Ely and Newmarket Railway

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Ely and Newmarket Railway
Overview
Locale Suffolk
Cambridgeshire
East of England
Dates of operation11 August 18751 July 1898
Successor Great Eastern Railway
Technical
Track gauge 4 ft 8+12 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge

The Ely and Newmarket Railway was a railway company in England, which connected the city of Ely, Cambridgeshire to the town of Newmarket, Suffolk.

Contents

History

Unsuccessful schemes

A plan by the Newmarket Railway to link Newmarket with Ely had been authorised in June 1847, [1] but the company got into financial difficulties during 1848 (with no work having been carried out on the Ely line), which led to the partial closure of their existing system in June 1850. [2] Two more schemes were proposed for a railway between Ely and Newmarket, but these also failed. [3]

Successful scheme

Ely and Newmarket Railway Act 1875
Act of Parliament
Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (variant 1, 1952-2022).svg
Citation 38 & 39 Vict. c. ccv
Dates
Royal assent 11 August 1875
Text of statute as originally enacted

A fourth scheme put forward by the Ely and Newmarket Railway, and supported by the Great Eastern Railway, was successful, being authorised on 11 August 1875 and opening on 1 September 1879. [3] The line connected into the NewmarketCambridge line at Warren Hill Junction. A year later a link was added from Chippenham Junction (west of Kennett station) to a new junction on the ENR route at Snailwell Junction. All lines were single when opened.

The ENR did not possess any locomotives or stock and all trains were operated by the Great Eastern Railway. [4]

Take-over by GER

On 10 April 1888 the Great Eastern Railway (GER) agreed to lease the line for 999 years, backdated to 1 January 1888. [3] The GER absorbed the line by an Act of Parliament dated 1 July 1898. [3]

Notes

  1. Allen 1956, p. 38.
  2. Allen 1956, p. 43.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Awdry 1990, p. 130.
  4. Robertson 2005, pp. 6–12.

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References