The stations at Bramford, Claydon, Needham, Stowmarket, Haughley Road, Elmswell and Thurston all opened on this date.
The original route diverged from the main platform at Cambridge on a sharp curve and was the cause of operational difficulties for many years.
The Newmarket Railway then intended building extensions through to Bury St Edmunds, Ely and Thetford and an Act of Parliament of 1847[which?]
As well as new stations at Higham, Saxby & Risby and Kennett, a 1,010-yard (920 m) tunnel was required through Warren Hill at Newmarket and the engine shed at Bury that originally stood at the west end of the branch from Ipswich, was resited to allow the opening of the new line.
At Newmarket, trains from Cambridge arrived into the original 1848 terminus and would then reverse out before continuing the journey towards Bury St Edmunds (and they had to do the same in the opposite direction).
[11] The ENR act was passed in 1875 and construction began soon after, under the guidance of engineer George Hopkins and contractor John Waddell.
From the outset the single-track line was operated by the GER, and Fordham and Soham stations (both equipped with goods yards) all opened on 1 September 1879.
At the same time as the ENR line opened, a new low level island platform was provided at Newmarket to remove the need for trains to reverse into and out of the old terminal station.
There was still no direct line between Bury St Edmunds and Ely, so trains had to reverse in the Newmarket area.
This was primarily for people attending race meetings at Newmarket arriving from the north and east with those from the south using the original terminal station.
This was fortuitous as the route carried significant traffic during the Second World War to the many airbases located in East Anglia.
[12] Between 1945 and 1948 Newmarket Warren Hill station was closed to passengers although it is believed the last train ran in August 1938.[speculation?]
The Bury Free Press reported on 2 January 1959 that all local passenger services between Cambridge and Ipswich would now be operated by Diesel Multiple Units.
On 5 August 1966 the Suffolk Mercury reported that Barbara Castle, the Minister of Transport, had given approval for the closures of the stations at Fulbourne, Six Mile Bottom, Dullingham, Kennett, Higham, Saxham & Risby, Thurston and Elmswell.
The closures were to take effect from 5 November that year, but on 4 October it was announced that Dullingham, Kennett, Thurston and Elmswell would remain open.
[18] Further line rationalisation took place in 1978 when on 1 October tokenless block working was introduced between Newmarket and Dullingham stations.
[25] In January 2013, Network Rail released a five-year upgrade plan, which included reopening Soham station as part of improvements to the Ipswich–Ely line.
[27] It has long been envisaged that the Ipswich to Cambridge route would become part of the east–west rail scheme but it is unclear whether this will see double track laid throughout and through services from stations in the west of England such as Oxford operating.
[28] Reopening of Cherry Hinton and Fulbourn stations was proposed by Cambridgeshire County Council in May 2013 as part of an infrastructure plan to deal with projected population growth up to 2050.
The stationmaster at Bury knew an engine would be sent from Ipswich to investigate the situation (this being normal practice in the days before telegraph communication between stations).
To save time, four horses were connected to the two-coach train to pull it along the line to meet the locomotive coming from Ipswich.
The three men remained sitting on the carriage roof and a little further east the two stationmasters who had been facing Bury were hit by the bridge as the train passed under it.
[19] All traffic on the line was suspended for six months after a freight train derailed on the bridge over the River Great Ouse between Ely and Soham on 22 June 2007.
Rail replacement buses operated between Bury St Edmunds, Ely, March, Whittlesea and Peterborough for the duration until the section of line re-opened on 21 December 2007.