Could Rackheath on the edge of Norwich get a new train stop?

Yet despite Rackheath’s location on the Bittern Line, which connects Norwich to Sheringham, it has never had its own railway station. 

Now, in a recent planning application for the area, which saw 300 homes approved for the village, planning officers at Broadland District Council reignited their call for developers to look at the feasibility of a new stop. 

The Rackheath village sign (Image: George Thompson, LDR)

It’s been an idea that has been mooted since at least 2016, when it was included in a BDC planning document called the Growth Triangle Area Action Plan, a document setting out how Rackheath and surrounding villages should grow. 

With the line already running through Rackheath, some argue a new stop could be achieved without much fuss, especially at a time when the community is growing so rapidly. 

The population of the village is expected to grow by at least 8,000 people if a massive 3,850-home plan is approved by BDC. The population was 1,972 in 2011. 

Dozens of homes already being built in Rackheath (Image: George Thompson, LDR)

But while there has been a desire to look at the feasibility, the pipe dream has always come up against the fact there is already a stop in the neighbouring village of Salhouse.

We asked locals what they thought of Rackheath getting a train stop.  

'BETTER HERE THAN IN SALHOUSE'   

John Brighton, 69, a retiree who has lived in the village for around 40 years, said having a stop at the western end of the village would be ideal. 

John Brighton (Image: George Thompson, LDR)

“I don’t know how busy Salhouse is at the moment, but the bridge there always gets very flooded making it difficult to get to,” he said. 

“It would be better to have a stop here than at Salhouse. 

“They have got the land down at the back there so they could put a bit of car park down there and people in the new houses could drive down to it if they needed. 

“If they are going to build all these houses and doctors surgeries and schools we might as well have a new station as well, we are going to need it.” 

He argued that unless the connection between Rackheath and Salhouse was improved, which currently has no walkable pavements between the two, it was unlikely that people would use the latter station. 

However, while Mr Brighton said he was unlikely to use a new train himself for going into Norwich because his home was so close to the bus stop, but it would be helpful if planning a trip to London. 

He also suggested it could be helpful for people who commute to the capital for work. 

 'IT WOULD HELP MY DAUGHTER GET TO COLLEGE'  

Alastair Spaul, 51, who works on the Rackheath industrial estate, also welcomed the idea.

Alastair Spaul (Image: George Thompson, LDR) 

“I think it would be a good idea, we have got to go to Salhouse at the moment. 

“I would definitely use it and my daughter would use it to go to college which she will be at next year, we’d rather get than train than drive when we can. 

“The buses aren’t that great, I’m not slagging the buses off, they are regular so I can’t fault that but they do go around the long way, it’s not direct. 

“This would be really perfect, especially with the number of houses in the village coming up and the hundreds of houses they have built already.” 

'A SENSIBLE IDEA' 

John Long, a retiree who lives on Salhouse Road, said it was illogical that they have to go to Salhouse to get the train. 

John Long (Image: George Thompson, LDR)

“Our only way of getting to Salhouse station is we have to go in a car, at my age I might have to anyway, but that’s beside the point,” he said.  

“There are a lot of people around here with bikes but there’s nowhere safe to cycle, why can’t we have a cycle track to Salhouse?” 

Mr Long said it would be “sensible” to have a stop at the level crossing. 

“We know there is going to be development, we have accepted that, but we also need to put in place the things that people need. 

“Everyone says we need to get out of our cars, but we need the investment in public transport to do that.”  

WHAT FEASIBILITY STUDIES HAVE BEEN DONE?  

Taylor Wimpey, the developer behind the 3,850 home plan, has not revealed whether it has looked into a train stop in Rackheath. 

However, it has released a report looking into whether a freight facility would be suitable, which it said “may not yet be viable”. 

SALHOUSE UPGRADE? 

In response to Taylor Wimpey’s planning application, Network Rail - which owns and manages Britain’s rail network – has suggested that better options might be improvements to Salhouse. 

This could possibly include a new bridge over the site, warning lights for approaching trains and upgrades for the level crossing. 

A SHIFTING VILLAGE 

Rackheath’s modern transformation is simply the latest chapter in a long history of change. 

The village was once centred further to the north, nearer to the Wroxham Road. 

This area was originally known as Great Rackheath or Rackheath Magna but has since dwindled and is now dwarfed by the settlement along the Salhouse Road, once known as Little Rackheath, or Rackheath Parva and later New Rackheath and now, simply Rackheath.