The town on the Cambridgeshire border that had two railway stations but now has none

While railways are still used to make millions of journeys across the UK each day, the rail network has far fewer stations than it used to. Many towns lost their train services in the 1960s – and one town near the Cambridgeshire^[1] border saw its number of stations drop from two to zero.

Haverhill, in Suffolk^[2], used to have two railway stations: Haverhill and Haverhill South. Both of these stations closed down in the 1960s and, to this day, the town has been left without one.

A number of calls have been made in recent years for the Cambridge to Haverhill line to reopen to passengers. The campaign was launched by Railfuture and the proposals were supported by the Department for Transport in 2021.

If approved, the line could link Haverhill to Linton, Granta Park and Cambridge South, with Railfuture adding it would “transform transport along the whole corridor out to Haverhill”. With that possibility on the horizon, let’s take a look back at the town’s previous stations.

Haverhill

Haverhill railway station was part of the Stour Valley Railway and was operated by British Railways. It was on the east side of Wratting Road at the end of the short access road and was a stop on the line between Shelford and Mark Teys.

It initially opened in 1865, before being renamed Haverhill North in 1923 and reverting back to its original name in 1952. It closed to passengers in 1967, with a Tesco^[5] superstore near where the tracks used to be.

Haverhill South

Haverhill South opened to the public in 1983 and was a terminus on the Colne Valley and Halstead Railway network. It was located south of Duddery Hill and ran through villages in Essex.

The station closed to passengers in 1924, but continued to serve freight trains up until 1965. Since then, the station has been demolished and the site has been completely redeveloped, lying mostly under a factory car park.

Future plans

Campaigners at Railfuture East Anglia wrote to councillors across Cambridgeshire in November 2023, asking them to consider the reopening the Cambridge to Haverhill line. They said it would provide a “fast and reliable link to jobs, education, healthcare and leisure”.

They added that it would be a better transport solution than the paused Cambridge South East Transport scheme (CSET), which was paused in October 2023 due to lack of funds. The Department for Transport also voiced their support for the plans, saying that the line was “a good case for future development”.

References

1. ^{^} Cambridgeshire (www.cambridge-news.co.uk)
2. ^{^} Suffolk (www.cambridge-news.co.uk)
3. ^{^} Calls for Cambridge to Haverhill railway line to reopen after transport plans paused (www.cambridge-news.co.uk)
4. ^{^} The Cambridgeshire town that went from having three railway stations to none (www.cambridge-news.co.uk)
5. ^{^} Tesco (www.cambridge-news.co.uk)