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Newmarket railway station serves the town of Newmarket, in Suffolk, England. All trains serving it are operated by Abellio owned Greater Anglia. Following the sale of the station building for offices by Network Rail in 2011, plans were underway to build a new station building following complaints from local residents. Some improvements were made in 2016. [1]
The first railway station in Newmarket opened in 1848 as the terminus of the Newmarket and Chesterford Railway. This station was extended with a new island platform and opened along with the new Newmarket to Ely line in 1879. Newmarket Warren Hill station, built by the Great Eastern Railway specifically for race traffic, opened six years later and closing just after the Second World War. The original station was replaced by a new structure in 1902 and a much reduced facility on this site remains in use today.
The original Newmarket Station ( 52°14′35″N0°24′52″E / 52.2430°N 0.4145°E ) was built by the Newmarket and Chesterford Railway on 4 April 1848 as a single platform terminus for the 15-mile (24 km) line from Great Chesterford. The line was extended by the Eastern Counties Railway eastwards to Bury St Edmunds on 1 April 1854, but trains had to reverse in or out of the station. [2]
Sir Nickolaus Pevsner described the station thus: "was one of the most sumptuously Baroque stations of the early Victorian decades in England. Seven bays, one story divided by coupled Ionic giant columns carrying protected pieces of entablature and big chunks of decorated attic." [3]
The line between Cambridge and Newmarket was doubled in 1875. [4]
An additional island platform was opened on 1 September 1879 for general traffic located on the direct Ipswich - Cambridge line. [Note 1] This meant that through trains no longer had to reverse in and out of the original station and the original terminus station was then used for race day traffic and any Newmarket - Cambridge services. At the north end a footbridge linked the terminal platform and the new platforms (which were at a slightly lower level) and these remained open until replaced in 1902 by a new station to the south.
The former terminus became known as Newmarket (High Level). [2] [Note 2]
The new platforms were located just south of the 1,100 yard Warren Hill tunnel ( 52°14′36″N0°24′55″E / 52.2432°N 0.4154°E ) and lasted until 1902 when the new station opened (see below).
The island platform survived disused for a number of years and pictorial evidence from the 1900s shows the surface was partly broken up and flowerbeds created. The platform was removed sometime in the 1930s to enable the main line to be re-aligned so more siding space could be created at the old terminus site. [5]
An additional platform at the terminus station (known as the third class platform) was opened in 1885 to cope with additional raceday traffic. Opening the same year as Newmarket Warren Hill station the old station site dealt with race traffic from the south and London whilst Warren Hill dealt with traffic from the north and east. [6]
During World War I the terminus station building was used as a temporary hospital. [7]
Race day traffic ceased using the terminus platforms in July 1954. [2]
Goods traffic at the old terminus station remained vibrant until the 1960s. Records from 1960 show that, caravans (the Sprite model produced by Newmarket firm Caravans International), agricultural implements, fertilizers and barley left the station and much paper imported from the USA was received. Horse traffic amounted to 1,073 sent and 1.573 received. [7]
On 21 February 1967 the last shunting horse to work on British Rail, "Charlie" at Newmarket retired with goods traffic being withdrawn from Newmarket the same year. [8]
The track was lifted in February 1969. The main station building received grade 2 listing but fell into a state of disrepair. It and the remaining buildings on the site were demolished in 1980 and the site is now occupied by a housing estate. [2] [9]
A turntable was provided at Newmarket for turning locomotives and in the early 1880s the GER provided a timber engine shed and inspection pit at this location. The LNER installed a 60-foot turntable in the 1920s primarily for visiting locomotives on race day traffic rather than Newmarket's allocated shunting locomotive. The dilapidated shed was demolished during the 1930s although the inspection pit, turntable and water tower remained until closure. [10]
The stables housing the shunting horses were located close to the water tower.
