Rail campaigners have launched a £250,000 fundraising appeal to buy plots of land which could clear the way for the creation of the Norfolk Orbital Railway.

The campaigners want to combine existing National Rail routes with the track of two preserved railways to make an 84-mile route taking in Norwich, Cromer, Sheringham, Fakenham, Dereham and Wymondham.

The next stage is to take the North Norfolk Railway line from its current stop a mile outside the town of Holt into the centre, alongside the A148 bypass.

At a meeting called by the Holt, Melton Constable and Fakenham Railway Company on 31 March 2012, campaigners revealed the results of talks about plots of land in Holt vital to the plans.

“If you want to build a railway, you need land to build it on,” said Trevor Bailey, one of the company directors, told the meeting.

“We have real practical progress to report, but it needs your help and the help of a lot of other people if it is going to bear fruit.”

Last year a major step forward was achieved when a short stretch of track was laid at Sheringham to clear the way for trains from the national network to travel on to the NNR tracks.

“That opened people’s eyes,” said Derek Haynes, chairman of the company. “This can be achieved.

“We now have signed an agreement which will allow us to purchase the privately owned land if we can raise the money. The county council would like to sell their portion of the land to us.”

Once the link to Holt town centre is secure, the campaigners will turn their attention to how to take the line through Melton Constable and along to Fakenham, where it could meet up with the proposed extension of the Mid Norfolk Railway.

Railfuture member David Bill said recent events where motorists began panic-buying fuel, proved the need for a better rail service in Norfolk.

Mr Bill said the only way to move the “very expensive exercise” forward would be through private donations and he estimated the project would cost millions and take many years to complete.

“When you look at the NNR now, you see one of the most successful, original initiatives you could have imagined, which brings in thousands of tourists every year,” he said.

“If we had not started our group all these years ago and instead listened to our critics, then we would not be seeing the 150,000 visitors we now see each year.

“As the tourist trade expands it will be appropriate to reintroduce a regular service to commuters, shoppers and schoolchildren.

“We need to be putting right the damage that should never have happened in the first place.

“But you cannot put right overnight the destruction of 40 years ago. The ability and potential is there. It is just one huge challenge.”

You can send donations to The Holt, Melton Constable and Fakenham Railway Co., The Railway Institute, Melton Constable, Norfolk, NR24 2DA.

More information: NOR