Early history The
Eastern Union Railway (EUR) had built a line from to and a number of directors from the EUR formed a new company, the
Ipswich and Bury Railway, chaired by
John Chevallier Cobbold to build a line from Ipswich to which was known as the "Bury extension". The '''''' (
8 & 9 Vict. c. xcvii) was granted
royal assent on 21 July 1845 and the first train ran on 26 November 1846. The stations at Bramford, Claydon, Needham, Stowmarket, Haughley Road, Elmswell and Thurston all opened on this date. Bury St Edmunds was served by a temporary station east of the current site, with the main station opening in November 1847. The Ipswich and Bury Railway was formally merged with the Eastern Union Railway on 9 July 1847 by the
Eastern Union Railway Act 1847 (
10 & 11 Vict. c. clxxiv). The Newmarket Railway was built by the
Newmarket and Chesterford Railway with the first section from
Newmarket to meet the
West Anglia Main Line at Great Chesterford opened in 1848. The intermediate stations at and opened at this time. In addition to the new line from Chesterford, the Newmarket Railway started constructing a line from Cambridge to Newmarket. The original route diverged from the main platform at Cambridge on a sharp curve and was the cause of operational difficulties for many years. In July 1849 the Eastern Union Railway's extension to Norwich opened and a new station called Haughley was opened located just east of the junction. Haughley Road closed the same week. The Newmarket Railway then intended building extensions through to Bury St Edmunds, Ely and Thetford and an act of Parliament, the
Newmarket and Chesterford Railway (Bury Extension and Ely Branch) Act 1847 (
10 & 11 Vict. c. xii), gave approval for this. The
Eastern Counties Railway (ECR), who ran the competing (and longer) route via Cambridge, Ely and Thetford, opposed this fearing a loss of Norwich traffic to this more direct route. The ECR also operated the London Liverpool Street to Cambridge route at this time and were in a position to make things difficult for the Newmarket Railway which ceased operations in June 1850. However, under the leadership of bankruptcy commissioner Cecil Fane, the company was re-established in September of the same year and instead the line from Six Mile Bottom to Cambridge was completed using the track from the Chesterford–Six Mile Bottom section. This line then opened on 9 September 1850 and the Chesterford route closed. Generally it is assumed the new stations at Fulbourne and Cherryhinton opened on the same date but Robertson, Wislon and Harley suggest that because they did not appear in the Bradshaws until the following August, that might be the correct date for those stations opening. The Newmarket Railway then set its sights on building a line to Bury to link onto the EUR line (although the original plan was for a separate station) although the powers granted by the original act lapsed. The Newmarket Railway was in financial trouble and in 1852 the ECR was granted parliamentary permission to buy the Newmarket Railway. It completed this in 1854, the same year it also took over operation of the EUR. Such was the enthusiasm for the railway, that the first sod was cut by the Newmarket Railway with great ceremony on 16 June 1852 before the necessary parliamentary powers had been granted. The line was completed early in 1854 and opened to traffic on 15 March of that year. As well as new stations at Higham, Saxby & Risby and Kennett, a tunnel was required through Warren Hill at Newmarket and the engine shed at Bury that originally stood at the west end of the branch from Ipswich, was resited to allow the opening of the new line. At Newmarket, trains from Cambridge arrived into the original 1848 terminus and would then reverse out before continuing the journey towards Bury St Edmunds (and they had to do the same in the opposite direction). 1854 also saw the closure of
Cherryhinton station on 1 May.