Newmarket Warren Hill station ( 52°15′09″N0°25′07″E / 52.2524°N 0.4187°E ) was built by the Great Eastern Railway. It opened on 4 April 1885 just to the north of Warren Hill Tunnel [2] and catered for racecourse-goers arriving from points north, particularly Lincoln, Leeds and Manchester, with the encouragement of the Jockey Club. [11] Warren Hill was closed by the London and North Eastern Railway some time in or after 1945 [2] but before 1 January 1948, when British Railways was formed.
Warren Hill station was a terminus station built alongside the Ipswich to Cambridge line but not served by it. The station consisted of a single island platform with two platform roads and a number of sidings and loops (for locomotives to run round their carriages).
Entrance to the station was by a four way covered staircase leading down to a covered (in glass and corrugated iron) arcade area. The arcade area, whilst not luxuriously equipped, had a refreshment bar, Ladies waiting room and toilets as well as various railway offices. The platform was 510 feet long but had no shelter (presumably passengers waited in the covered area until their train was shunted into the platform). [12]
During the 1870s and 1880s more and more people were coming to the races at Newmarket. The opening of the Newmarket - Ely line in 1879 meant that trains from the north could get to Newmarket more easily rather than having to reverse at Cambridge and line of the first trains to use the new link was a train carrying racehorses from Newmarket to Doncaster. [13]
In April 1883 the GER approved a quote (by builders Messrs Bennett Bros. of Downham Market) and work commenced on clearing a space north of the Ipswich to Cambridge line at the east end of Warren Hill tunnel. Although the building was delayed by inclement weather the station was ready for the 1885 "Craven" meeting at Newmarket Racecourse on 20 April. After this point, the old 1848 station dealt with traffic from London and the west whilst Warren Hill accommodated traffic from the north and east.
Warren Hill remained busy with racing traffic up to World War I where it was put into military use.
After the war racing day traffic returned to the station.
Following the Railways Act 1921 Warren Hill station was operated by the London and North Eastern Railway from 1 January 1923.
During the 1930s numbers using the station declined and the last train ran in October 1938.
Between 1939 and 1945 the station again saw military use and then after the war at some point between 1945 and 1948 the station was formally closed to passengers although saw goods and engineering traffic for a number of years. The sidings at Warren Hill were removed in the early 1960s although the platform remained until the 1980s. [14]
Newmarket (Suffolk) railway station was opened by the Great Eastern Railway on 7 April 1902. It is on the Ipswich–Ely line and is 800 yards (730 m) south of the site of the original Newmarket station. Since March 2013, passenger services have been operated by Abellio Greater Anglia.
The Great Eastern Railway (GER) was a pre-grouping British railway company, whose main line linked London Liverpool Street to Norwich and which had other lines through East Anglia. The company was grouped into the London and North Eastern Railway in 1923.
The East Suffolk line is an un-electrified 49-mile secondary railway line running between Ipswich and Lowestoft in Suffolk, England. The traffic along the route consists of passenger services operated by Greater Anglia, while nuclear flask trains for the Sizewell nuclear power stations are operated by Direct Rail Services.
Norwich railway station is the northern terminus of the Great Eastern Main Line in the East of England, serving the city of Norwich, Norfolk. It is 114 miles 77 chains (185.0 km) down the main line from London Liverpool Street, the western terminus.
Westerfield railway station is on a branch line off the Great Eastern Main Line, in the East of England, serving the village of Westerfield, Suffolk. It is 3 miles 41 chains (5.7 km) down the line from Ipswich and 72 miles 25 chains (116.4 km) measured from London Liverpool Street. It is situated at a junction of the Felixstowe Branch Line to Felixstowe and the East Suffolk Line to Lowestoft. Its three-letter station code is WFI.
Ipswich railway station is on the Great Eastern Main Line in the East of England, serving the town of Ipswich, Suffolk. It is 68 miles 59 chains (110.6 km) down the line from London Liverpool Street and, on the main line, it is situated between Manningtree to the south and Needham Market to the north.
