Colne Valley & Halstead Railway

Incorporated in 1856 and opened in stages between 1860 and 1863, this line ran for 19 miles from a junction with the Great Eastern Railway Marks Tey to Cambridge and Bury St Edmunds cross-country route at Chappel to terminate at its own station at Haverhill. In 1865 a connection was made to Haverhill GER station on the same cross-country route in neighbouring Suffolk. For most of its 57 years of independence the CV&HR was in financial difficulties, with services being operated by agents including in 1865 Sir Daniel Gooch of the GWR. A motley collection of rolling stock was hired and a Cornish entrepreneur provided backing for the organisation, but by 1874 the railway went into receivership and it took an Act of 1885 to rectify matters. The route played an important part in World War Two with military traffic for local airfields. British Railways management decided the line duplicated other routes and passenger services were withdrawn on 1st January 1962 and freight from April 1965.