Kennett railway station

Kennett
National Rail
Kennett railway station in June 2016
General information
LocationKentford, East Cambridgeshire
England
Grid referenceTL699672
Managed byGreater Anglia
Platforms2
Other information
Station codeKNE
ClassificationDfT category F2
Key dates
1854Station opens
14 April 1965Closed to goods
Passengers
2018/19Increase 42,684
2019/20Decrease 42,516
2020/21Decrease 9,408
2021/22Increase 36,538
2022/23Increase 43,782
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

Kennett is a railway station serving the villages of Kennett in Cambridgeshire and Kentford in 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 have since been demolished. 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. [citation needed]

  1. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2 September 2015. Retrieved 9 January 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2 September 2015. Retrieved 9 January 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2 September 2015. Retrieved 9 January 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. ^ "Kennett station, 1975 (8)". 3 May 1975.