Historical routing question for test train/Passenger trains.

[Alarmkid23]

Hi there, Does anyone know or remember if any trains went from kings Lynn to Peterborough but skipped ely by using the ely west curve in the past? Is this even possible irl? The reason I am asking is because I am setting up a new company on train sim classic which runs 1 train a day (Monday to Sunday) from kings Lynn direct to Peterborough via the ely west curve bypassing ely station and back to kings Lynn via the ely west curve again bypassing ely station (Non stop Monday-Friday, Stops at all intermediate stations by request only, on Saturdays and Sundays). The fictional open access operator is Fenland Trains PLC running on behalf of greater Anglia (a what if routing and company). Any info would be much appreciated as test runs of the route start tomorrow and the inaugural train runs on Friday. Kind regards Gabriel

 

[Magdalia]

Hi there, Does anyone know or remember if any trains went from kings Lynn to Peterborough but skipped ely by using the ely west curve in the past? Is this even possible irl?

It is possible to go to and from the Kings Lynn line via the Ely curve, the Middleton Towers sand trains do it, though for a long while it was one direction only.

However, timetabled passenger trains using the curve have always been going to and from the Norwich line.

In the past there were two more direct routes between Kings Lynn and Peterborough. The Midland and Great Northern route via Wisbech North closed in 1959 and the Great Eastern route via Wisbech East closed in 1968. So there was no need to go between Kings Lynn and Peterborough via the Ely curve until after those lines had closed.

These days the Excel bus runs every 30 minutes Kings Lynn-Wisbech-Peterborough but takes 85-90 minutes on a good day.

 

[Alarmkid23]

Thanks Magdalia, Did any passenger trains run round the curve from kings Lynn to Peterborough in the network south east era?
Kind regards
Gabriel

 

[30907]

Thanks Magdalia, Did any passenger trains run round the curve from kings Lynn to Peterborough in the network south east era?
Kind regards
Gabriel

Very unlikely. NSE Lynn trains were basically to and from London, Peterborough to and from Cambridge (or Norwich).

 

[Alarmkid23]

Can anyone look into this for me?

 

[The exile]

Thanks Magdalia, Did any passenger trains run round the curve from kings Lynn to Peterborough in the network south east era?
Kind regards
Gabriel

No

 

[Steve Harris]

No

Spot on.

Up until Sprinterisation there was roughly a 1tp2hr (IIRC) in each direction Norwich- Birmingham New Street which used Ely West Curve (it was double track back then) and avoided Ely station.

As Magdalia correctly points out, the only trains Peterborough-King's Lynn was the sand trains to/from Middleton Towers. They used to be twice daily back in the 1980's and over the years have run to differing places (Monk Bretton being one such example).

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 23 Jan 2025 ==

Very unlikely. NSE Lynn trains were basically to and from London, Peterborough to and from Cambridge (or Norwich).

NSE trains didn't go to Norwich, they still came under Inter-City.

In a nutshell, NSE was:-
London Liverpool Street - Kings Lynn (cut back to Cambridge when Loco hauled services withdrawn).
London Kings Cross - Cambridge (extended to Kings Lynn when the Liv St loco hauled service was withdrawn).
London Kings Cross - Peterborough.

Peterborough- Cambridge/Norwich came under Regional Railways (except the 1 daily Inter-City services Cambridge-Liverpool Lime Street and return and the Harwich Parkeston Quay-Glasgow Cen/Edinburgh Waverly Boat Train aka The European)