Ely and Newmarket Railway and GER operation (1862–1922) By the 1860s the railways in East Anglia were in financial trouble, and most were leased to the ECR; they wished to amalgamate formally, but could not obtain government agreement for this until 1862, when the
Great Eastern Railway (GER) was formed by amalgamation. Thus the Ipswich to Cambridge line was operated by the GER from 1862. In 1874 two rival schemes were put before Parliament. The
Ely and Newmarket Railway (ENR) scheme was backed by the GER, whilst the other scheme – the
Ely and Bury Light Railway – was to run via Soham and Mildenhall. Parliament approved the ENR scheme and granted running powers to the Ely and Bury Light Railway from Ely to Soham which was covered by the ENR proposal and their route could then be constructed from there to Bury St Edmunds. In the event nothing more came of this second scheme. The line between Cambridge and Newmarket was doubled in 1875. The
Ely and Newmarket Railway Act 1875 (
38 & 39 Vict. c. ccv) and construction began soon after, under the guidance of engineer George Hopkins and contractor John Waddell. Although an inaugural train carrying various GER officers ran on 6 June 1879, the line failed to pass the mandatory government inspection and it was not until 1 September that the line opened. The opening day was not auspicious, as a locomotive was derailed near Soham, without casualties. One of the first trains to use the new link was a train carrying racehorses from Newmarket to Doncaster. From the outset the single-track line was operated by the GER, and Fordham and Soham stations (both equipped with goods yards) all opened on 1 September 1879. At the same time as the ENR line opened, a new low level island platform was provided at Newmarket to remove the need for trains to reverse into and out of the old terminal station. This station then primarily became a goods station, although it was used by passenger services on race days and was linked to the new platform by a footbridge. Provision for passengers on the new platform was not overgenerous at first, leading to a number of complaints in the local newspapers. The GER provided a waiting room in 1881. There was still no direct line between Bury St Edmunds and Ely, so trains had to reverse in the Newmarket area. A link was provided with a new line between Chippenham Junction (west of Kennett) station and Snailwell Junction on the ENR opened on 1 September 1880. The GER built four cottages at Snailwell Junction in 1882 for local staff. The GER started operating the "North Country Continental" train over the route between
Parkeston and
Manchester in 1883. On 2 June 1884 became a railway junction when the first section of the
Mildenhall branch opened. The line through to Mildenhall opened on 1 April 1885. A new station to cater for racegoers was opened at Newmarket Warren Hill (just north of the tunnel) on 4 April 1885. This was primarily for people attending race meetings at Newmarket arriving from the north and east with those from the south using the original terminal station. Warren Hill was not a through station but a two-platformed terminus station with some associated carriage sidings. On 4 January 1887 the ENR was leased to the GER and in 1898 was fully vested. A new junction at Coldham Junction Cambridge was opened and the approach to Cambridge improved with the new arrangements coming into force on 17 May 1896.
London and North Eastern Railway (1923–1947) Following the grouping of 1923 the lines became part of the
London & North Eastern Railway. Despite being a heavily used section of line, it remained single until 1938 when the section between Soham and Snailwell Junction was doubled. This was fortuitous as the route carried significant traffic during the
Second World War to the many airbases located in East Anglia. Indeed, it was one of these trains that was involved in the accident detailed below. On 2 January 1967 Fulbourne, Higham, Six Mile Bottom and Saxby & Risby stations closed and the remaining minor stations became unstaffed with the introduction of conductor guard working. On 21 February 1967 the last shunting horse to work on
British Rail, "Charlie", at
Newmarket, retired. Needham station closed in 1967 but re-opened in 1971 as Needham Market. Newmarket goods yard closed on 2 February 1969, with Snailwell Junction signal box closing a week later. Further line rationalisation took place in 1978 when on 1 October tokenless block working was introduced between Newmarket and Dullingham stations. Five years later in May 1983 the line between Dullingham and Coldham Lane Junction was singled, leaving a passing loop at Dullingham. Although general goods services were withdrawn from Thurston in 1967 coal trains ran until early 1976 (usually the Bury St Edmunds diesel shunter worked this train). The yard was lifted on 1 June 1976. • April 2004 to February 2012:
National Express East Anglia • February 2012 to October 2025:
Abellio Greater Anglia Return to government operation (2025–present) In December 2024, it was announced that the franchise contract would be terminated after the
Department for Transport activated a
break clause, with
Greater Anglia (a subsidiary of
DfT Operator) taking over services from 12 October 2025.
New name In early 2026 a competition was launched to give the railway line a new name. The competition over 1000 entries and after closure, it was announced in March 2026 that the line, especially the Ipswich to Cambridge section, will be renamed as the St Edmund's Line. This reflects
St Edmund who was King of the
East Angles and later canonised.
Bury St Edmunds and various churches in the area all reflect his name. The Community Rail Project is hoping to promote the name change. ==Infrastructure==