Restoring your Railways Idea Funding Application — Update 27-11-2020
The campaign to re-open the King’s Lynn-Hunstanton railway has been given a major boost this week with an invitation from the government to submit further details to strengthen the case for funding.
The door is open for more talks, Government tells Hunstanton rail revival campaigners
Local businesses support rail infrastructure investment
A leading business group has given its backing to the new drive for a long-sought upgrade of the main rail link serving West Norfolk.
Business group backs long-sought upgrade of West Norfolk rail link
Lynn News 30th October 2020
Fear about catching Covid 19 on public transport appears to be misplaced …
The risk of coronavirus spreading on public transport has remained substantially low through the pandemic, several international studies have shown.
Coronavirus: Why public transport could be safer than we thought
Sky News 7th October 2020
Hydrogen-powered train makes UK maiden journey.
A hydrogen-powered train has travelled on Britain’s rail network for the first time. The prototype, called the Hydroflex, made a 25-mile round trip in Warwickshire, reaching speeds of up to 50 mph. Its next phase is to move the hydrogen tanks, fuel cell and battery out of a carriage and stash them underneath the train. The aim is for the train to start carrying paying passengers by the end of 2021.
Hydrogen-powered train makes UK maiden journey
BBC 30th September 2020
On 6th September 2015 the first passengers travelled on the Borders Railway.
The £294 million pound line, connecting Tweedbank to Edinburgh, was the longest domestic line to be built in the UK in a century.
Five years on the Borders Railway proves the benefit of reopened railways…
ITV 6th September 2020
GERMANY:
More than 200 closed, mothballed or freight-only lines could be reopened to serve 291 towns and a population of around 3 million people, according to proposals drawn up by the Association of German Transport Companies VDV and rail lobby group Allianz pro Schiene.
Its not just here – German Govt announces plans to reopen 4000km of railway
Railway Gazette International 9th July 2020
Final approval of the business case for re-opening the March to Wisbech rail link was given the green light today (Wednesday) by the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority (CAPCA).
First trains along restored Wisbech to March line could be running by 2028 after business case gets the green light
Wisbech Standard 8th July 2020
The King’s Lynn to Hunstanton railway reopening
A proposal has been shortlisted as one of 50 projects across Britain that may be awarded funds by the Department of Transport for a detailed feasibility study. A bid submitted by Norfolk County Council in June is one of only two projects in East Anglia that have made the list. The other project is a proposal by the Mid Norfolk heritage railway group to run a service between Dereham and Wymondham.
The King’s Lynn Hunstanton bid proposes to reopen the former line as part of the national rail network — allowing communities in north-west Norfolk to once again have quick, reliable public transport to Cambridge, London and beyond. It would also provide an alternative to road-based travel for the thousands of day trippers and holidaymakers that visit Norfolk every year. There would also be opportunities for the line to be used for freight — considered to be a key goal for reducing road traffic and pollution in coming decades.
‘Biggest game changer in a generation’ – campaigners hail £100m rail plan
EDP 3rd July 2020
Government to examine King’s Lynn to Hunstanton railway bid
Lynn News 3rd July 2020
The ’20 minute’ coastal train line near Cambs that could re-open soon
Cambridgeshire Live 2nd July 2020
Network expansion, new inter-regional services and new stations
- Delivery of East West Rail, linking Norwich, Thetford & Cambridge to Oxford to improve connections between E. Anglia & central, southern and western England.
- Continued liason with promoters of private railways to provide support & action where appropriate, although in the short-term at least resources cannot be provided.
- King’s Lynn to Hunstanton
- Long-term, consider feasibility of mainstream passenger services to Dereham utilising exisiting private rail line.
- New station near Broadland Business Park at Norwich.
King’s Lynn to Hunstanton — reinstating
Previously it has not been seen as feasible to consider reopening due to, amongst other things, the cost of reinstating the line & that it is compromised by development. However, no technical work had been undertaken to examine this in detail & therefore there was an unproven business case. The county council has recently agreed to look at whether there is likely to be a business case for reopening, albeit probably not on the exact original alignment due to, amongst other things, development compromising reopening. This work should report in early summer 2020.
Norfolk County Council committed to a feasibility assessment of the Hunstanton railway link as part of their ‘Norfolk Rail Prospectus’ which closed at the end of February 2020
The IRJ editorial team has put on its thinking cap to produce a 12-point plan to help rail become carbon free and take on a greater share of the transport burden. David Briginshaw outlines how rail can up its game in the battle against climate change.
How railways can contribute to a zero carbon economy
International Railway Journal 23rd December 2019
The reshaping of the railways left deep scars, with towns and villages isolated, and London all-important
Without the Beeching report there might not have been Brexit
The Guardian 6th October 2019
Officials at County Hall are set to commission a study looking at the potential viability of re-opening the line, 50 years after it closed.
Hunstanton rail campaigners welcome county study plan, but warn action needed soon on ‘connection crisis’
Lynn News 16th September 2019
The prospect of restoring Hunstanton’s rail link has been handed a boost, with NCC set to explore whether it would be viable to re-open it.
Boost for bid to revive railway link after over half a century
EDP 13th September 2019
At a time when the Government is spending billions of pounds on preparations for a ‘no deal’ Brexit, which may never happen, it was refreshing to learn that it is to launch a review of High Speed 2, which also may never happen.
Surely some of that HS2 money could be better spent right here?
Lynn News 27th August 2019
The railway was closed in 1969 — not as a result of the Beeching Report but mainly because of a litany of British Rail cutbacks that took no account of the needs of isolated coastal resorts
King’s Lynn to Hunstanton Reopening Campaign
RailFuture 7th June 2019
After a long hard campaign by Railfuture and affiliated groups, the government has stumped up the extra £32m needed to reopen the railway line to Portishead.
Portishead Line to Reopen
RailFuture 17th April 2019
The UK Government has announced its backing for a feasibility study into an extension of the Borders Railway.
UK Government announces support for feasibility study into Borders Railway extension
Railway Technology Magazine 1st April 2019
A £317m project designed to tackle bottlenecks has actually made traffic jams worse on dozens of major roads, a government-owned company has admitted.
£300m traffic jam-busting scheme made journeys longer, Highways England admits
Independent 7th April 2019
Hunstanton’s rail link must be restored to ensure the town’s future prosperity, a meeting heard.
Reopening rail line ‘vital’ for Hunstanton
EDP 13th March 2019
There is an ongoing consultation on Norfolk Greenways which involves the future of disused railway tracks across Norfolk.
Coastal footpath needs to be considered with Greenways
Lynn News 5th February 2019
Hunstanton provides work in retail and tourism but the tendency for younger people to move away, or commute, tends to be the normal practice.
Time to reconnect Hunstanton to the national rail network
Lynn News 2nd October 2018
Hunstanton and District Civic Society organised two Heritage Open Days this month.
Civic Society Heritage Open Days a reminder of what has been lost
Lynn News 18th September 2018
It should be apparent to most local people that Henry le Strange’s greatest gift to Hunstanton was the railway line from King’s Lynn to Hunstanton, which opened in October 1862, and closed in May 1969.
Restoration of the railway line to Hunstanton is 21st-century must
Lynn News 11th September 2018
If we can build HS2 at a cost of £70 billion, and rising, and we can’t do something with the K.L to Hunstanton line then there is something very wrong.
An interview with Sir Henry Bellingham MP
Hunstanton Town & Around July 2018
The King’s Lynn Hunstanton Railway received a welcome boost when North-West MP Henry Bellingham showed his full support for the initiative.
Initiative on the right track with MP’s support
Lynn News 6th March 2018
EDP 24th May 2017
How to beat the Bank Holiday jams between King’s Lynn and Hunstanton

