NEW MARCH 2017.  British Railways planned to keep the Cambridge to Ipswich line open to passenger services but to reduce the number of intermediate stations to three - Newmarket, Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket. As part of that process they issued this book in September 1965, entitled 'Heads of Information in connection with the proposal to alter the passenger services between Cambridge and Ipswich'. It explained what impact this might have on the travelling public, though it is not clear exactly who the intended recipients were.

The plan entailed the closure of the stations at Fulbourne, Six Mile Bottom, Dullingham, Kennett, Higham, Saxham & Risby, Thurston and Elmswell. Haughley and Needham Market were also due to be shut, but these had been considered separately (presumably as part of a study of the main line to Norwich) and so do not feature here.

There is a large scale map of the whole line. It also shows all the roads in the neighbourhood and indicates the buses which currently ran along them.

The rest of the document is in typescript. Apart from one brief statement which shows the annual loss made, it is not concerned with the financial consequences to the railway. Instead it gives information about the patterns of travel at the time, and how these would be affected by the closure.

Appendix A provides the full current railway timetable for the line on weekdays, on Saturdays and on Sundays.  Appendix B contains a detailed train-by-train census of the passengers joining and alighting at each stop. This was carried out in July 1965 and gives the results for a typical weekday, a Saturday and a Sunday.  Appendix C is a traffic analysis from a Monday, a Tuesday and a Saturday in March 1965: this shows the total number of passengers joining at each station with a breakdown of their eventual destination, and the number alighting plus where they had come from.

Appendix D describes the existing alternative bus services available. Most were run by Eastern Counties but ones operated by Burwell and District, Premier Travel and Mulleys Motorways were there as well. For each service the tabulated data includes how close they passed to railway stations, how many journeys they made each day (all seven days are listed) and what the average gap in time was between successive runs.

Appendix E details the proposed amended and additional bus services upon closure of the stations and gives the full timings for them. Appendix F gives the full timetables for the existing buses which served parts of the route. For each one the service number is given. Most are Eastern Counties, but as well as the other three companies named above they include runs each Wednesday between Gazeley and Newmarket by F Carter & Sons of Kentford.

Finally Appendix G assesses how the proposed changes would affect passengers. Several typical journeys are given, with the present time taken by train and the time by bus currently and as planned. The fares are also compared, both day return and monthly season tickets.

The file will be available to download as soon as payment has been made. You go to your account and click on ‘Downloads’. New customers create an account as they place their order.