Saffron Walden Railway
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The Saffron Walden Railway was a branch of the Great Eastern Railway between Audley End and Bartlow on the Stour Valley Railway between Shelford to Haverhill, a distance of 7+1⁄4 miles (11.7 km).[1][2]
Branch information[edit]
Opening[edit]
The line was opened between Audley End and Saffron Walden on 21 November 1865 and to Bartlow in 1866.
Operation and services[edit]
The line was the initiative of the local Gibson family whose bank helped to finance the railway. It remained independent until 1 January 1877 when the Great Eastern Railway purchased the line.[3] The Engineer's Line Reference for the line is AEB.[4]
Initially, there were six return trains a day and, between 1877 and 1894, trains operated between Saffron Walden and London. Coaches dating from the 1890s operated on the line until the 1950s.[5] From July 1958, the line was operated by railbuses until closure.
Closure[edit]
The line closed to passengers on 7 September 1964 and to freight three months later. At Audley End, services used a separate platform, the building of which still remains, in the current car park (52°00′15″N 0°12′28″E / 52.0043°N 0.2077°E).
References[edit]
- ^ Saffron Walden Railway notes
- ^ R.S. Joby (1977). Forgotten Railways East Anglia. David & Charles. ISBN 0715373129.
- ^ Leslie Oppitz (1999). Lost Railways of East Anglia. Countryside Books. ISBN 1-85306-595-1.
- ^ "Engineer's line reference".
- ^ Richard Spendlove (1992). Branch lines around Cambridge. HEGA publications.