The Thetford to Bury St Edmunds line is a closed railway between

Thetford Thetford is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Breckland District of Norfolk, England. It is on the A11 road (England), A11 road between Norwich and London, just east of Thetford Forest. The civil parish, coverin ...

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

and

Bury St Edmunds Bury St Edmunds (), commonly referred to locally as ''Bury,'' is a cathedral as well as market town and civil parish in the West Suffolk District, West Suffolk district, in the county of Suffolk, England.OS Explorer map 211: Bury St. Edmunds an ...

Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. It was a single line railway of .

History

Early proposals and the Bury St Edmunds and Thetford Railway

Plans for a railway line between Thetford and Bury St Edmunds had existed since at least 1844, when proposals were made for the London and Norwich Direct Railway. These proposals aimed to connect London to

Great Yarmouth Great Yarmouth ( ), often called Yarmouth, is a seaside resort, seaside town which gives its name to the wider Borough of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, England; it straddles the River Yare and is located east of Norwich. Its fishing industry, m ...

via a line between Bury St Edmunds and Thetford. A bill was brought to parliament in 1845 but was ultimately not authorised. A further two bills including provisions for a line between Thetford and Bury St Edmunds were made in 1846 by different parties, but these were also unsuccessful. By 1865, the

Bury St Edmunds and Thetford Railway The Bury St Edmunds and Thetford Railway (B&TR) built the Thetford to Bury St Edmunds line from Thetford to Bury St Edmunds with assistance from the Thetford and Watton Railway. The railway was authorised on 5 July 1873 and opened on 1 March 1876 ...

(BSE&TR) had come up with plans for a line, and proposed these in a bill to parliament. It was initially opposed by the

Great Eastern Railway 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 R ...

(GER) on the grounds that there was a lack of necessity for the line. The bill passed as the Bury St Edmunds and Thetford Railway Act 1865, and gave the BSE&TR five years to complete the route. The company ran into problems including financial difficulties and legal disputes with landowners, and proposed an amendment bill to parliament in 1870. It included deviations to the line, and a three-year extension to the deadline for the original route, and passed as the Bury St Edmunds and Thetford Railway Act 1870. The line was inspected and approved on 30 December 1875, after the implementation of some recommendations. Signalling and rolling stock issues delayed the start of services, with the line opening on 1 March 1876.

Great Eastern Railway operation

Initial services on the line relied on the GER for rolling stock, and the operation of the termini stations at Thetford and Bury St Edmunds. Income from the line was lower than expected, and the BSE&TR sold the line to the GER in 1878.

Closure

It closed to passengers on 8 June 1953 and goods traffic on 27 June 1960.

Services

The line typically had four return passenger services and one freight working a day.

References

Bibliography

* * *{{cite book, author=R. S. Joby , title=Forgotten Railways: East Anglia , publisher=

David & Charles David & Charles Ltd is an English publishing company. It is the owner of the David & Charles imprint, which specialises in craft and lifestyle publishing. David and Charles Ltd acts as distributor for all David and Charles Ltd books and cont ...

, year=1977, isbn=0715373129 , location=Newton Abbot , ref={{harvid, Joby, 1977 Closed railway lines in the East of England Rail transport in Suffolk Rail transport in Norfolk Railway lines opened in 1876