Kennett railway station

Kennett
Kennett Railway Station in June 2016
Location
Place	Kentford
Local authority	East Cambridgeshire
Grid reference	TL699672
Operations
Station code	KNE
Managed by	Greater Anglia
Number of platforms	2
DfT category	F2
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2012/13	27,530
2013/14	30,992
2014/15	31,896
2015/16	35,692
2016/17	37,150
History
1854	Station opens
14 April 1965	Closed to goods
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Kennett from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

Kennett is a railway station in Cambridgeshire serving the village of Kentford, Suffolk, England. It opened in 1854 when the railway was extended from Newmarket to Bury St Edmunds. At its peak during the period 1860 to 1890 there was a station master and three other members of staff. From 1929 onwards the four station staff were replaced by a 'Porter-in-charge' until 1967.^[1]

During a heavy storm in 1968, the original brick bridge that crosses the River Kennett east of the station was washed away isolating the line for several days whilst a new metal structure was constructed to replace it.

The station closed to freight traffic on 28 December 1964,^[2] although a Speedlink rail service continued to serve the granary behind the station until the mid-1980s. Further east of the station a siding serves Lafarge aggregate, providing sugar stone for British Sugar.

On 2 January 1967, the station became an unstaffed halt on the Cambridge-Ipswich line^[3] and the main station buildings were demolished in 1976 after being left derelict.^[4] Parts of the original building were retained to serve as storage for the signal box and line-side maintenance; these can be found at the entrance to platform 1 and further along platform 2. The station buildings were typical of the line between Bury St Edmunds and Newmarket, and consisted of a two-story station master's house adjoining a small booking hall, similar to the extant buildings at Higham station.

Station improvements

The signal box closed following the replacement of the semaphore signals on 11 November 2011. It was subsequently removed and transported by road to the Colne Valley Railway in Essex.^[5] Signal control was moved to Bury St Edmunds Yard because of modernisation of the line to provide increased capacity. The growth in demand comes from the increase of freight operations from Felixstowe to the midlands.^[6]

A new footbridge was constructed in July 2014.^[7]

Building work to improve the station continued until the spring of 2016. For the platforms this meant a rebuild of platform 1, resurfacing of both platforms, the addition of sheltered and unsheltered seating, and the installation of LED lamp posts. The carpark was also improved, with the addition of dedicated motorbike and bicycle parking, and an illuminated noticeboard to display train timetables and planned service alterations.

Historical services

According to the Official Handbook of Stations the following classes of traffic were being handled at this station in 1956: G, P, F, L, H, C and there was a 1-ton 10 cwt crane.^[8]

Train services

The following services currently call at Kennett:

References

External links

• Train times and station information for Kennett railway station from National Rail
• Kennett station on navigable 1946 O.S. map
• External pictures of Kennett station in 1975
• External pictures of Kennett station in the 1980s

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Newmarket		Greater Anglia Ipswich-Cambridge		Bury St Edmunds
	Historical railways
Newmarket Warren Hill Line open, station closed		Great Eastern Railway Ipswich-Cambridge		Higham Line open, station closed
Fordham Line open, station closed		Great Eastern Railway Ipswich-Peterborough

Coordinates: 52°16′38″N 0°29′25″E / 52.2772°N 0.4902°E / 52.2772; 0.4902