Branch History

First opened on 3rd May 1847, the Bramley Line between Wisbech East and March. The branch was closed to passenger traffic on 9th September 1968 after the census results on the stations use was taken on a Wednesday that just happens to be Wisbech early closing day. Naturally the station would not see a great deal of use on a Wednesday also British Rail’s due to the lack of funding to make repairs to the bridge over the river Ouse on the Kings Lynn section of the branch.

There was one single intermediate station at Coldham, that closed on 7th March 1966. The line was double tracked from March to Wisbech where a Terminus was built in what is now, or was the East goods Yard. Then a singled section from Magdalen Junction via Emneth, Smeeth Road, Middle Drove from the Cambridge/Kings Lynn main line was finally connected that meant a new Wisbech East station had to be built that was then only a temporary wooden structure until in 1883 when the then Great Eastern Railway built a permanent Station at a cost of £4,368.2s.3d.

The Great Eastern Railway with their eye on the vast seasonal fruit traffic then built the now famous Wisbech to Upwell Tramway, also in standard gauge. This opened in 1883 as far as Outwell and on 8th September 1884 opened to Upwell. The Steam trams had a top speed of 12mph but were very powerful.(See photos in A Working Branch Gallery) In 1920 the Eastern Counties Road Car Company introduced a bus service (much faster) to Three Holes that followed the same route as the Tramway. Passenger traffic ended on the tramway in December 1927 and the line closed completely in May 1966.

Whilst Wisbech East Station has been lost to redevelopment,(an old peoples home is now on the site), the line is now a single line. The old down line having been lifted as far as Weasenham Lane all the way into the old goods yard now under the ownership of Nestle Purina in Wisbech. The branch is still connected to the National Rail network at Whitemoor junction in March and reclassified by Network Rail as a siding, possibly the longest in the Country at 10 miles in length. Prior to new signalling being put into place, the odd locomotive with its loaded wagons was shunted onto the branch in order to make room for movements in and out of Whitemoor Yard during it's expansion in Nov 2003. (I do have photographic evidence but I do not own the copyright to show them on this site)

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The BramleyLine

Branch History