March railway station

52°33′38″N 0°05′26″E / 52.5605°N 0.0905°E / 52.5605; 0.0905Grid referenceTL418978Managed byGreater AngliaPlatforms2Other informationStation codeMCHClassificationDfT category EPassengers2018/19 407,9142019/20 385,9562020/21 87,8322021/22 251,6382022/23 305,354 Notes

March railway station is on the Ely–Peterborough line in the east of England and serves the market town of March, Cambridgeshire. It is 85 miles 76 chains (138.3 km) measured from London Liverpool Street via Ely and is situated between Manea and Whittlesea stations.

The station, which was opened in 1847, was once a major junction with a number of lines radiating from the town. The station has been the scene of a number of accidents including a double train crash in 1896.^[1]

The station has since reduced in importance, with several lines being dismantled or mothballed. The regional route between Ely and Peterborough still runs through the station and an increasing number of freight trains pass through.

The station originally had seven platforms. However, two of these are now filled-in bay platforms and the track has been removed from a further west-facing bay on the southern side of the station. There are now just two operational platforms, although track has been re-laid on two disused platforms on the northern side of the station and it is anticipated that these may be used should proposals to re-open the line to Wisbech come to fruition. The nearby Whitemoor marshalling yard returned to use in 2004 having been disused since the early 1990s.

In 2021, a Victorian ledger dating back to April 1885 was found after it fell from the loft of the station when contractors were removing rotten wood work.^[2] The ledger is planned to go on display at the station.

In March 2022, the station car park was resurfaced and repainted.^[3]

Spalding, St Ives and Wisbech branches

March was once a junction for lines to Spalding (opened in 1867 by the Great Northern Railway and subsequently vested jointly with the Great Eastern Railway in 1879), St Ives (opened in 1848) and Watlington via Wisbech.^[4] The Spalding line was closed by British Rail in November 1982 and was completely lifted a few years later. The St Ives branch was closed completely in March 1967 as a result of the Beeching cuts, whilst the Wisbech line (known as the Bramley Line) closed to all traffic in 2000 having lost its regular passenger services (through to Kings Lynn) in September 1968. The trackwork however remains intact and there are proposals to reopen the line as a heritage line run and maintained by enthusiasts.

Services

CrossCountry operates an hourly service eastbound to Cambridge and Stansted Airport as well as westbound services towards Peterborough, Leicester and Birmingham.

On weekdays, Greater Anglia operates one train every two hours in each direction between Ipswich and Peterborough.^[5]

An hourly East Midlands Railway service between Norwich and Liverpool Lime Street normally runs through without stopping, though a few morning and evening peak trains do call.^[6]

References

External links

Media related to March railway station at Wikimedia Commons

• Friends Of March Railway Station

Preceding station		National Rail		Following station
Whittlesea		Abellio Greater Anglia Ipswich–Peterborough		Manea
Peterborough		CrossCountry Birmingham–Stansted Airport		Ely
Whittlesea (Limited service)				Manea (Limited service)
Peterborough		East Midlands Railway Liverpool–Norwich (Limited service)		Ely
Whittlesea (Limited service)
	Proposed Heritage railways
Terminus		Bramley Line		March Elm Road
	Historical railways
Eastrea Line open, station closed		Great Eastern Railway Peterborough to Ely		Stonea Line open, station closed
	Disused railways
Terminus		British Rail Eastern Region Wisbech Line		Coldham Line and station closed
Guyhirne Line and station closed		Great Northern and Great Eastern Joint Railway Doncaster to March		Terminus
Terminus		Great Northern and Great Eastern Joint Railway March to St Ives		Wimblington Line and station closed