Ely railway station is on the Fen line in the east of England, serving the city of Ely, Cambridgeshire. It is 70 miles 30 chains (113.3 km) from London Liverpool Street and is situated between Waterbeach and Littleport stations on the Fen line to King's Lynn. It is an important junction for three other lines: the Ely to Peterborough Line, the Ipswich to Ely Line and the Norwich to Ely line.
Cambridge railway station is the principal station serving the city of Cambridge in the east of England. It stands at the end of Station Road, 1 mile (1.6 km) south-east of the city centre. It is the northern terminus of the West Anglia Main Line, 55 miles 52 chains (89.6 km) down the line from London Liverpool Street, the southern terminus.
The Ipswich–Ely line is a railway line linking East Anglia to the English Midlands via Ely. There is also a branch line to Cambridge. Passenger services are operated by Abellio Greater Anglia. It is a part of Network Rail Strategic Route 5, SRS 05.07, 05.08 and part of SRS 07.03. The line has previously been part of the Great Eastern Main Line.
Stowmarket railway station is on the Great Eastern Main Line (GEML) in the East of England, serving the town of Stowmarket, Suffolk. It is 80 miles 9 chains (128.9 km) down the line from London Liverpool Street and is situated between Needham Market to the south and Diss to the north. It is also the junction where the Ipswich to Ely Line joins the GEML. Its three-letter station code is SMK.
Great Chesterford railway station is on the West Anglia Main Line serving the village of Great Chesterford in Essex, England. It is 45 miles 56 chains (73.5 km) down the line from London Liverpool Street and is situated between Audley End and Whittlesford Parkway stations. Its three-letter station code is GRC.
Bury St Edmunds railway station serves the town of Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk, England. The station is on the Ipswich–Ely line and all trains calling there are operated by Greater Anglia.
Elmswell serves the village of Elmswell in Suffolk, England. The station, and all trains serving it, are today operated by Greater Anglia.
The Newmarket and Chesterford Railway Company was an early railway company that built the first rail connection to Newmarket. Although only around 15 miles (24 km) long the line ran through three counties, the termini being in Essex and Suffolk (Newmarket) and all intermediate stations being in Cambridgeshire.
Forncett railway station was a railway station in Forncett, South Norfolk located 104 miles from London Liverpool Street. It was opened in 1849 when Norwich and Ipswich were connected by the Eastern Union Railway in 1849. Between 1881 and 1951 it was a junction for a short route to Wymondham and was closed as a result of the Beeching Axe with other smaller stations between Norwich and Ipswich.
Haughley railway station was located in Haughley, Suffolk on the Great Eastern Main Line between Liverpool Street Station and Norwich. It opened on 7 July 1849 named Haughley Junction and was a replacement for a station named Haughley Road which had been in service from 1846 to 1849 at location TM 02981 63319 on the line to Elmswell.
Bramford railway station refers to the two stations located in Bramford, Suffolk.
Claydon railway station was a station in Great Blakenham, Suffolk. It closed to passengers in 1963. The goods facility for Blue Circle Cement, British Steel Piling and Kings Scrapyard was still staffed in the late 1970s with the staff working from the former up side station buildings.
Six Mile Bottom railway station is a disused railway station on the Ipswich to Cambridge line between Dullingham and Fulbourn. It served the village of Six Mile Bottom, until closure in January 1967. The station buildings and one platform remain as a private residence. Although the station is closed, the line remains in use by trains between Ipswich and Cambridge.
Newmarket railway station (Suffolk) was opened by the Great Eastern Railway on 7 April 1902. It is on the Ipswich–Ely line and is 800 yards (730 m) south of the site of the original Newmarket station. Since March 2013, passenger services have been operated by Abellio Greater Anglia.
The Ely and Newmarket Railway was a railway company in England, which connected the city of Ely, Cambridgeshire to the town of Newmarket, Suffolk.