Eastern Union Railway

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Eastern Union Railway
Dates of operation 1846–1862
Successor Great Eastern Railway

The Eastern Union Railway (EUR) was an early English railway, initially sanctioned by Act of Parliament on 19 July 1844, with authorised capital of £200,000 to build from Ipswich to Colchester. Further Acts of 21 July 1845 and 26 June 1846 authorised further increases in capital of £50,000 and £20,000 respectively. The latter Act also specified the options for connection with the pre-existing Eastern Counties Railway (ECR) at Colchester, including effectively 'buying out' the ECR's unexercised rights immediately east of that station.[1] One of the main protagonists was John Chevallier Cobbold and the engineer was Peter Bruff.

Opening

The EUR's Colchester-Ipswich line duly opened experimentally for goods traffic on 1 June 1846, passing government inspection shortly after. Following an inaugural passenger journey for VIPs and lavish opening ceremony on 11 June 1846, the line opened for public passenger traffic on 15 June 1846 from an end-on junction with the ECR at its Colchester station to a terminus at Ipswich. The distance was 17 miles with three intermediate stations, Ardleigh, Manningtree and Bentley. This now forms part of the Great Eastern Main Line.

Ipswich and Bury Railway

Another company, the Ipswich and Bury Railway Company (I&BR), was formed to build a line to Bury St Edmunds. Its Act of 21 July 1845 authorised capital of £400,000. Theoretically separate from EUR it had with many shareholders and directors in common with the EUR, and also the same Head Office location. It did not propose an end-on connection from the planned Ipswich station, but instead a connection slightly to the west via a tunnel under Stoke Hill, to a new station, which on completion replaced the old one. The line was 26.5 miles long, with intermediate stations at Needham, Stowmarket, Haughley, Elmswell and Thurston; it is now part of the Ipswich to Ely Line. The opening ceremony was on 7 December 1846 after goods traffic had started a week earlier; passenger service formally started on 24 December 1846. The EUR and I&BR were worked as one from 1 January 1847, and formal amalgamation was obtained by Act of 9 July 1847.

Extension to Norwich

The opening of this line led to the rapid decline of the River Lark as a navigation,[2] and a further extension from Haughley to Norwich opened on 12 December 1849.

Working by ECR

After a period of poor relations, the ECR took over the working of the EUR on 1 January 1854, a situation formally sanctioned by the Act of 7 August 1854. The two companies did not formally merge until they amalgamated with other railways to form the Great Eastern Railway in 1862.[3]

References

  1. ↑ Hilton, H.F. (1946). The Eastern Union Railway, 1846-1862. London & Leicester. 
  2. ↑ The Canals of Eastern England, (1977), John Boyes and Ronald Russell, David and Charles, ISBN 978-0-7153-7415-3
  3. ↑ Awdry, Christopher (1990). Encyclopaedia of British Railway Companies. London: Guild Publishing. p. 126. CN 8983. 
  • Body, Geoffrey (1986). Railways of the Eastern Region, Volume 1. Wellingborough: Patrick Stephens Limited. ISBN 0-85059-712-9. 
  • Moffat, Hugh (1987). East Anglia's First Railways. Lavenham: Terence Dalton. ISBN 0-86138-038-X. 
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