Early history (1849–1862) The first Sudbury station was built by the Colchester, Stour Valley, Sudbury & Halstead Railway, which even before the opening on 30 July 1849, had seen the line leased by the Ipswich and Bury Railway who then themselves merged with the
Eastern Union Railway (EUR) in early 1849. The station was a single platformed terminus station at the end of a single-track line from . Trains then shared tracks with the
Eastern Counties Railway into . It is uncertain when the nearby engine shed was built although given the fact the Stour Valley was a far-flung branch of the EUR, it is likely engines were based here in the single-track brick-built engine shed from opening, as the next nearest facility for the EUR facility was
Ipswich engine shed. The Eastern Union Railway was taken over by the
Eastern Counties Railway in 1854. By the 1860s the railways in East Anglia were in financial trouble and most were leased to the
Eastern Counties Railway (ECR). Although they wished to amalgamate formally, they could not obtain government agreement for this until 1862, when the
Great Eastern Railway (GER) was formed by the amalgamation.
Great Eastern Railway (1862–1922) The original station was replaced in 1865 by the
Great Eastern Railway when the line was extended to to create the
Stour Valley Railway. In 1866 Sudbury engine shed was part of the Cambridge district and the diaries of the District Locomotive Supervisor referred to Sinclair Y and Z 2-4-0 classes as well as some of the original EUR 2-2-2 locomotives active there. An 1886 plan of the station area showed two platforms and a back road used for goods trains. The station was approached by a tree lined road whilst the extensive goods yard served a number of maltings and a timber yard as well as the small engine shed. The goods yard incorporated the original station site. In 1889 extensive signalling and block working was introduced on the line through Sudbury. In addition to the existing signal box located just west of Sudbury station, Sudbury Goods Junction signal box was opened, located east of the station and controlled a level crossing and entrance to the goods yard and engine shed. On the last day of the GER (31 December 1922) the following locomotives were allocated to Sudbury:
London and North Eastern Railway (1923–1947) After the
grouping of 1923 operation of the station passed to the
London and North Eastern Railway (LNER). The station signal box was closed in 1934 with the signalling all being controlled by Sudbury Goods Junction signal box.
British Railways (1948–1994) After nationalisation on 1 January 1948, Sudbury became part of the
Eastern Region of British Railways. The engine shed was demolished in July 1956, although watering and stabling of locomotives still took place until October 1959. The track was removed and the station only required a single platform. The footbridge was moved to the
East Anglian Railway Museum, where it is in use today. Despite the fact that all of the track bar a single line into the platform remained, Sudbury Goods Junction signal box was retained to control the level crossing. It was not until 15 February 1981 that the level crossing and signal box were closed.
The privatisation era (1994–present day) From privatisation the track at Sudbury station was the responsibility of
Railtrack.Following the collapse of this organisation in 2002 responsibility fell to
Network Rail. The train services have been operated by the following train operating companies: •
First Great Eastern between 1997 and 2004 when the First Great Eastern franchise became part of the Greater Anglia Franchise. •
National Express East Anglia between 2004 and 2012 •
Abellio Greater Anglia from 2012 with the current franchise, renewed in 2016, to be operated until 2025. ==Accidents==