Six Mile Bottom railway station explained

Six Mile Bottom
Status:Disused
Borough:Six Mile Bottom, South Cambridgeshire
Country:England
Coordinates:52.1862°N 0.3052°W
Grid Name:Grid reference
Platforms:2
Original:Newmarket and Chesterford Railway
Pregroup:Great Eastern Railway
Postgroup:London and North Eastern Railway
Years:4 Apr 1848
Events:Opened as Westley
(to)
Years1:October 1848
Events1:Renamed Six Mile Bottom
Years2:1851
Events2:Stopped service to Great Chesterford; Started service to
Years3:1967
Events3:Closed

Six Mile Bottom railway station is a disused railway station on the Ipswich to Cambridge line between and . It served the village of Six Mile Bottom, until closure in January 1967. The station buildings and one platform remain as a private residence. Although the station is closed, the line remains in use by trains between Ipswich and Cambridge.[1]

The Newmarket and Chesterford Railway opened the station in 1848 on its line which connected Newmarket and . They had also commenced work on a line that would link Six Mile Bottom to Cambridge after which the company then intended to extend further with a line to Thetford which would give a more direct route to Norwich. The Eastern Counties Railway (ECR) who operated trains via Cambridge to Norwich were not happy with this and put pressure on the Newmarket Railway leading them to cease trading in June 1850.

However, under the leadership of bankruptcy commissioner Cecil Fane, the company was re-established in September of the same year and instead the line from Six Mile Bottom to Cambridge was completed using the track from the Chesterford – Six Mile Bottom section. This line then opened on 9 October 1851 and the Chesterford route was closed.[2] [3]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Disused Stations: Six Mile Bottom Station.
  2. Web site: Catford. Nick. Dullingham. Disused stations UK. Nick Catford. 10 January 2016.
  3. Robertson. Alic. Wilson. Bryan. Harley. Chris. Fulbourn(e), Cambridgeshire. Great Eastern Journal. April 2002. 110. 24.