The Wells and Fakenham Railway was the northern part of the Wymondham to Wells branch in Norfolk, England. It connected the market town of Fakenham to the coast at Wells-next-the-Sea. It closed to passenger traffic in 1964 and to goods traffic in 1980.
Construction
The Norfolk Railway opened a line from Wymondham to Dereham, on the Norwich to Thetford mainline, in 1847, and a line from Dereham to Fakenham in 1849. The Wells and Fakenham Railway, incorporated by the (17 & 18 Vict. c. clxxx), was formed by local landowners and some directors of the Norfolk Railway. The Fakenham to Wells line opened in 1857.
The (22 & 23 Vict. c. cxxxix), authorised a short branch to Wells Harbour which was built in 1859. The act also authorised the Norfolk Railway to guarantee dividends upon the additional £3,000 capital the act allowed the Wells and Fakenham Railway to raise. The Norfolk Railway and the Fakenham Railway also made a perpetual agreement for the Norfolk Railway to operate the line, with the actual operation of the line being carried out by the Eastern Counties Railway.
The line became part of the Great Eastern Railway on 1 September 1862 by the Great Eastern Railway Act 1862 (25 & 26 Vict. c. ccxxiii).
The line used diesel multiple units for passenger traffic from 1955. It was listed for closure in the Beeching Report and closed to passengers on 5 October 1964. Goods services continued until 1980.
The route today Part of the route has been reopened as the Wells and Walsingham Light Railway. A section of trackbed from Walsingham railway station southwards to the village of Houghton Saint Giles is used as a public footpath called the Pilgrims' Way.
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Further reading