Norwich railway station

Norwich railway station (formerly Norwich Thorpe) is the northern terminus of the Great Eastern Main Line in the East of England, serving the city of Norwich, Norfolk. It is down the main line (measured via Ipswich) from London Liverpool Street, the western terminus. It is also the terminus of numerous secondary lines: the Breckland Line to ; the Bittern Line to ; and the Wherry Lines to and . The station is currently managed by Greater Anglia, which also operates the majority of the trains that serve the station. East Midlands Railway operates the services to via , and . At one time, there were three railway stations in Norwich. Norwich Thorpe is the current and only remaining station and still known locally as "Thorpe station". was the terminus for some passenger services from London until 1916, as well as being a goods station until its demolition in the 1970s. was the terminus of the Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway line from until it was closed to passengers in 1959. The original station was opened by the Yarmouth & Norwich Railway (Y&NR), which was the earliest railway in Norfolk. The YNR's Act of Parliament of 18 June 1842 authorised the issue of £200,000 worth of shares to build a line between the two towns, via Reedham and the Yare valley. The chairman was George Stephenson and the chief engineer was his son, Robert Stephenson. Construction started in April 1843 and the line was completed within a year. There was an inspection and inaugural run on 12 April 1844 and a ceremonial opening on 30 April 1844, followed the next day by the beginning of regular passenger services. On 18 May 1844, 17 days after the Y&NR started running train services, Parliament gave the Royal Assent to the Norwich & Brandon Railway (N&BR). This was part of a plan to link the Y&NR with London, by linking up with the Eastern Counties Railway (ECR) being built from Newport, Essex, to Brandon, Suffolk. Work started quickly during 1844 and went on into 1845.