It was opened by the Great Eastern Railway in 1854 following the line's extension from Newmarket to Bury St Edmunds.

Freight services ceased several years earlier, on 28 December 1964, along with other stations along the line.

Saxham and Risby was one of four stations on the line between Ipswich and Cambridge which closed in 1967 following modernisation due to dwindling passenger numbers - the others were Higham, Fulbourn and Six Mile Bottom.

[4] Today, only a small part of the north platform remains alongside the station car park.

A railway terrace house still stands along Station Avenue and has been converted to private residence, however most of the surrounding area has been transformed into an agricultural industrial estate.