to Cambridge line) and Thetford. The Act was passed on 5 July 1873 and work was started by the Thetford & Watton Railway (T&WR) in 1874. The T&WR opened the first part of the line on 15 November 1875. The line went south and terminated at Thetford Bridge, the first station after Thetford going towards Bury St. Edmunds. The opening made Thetford a joint GER and T&WR station. Four months later the rest of the line opened to Bury St. Edmund's. Two years later the GER took over the T&WR and joint working at Thetford ended. The system remained in place for the next four decades, apart from the disruption of First World War. The difficult economic circumstances that existed after the war led the Government to pass the Railways Act 1921, which led to the creation of the "Big Four". The GER amalgamated with several other companies to form the London & North Eastern Railway (LNER). Thetford became an LNER station on 1 January 1923. On nationalisation in 1948, Thetford came under the auspices of the Eastern Region of British Railways. Five years after nationalisation, British Railways decided to close the Thetford to Bury St Edmunds line. Thetford lost its junction status on 8 June 1953. As part of the Beeching rationalisation plan, British Railways closed the Roudham Junction and Swaffham line, including station, on 15 June 1964. With the closure of Roudham Junction, Harling Road became the next station after Thetford going towards Norwich. The 1960s also saw steam locomotives withdrawn and replaced by diesel multiple units. Upon sectorisation in the 1980s the station and its services came under the Regional Railways brand. On privatisation of British Rail, most services and management of the station passed to Anglia Railways on 5 January 1997, with services towards the Midlands transferring to Central Trains on 2 March 1997. On 1 April 2004, the station and its operations were transferred to National Express East Anglia (NXEA). NXEA trains were initially branded as One. Three years later, on 11 November 2007, the Central Trains franchise was broken up and the Liverpool-Norwich services were taken over by East Midlands Trains. In February 2012, the station and its other services were transferred to Abellio Greater Anglia. In August 2019, all East Midlands Trains services were transferred to East Midlands Railway, upon the expiry of EMT's franchise. The original station building of knapped flint was