berney arms enquiry

[Magdalia]

As a former local resident it is a lovely walk from "Great" Yarmouth in the summer but I wouldn't want to be out there in the winter. It can be bleak. At those times it is like something out of Great Expectations - you expect Magwitch to appear asking for a file and pie!

The relevant Dickens novel is David Copperfield, parts of which are set in the Great Yarmouth/Lowestoft area.

 

[louis97]

hi, i am wondering why on some random Saturdays train go every hour or so go passing through berney arms throughout the day even though they dont stop, this happened twice on 2 separate visits to the stations in which we saw a hourly pair of non stop train go passing through when we saw little to no trains in the distance on the Acle line, can anyone look into this anomaly please?

Kind regards
Gabriel

Did you notice this last weekend? There was a fault with the signalling near Brundall late morning/early afternoon on Saturday which meant services were unable to run via Acle. Some could have diverted via Reedham and be the trains you are referring to.

 

[dk1]

It is a rail replacement tractor or boat to the nearest road.

As a former local resident it is a lovely walk from "Great" Yarmouth in the summer but I wouldn't want to be out there in the winter. It can be bleak. At those times it is like something out of Great Expectations - you expect Magwitch to appear asking for a file and pie!

Do you know I might go in the summer just for the journey.

The 09:17 ex-Yarmouth made it as far as Lingwood before being sent back to the coast. The 09:36 ex-Norwich was diverted via Reedham and the 10:35 cancelled. The 12:17 ex-Yarmouth was the last service diverted and further delayed as the problems also affected Buckenham-Brundall. The Wherry lines signalling had behaved itself in the last year or so until this.

 

[Russel]

Why does Berney Arms get a better service on a Sunday than during the rest of the week?

 

[Bletchleyite]

Why does Berney Arms get a better service on a Sunday than during the rest of the week?

Because basically all the traffic is leisure? There is precedent for this - it used to be the case that Middlewood near Stockport (so named because it's, er, in the middle of a wood - the nearest settlement is High Lane) had 1tph on Sundays but 0.5tph other days. Looks like that is now 0.5tph all week though.

 

[Russel]

Because basically all the traffic is leisure? There is precedent for this - it used to be the case that Middlewood near Stockport (so named because it's, er, in the middle of a wood - the nearest settlement is High Lane) had 1tph on Sundays but 0.5tph other days. Looks like that is now 0.5tph all week though.

Makes sense.

I'll always associate Middlewood with Max and Paddy's Road to Nowhere!

 

[dk1]

Why does Berney Arms get a better service on a Sunday than during the rest of the week?

Much of this dates back to the 70s 80s 90s & early 2000s when as an economy measure the Acle line did not open on Sundays except between May and September. All trains, mostly two hourly, such was the poor service, all went via Reedham.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Much of this dates back to the 70s 80s 90s & early 2000s when as an economy measure the Acle line did not open on Sundays except between May and September. All trains, mostly two hourly, such was the poor service, all went via Reedham.

Thanks. I did think not all services going that way called (hence the Middlewood comparison), but aside from evenings they do.

One thing that's a bit curious is that last Sunday and that before the last train was 1424 (quite early) but this week it's 1624. I assume this relates to the summer vs. winter timetable and when there's daylight?

 

[dk1]

Thanks. I did think not all services going that way called (hence the Middlewood comparison), but aside from evenings they do.

One thing that's a bit curious is that last Sunday and that before the last train was 1424 (quite early) but this week it's 1624. I assume this relates to the summer vs. winter timetable and when there's daylight?

Yes mate. You’ll notice there has always been letters above via Reedham services denoting their dates of operation depending on daylight. It didn't matter before the late 80s but somebody decided it wasn’t safe even though train lighting illuminates the platform Its perfectly fine however to get off a bus on a dark country lane when you could fall into a ditch.

 

[Porty]

Worth pointing out the Sunday service means you can tick the station off and only spend 25 mins there. That’s my plan this summer as don’t fancy a 5 mile walk or hours in the middle of nowhere.

But it's a very attractive riverside walk on a nice day.