Picture: Chris Bishop
If it’s as hot as they’re forecasting it will be, one thing’s as sure as sunburn this weekend.

Picture: Chris Bishop
For as thousands flock to the coast for the Bank Holiday break, there’ll be jams at all the usual bottlenecks.
Some of the worst black spots are in West Norfolk. All roads lead to King’s Lynn from a sizeable chunk of the north, Midlands and south.
The A17, A47 and A10 meet up on the town’s southern outskirts – where queues soon start backing up from the Hardwick and Pullover roundabouts.
So how do you beat the gridlock?
Set off early. Aim to arrive before the rest of the herd set off for the seaside and you’ll sail through and be on the coast road before you can say sandcastle.
Alternatively, switch off that SatNav and go analogue. Dig out a decent map and you’ll find some of the little-known alternative routes the locals use to avoid the jams.
You’ll get to sample some of our lovely countryside too, but take care as some of our country roads are a little rustic, with farm traffic and cyclists.
How about coming home?
Whether you’re up for a day trip or on the last day of a short break, avoid the Hunny trap. That’s when everyone seems to decide to go home from Wells, Brancaster Beach, Hunstanton, Heacham or Snettisham at the same time.
Locals call it the Five O’Clock Madness, when traffic on the A149 between Hunstanton and King’s Lynn grinds to a 10mph crawl. Great way to end your day out, not.
Set off at 4pm and you might miss the worst of it. Might, being the operative word. So how about staying an hour or two longer? Try dinner in a seafront cafe or pub, stay on to watch the sunset.
Leave the return journey until early evening and the traffic will have thinned out noticeably.
EDP 10th April 2017
A149 coast road between Hunstanton and King’s Lynn was gridlocked as sunseekers flocked to the beach

Picture: Chris Bishop
But last night drivers took hours to travel the 20 miles or so as the coast road ground to a standstill.
Traffic was queued from Lynn back along Hunstanton’s Cromer Road, past the Glebe House School, with drivers reduced to a crawl.
Earlier, unseasonal warm weather brought sunseekers flocking to the coast in droves.
But as the mercury topped 20°C and the car parks filled up at Holkham and Wells, it was only ever going to have one outcome, when all the day trippers headed for home.
By the early evening, @suffolknorfolktravel reported that there were “severe delays” on the A149 at Hunstanton and Castle Rising, on the outskirts of Lynn.
A few miles away on the Dersingham by-pass, where the limit is 60mph, speeds were down to 10mph. Jams lasted well into the evening.