| Ely and Newmarket Railway | |
|---|---|
| Locale | Suffolk Cambridgeshire East of England |
| Dates of operation | 11 August 1875–1 July 1898 |
| Successor | Great Eastern Railway |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) (standard gauge) |
The Ely and Newmarket Railway was a railway company in England, which connected the city of Ely, Cambridgeshire to the town of Newmarket, Suffolk.
A plan by the Newmarket Railway to link Newmarket with Ely had been authorised in June 1847,[1] but the company got into financial difficulties during 1848 (with no work having been carried out on the Ely line), which led to the partial closure of their existing system in June 1850.[2]
Two more schemes were proposed for a railway between Ely and Newmarket, but these also failed.[3] A fourth was successful, being authorised on 11 August 1875 and opening on 1 September 1879.[3]
The line connected into the Newmarket – Cambridge line at Chippenham Junction.[3]
On 10 April 1888 the Great Eastern Railway (GER) agreed to lease the line for 999 years, backdated to 1 January 1888.[3]
The GER absorbed the line by an Act of Parliament dated 1 July 1898.[3]