North Norfolk Railway relieved bus shelter dispute is over

North Norfolk Railway said in a social media statement that it had remained neutral throughout the debate over the future of the much-loved bus shelter at Station Approach, which was torn down this week.

It was finally demolished to make way for a £580,000 travel hub scheme proposed by Norfolk County Council

But the raiway said that the suspension of works since December on the hub had affected its operations.

The not-for-profit said it had agreed for the trackbed crossing its land to form part of the Travel Hub, as long as the plans did not affect railway operations and buses continued to stop at Station Approach.

It said it required permission to access its own land and written approval for train movements across track it owns.

The organisation welcomed the restart of works and said it looked forward to buses operated by Sanders Coaches returning to Station Approach this weekend.

Its statement said: "We hope people will therefore appreciate that, in common with most stakeholders, we are relieved a resolution has been found."

Work on the demolished bus shelter site in Sheringham (Image: Sonya Duncan)

It also said the issue had been “unnecessarily politicised” and urged local organisations to focus on promoting tourism in Sheringham and across the North Norfolk coast.

Sheringham's 1950s bus shelter was demolished on Monday, July 13, with plans for the new travel hub to start. 

The travel hub (Image: Sheringham Town Council)

Sanders Coaches has confirmed it has received permission from the Traffic Commissioner to resume all services from the Station Approach stop from Sunday, July 19.

The firm said timetables would shift by two to five minutes to accommodate the return, and it has also tweaked a handful of services based on customer feedback.

The 4.30pm Route 9 from Fakenham will now leave at 4.40pm to suit local working patterns, while the 5.48pm Route 9 has been pushed to 5.51pm to help passengers connecting from King's Lynn's Lynx services.

The 4.10pm Route 15 from Cromer will now depart at 4pm, better matching closing times at Felbrigg.