carried in large quantities until the 1930s when it fell into decline. In 1953, when major repairs to the Breydon Viaduct were required, it was decided to discontinue through services from the Midland and Great Northern to Lowestoft and to divert London trains to Lowestoft via Norwich. After the Midland and Great Northern and Yarmouth–Beccles line closed to passengers in 1959, the Yarmouth–Lowestoft line was upgraded to accommodate the diverted traffic, but after services were switched to Yarmouth Vauxhall in 1962, it was singled and the stations made unstaffed halts. With only a local service running between vandalised stations, the decision was taken to close the route on 4 May 1970 in favour of bus services which were judged adequate for most of the year.

The Great Eastern Railway and the Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway formed the Norfolk and Suffolk Joint Committee in July 1898 to control as a joint railway projected extensions between Cromer Beach and Mundesley as well as Yarmouth and Lowestoft. The second line would create the first direct coastal link between the Norfolk and Suffolk coastal towns, and the railway companies also hoped that it would stimulate the development of holiday resorts along the coast. It opened on 13 July 1903 and immediately supplanted the more circuitous route between the two towns provided by the Yarmouth–Beccles line via the Haddiscoe East curve and St Olaves station.

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