 

[bnsf734]

Just looked on RTT and Berney Arms sees 5 trains each way on Sundays in the summer 2025 timetable! Greater Anglia must be expecting big business there this summer but top marks for trying and not just giving up and running a token parliamentary service.

Might have to have a trip in the summer before they change their minds.

 

[Jan Mayen]

To be fair, Berney Arms has had a resonable service at Weekends. As does Buckenham, which is another barely used station nearby.

 

[Magdalia]

Just looked on RTT and Berney Arms sees 5 trains each way on Sundays in the summer 2025 timetable! Greater Anglia must be expecting big business there this summer but top marks for trying and not just giving up and running a token parliamentary service.

Might have to have a trip in the summer before they change their minds.

This level of Sunday service at Berney Arms goes back to Anglia Railways days.

As does Buckenham, which is another barely used station nearby.

Another where Sunday has most trains is Lakenheath.

 

[ac6000cw]

Both Lakenheath and Buckenham stations are adjacent to RSPB nature reserves, hence being popular places to visit on Sundays.

Lakenheath station is nearly 3 miles from the centre of Lakenheath village, and the main entrance of the large Lakenheath US airbase is slightly closer to Brandon station than Lakenheath station. Hence the relative lack of weekday trains that stop at Lakenheath.

 

[dk1]

Just looked on RTT and Berney Arms sees 5 trains each way on Sundays in the summer 2025 timetable! Greater Anglia must be expecting big business there this summer but top marks for trying and not just giving up and running a token parliamentary service.

Might have to have a trip in the summer before they change their minds.

Nothing has changed. It’s been the same every year for as long as I can remember.

 

[stadler]

Because basically all the traffic is leisure? There is precedent for this - it used to be the case that Middlewood near Stockport (so named because it's, er, in the middle of a wood - the nearest settlement is High Lane) had 1tph on Sundays but 0.5tph other days. Looks like that is now 0.5tph all week though.

Box Hill & Westhumble has always been like this too. Up until covid it got 1tph in each direction on Monday to Saturday but 2tph in each direction on Sunday. Since covid it now gets 2tph on Monday to Saturday and 3tph on Sunday. So the most frequent service is on Sunday.

The station has quite a lot of commuters who live in the village of Westhumble but the main traffic has always been walkers at the nearby Box Hill. The station is located in the village of Westhumble which is right at the bottom where people start their walk up Box Hill. It is a very popular place on a Sunday for walkers. It is very rural but on a good sunny summer day it can get packed and you can easily get twenty or thirty walkers alighting from one train.

It obviously gets a lot more passengers than Berney Arms does (and it also has local commuters) but i suppose it is similar to Berney Arms in that the timetable is geared towards walkers.

 

[bnsf734]

Nothing has changed. It’s been the same every year for as long as I can remember.

You learn something every day!! I always thought it was a very infrequent service.

 

[dk1]

You learn something every day!! I always thought it was a very infrequent service.

I think many people believe that mate.

 

[Alarmkid23]

I think many people believe that mate.

we are traveling on the 9th of june with college to great yarmouth as part of travel training and are going to catch the 11:35 service to great yarmouth which stops at berney arms, Would there be any hassle to the train operations if the doors open and we very quickly hop out, take a photo of me with the berney arms station sign and get back on the same train without being dispatched until we get back on having quickly took a picture of me at the station sign on the platform please?
Kind regards
Gabriel

 

[Bletchleyite]

we are traveling on the 9th of june with college to great yarmouth as part of travel training and are going to catch the 11:35 service to great yarmouth which stops at berney arms, Would there be any hassle to the train operations if the doors open and we very quickly hop out, take a photo of me with the berney arms station sign and get back on the same train without being dispatched until we get back on having quickly took a picture of me at the station sign on the platform please?

If the train isn't running late and you ask the guard I'd think that would be possible, but your college teachers might not be supportive of it!

 

[Alarmkid23]

The college teacher said it would be fine on the day if it’s safe

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 20 May 2025 ==

Sorry the teacher said we will see on the day

 

[dk1]

We often have people do that. The stop is only for 20 seconds or less however. Best advise your guard who will then ensure the driver is aware so they don’t close the doors thinking you are alighting completley. Remember it is only the very front set of doors that release.