Our resident transport expert discusses all things getting about in Wymondham

ROLL OUT THE BERYL

Beryl - as we know, it is the first startup to have reached Wymondham with the aim of improving active travel in the town. It’s great that it’s reached Wymondham - the only town outside of Norwich to have it - and I recently mentioned in my December article that it had reached the new estates in Silfield at long last.

With only 12 bays (that I could count using their provided map) dotted around Wymondham, it hardly covers every street in the town, with areas particularly in north and west Wymondham that would require a long walk to reach a Beryl bay. This is a shame, because it could be such a useful tool for Wymondhamers to use to reach their local amenities without a car, such as the town centre, railway station and doctor’s surgery.

So let's keep our fingers crossed for even more Beryl bays around Wymondham. The more people that have access to bays, the more people will be able to make use of it.

TRAINSPOTTING

It was noted in various Wymondham Facebook groups that a RailAdventure branded High-Speed Train sat in Wymondham’s south siding for a few days in December. It is speculated that the train was to be stored in a siding on the Mid-Norfolk Railway in preparation for international export from Great Yarmouth.

BUS BLUNDER

In a disappointing and unexpected move from the new UK government, the £2 bus fare cap which was funded until December 2024 has been removed and replaced with a £3 cap.

It’s sad to see the cap be raised as having cheaper bus journeys made taking the bus a more enticing option. Conversely, the government decided to fund a fuel duty freeze, instead making travelling by private car more appealing. This unfortunately is the opposite of encouraging active travel.

60 footlong subway

In late 2023, it was announced that there was to be a new subway installed at Wymondham Railway Station’s bridge, allowing cyclists to remain on a segregated path and also widening the road for traffic passing under the bridge. Construction of this was anticipated to have been completed by the end of 2024. However, we are now into 2025 and there doesn’t seem to be any sign of this work taking place, let alone being completed. I wonder what’s happened to this project, and will we get an update soon?