From the ' Suffolk Free Press' of Thursday 22 and 29 September 1966

At last Barbara Castle gives her decision


SUDBURY RAIL LINK IS TO STAY


Ten stations to close


Sudbury is to keep its rail link with Marks Tey and London. After a wait of 13 months, Transport Minister, Mrs Barbara Castle announced her decision on Tuesday.


In a statement issued by the Ministry of Transport this week, it was announced that Mrs Castle had recommended closure of the Shelford to Sudbury section of the line.


Stations affected by the closure will be Long Melford, Glemsford, Cavendish, Clare, Stoke-by-Clare, Sturmer, Haverhill, Bartlow, Linton and Pampisford.


Consent to close the Sudbury-Colchester section of the line has been refused. This means that stations at Sudbury, Bures, Chappel & Wakes Colne will remain open.


"The transport needs of travellers, notably those making connections with the principal London trains, can only satisfactorily be met by the retention of train services on this section", the statement went on.


"To meet the needs of travellers on the Cambridge-Sudbury section additional bus services will be introduced".


Mr A. C. Phillips, Hon Solicitor for the Sudbury and District Railway Action Committee, who conducted their case before the T. U. C. C. last year, said on hearing of the statement: "I am naturally very pleased and well satisfied as far as Sudbury is concerned, but sorry the rest of the line is to close.


"I am quite sure that the whole line would have been lost but for the strong objections which were made locally.


"I hope that the committee will still continue in existence and so persist in our endeavours to safeguard the interests of the travelling public as far as the local rail services are concerned", continued Mr Phillips.


Angry protests


This comment was provoked by the continued running down of the Stour Valley line which has brought forth many angry protests recently.


Mr Phillips added: "This is probably the right time to thank everybody who helped the Sudbury Committees, and I would particularly like to mention the interest shown by the two Members of Parliament concerned, Mr Keith Stainton and Mr Peter Kirk".


Chairman of the Sudbury Railway Action Committee, Mr Geoff Kisby said: "I feel a little pleased that we have still got our link with London".


"Three out of the 25 rural parishes in Clare Rural district have stations", said Mr John Alpress, clerk of Clare R.D.C.


"They are Clare, Cavendish and Stoke-by-Clare", he went on.


"It will also cause inconvenience to holiday makers who have been accustomed to using these stations to visit their relatives in the summer", added Mr Alpress.

22 September 1966 (Sudbury Edition)

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RAILWAY AXE FALLS


Haverhill to lose link


Minister of Transport, Mrs Barbara Castle, has decided Haverhill railway station should close. The Stour Valley line from Shelford to Sudbury will shut down altogether. This is the news after a wait of 13 months.


The section from Sudbury to Marks Tey for connections with trains to London, will remain open, however. While providing some relief for Sudbury, this is little solace for the disconnected Haverhill.


Haverhill could now quite easily become one of the biggest towns in the country without a railway. The Minister's decision is nevertheless the one that most people were expecting.


Stations affected by the closure of the larger part of the line will be Long Melford, Glemsford, Cavendish, Clare, Stoke-by-Clare, Sturmer, Bartlow, Linton, and Pampisford, as well as Haverhill itself.


A statement from the Ministry of Transport comments: "To meet the needs of travellers on the Cambridge-Sudbury section, additional bus services will be introduced".


PROMISES


On hearing the news of the closure of the Haverhill section of the line, Alderman Reg Poole, Chairman of Haverhill Urban Council said: "I am very disappointed - and I feel the Ministry have acted without carrying out the promises of the previous Minister of Transport".


He said he had understood that before firm proposals were made there were to be more consultations, but as far as he knew, no such consultations had been held.


Very careful attention would be given to making sure that adequate alternative bus services would be provided when the council received official notification from the Ministry, said Mr Reynolds, deputy clerk to Haverhill U.D.C.


HARDSHIP


"Three out of the 25 rural parishes in Clare Rural district have stations", said Mr John Alpress, clerk of Clare R.D.C.


"They are Clare, Cavendish and Stoke-by-Clare", he went on, "although the number of passengers has been declining, nevertheless real hardship will be caused to a certain number of people who rely on the train service from these villages and neighbouring parishes.


"It will also cause inconvenience to holiday makers who have been accustomed to using these stations to visit their relatives in the summer", added Mr Alpress.


The discontinuance of the service between Cambridge and Sudbury would disrupt the life of Grenville College, Stoke-by-Clare, said Mrs J. E. MacLeod, one of the co-principals of the school.


REGULARLY


She said several day children used the train to get to school from Cavendish and quite a few weekly boarders used it to go to Cambridge at the weekend. Although numbers who used the service were not great, she added they did use the train regularly.


Mr Alan Phillips, honorary solicitor to the Sudbury and District Railway Action Committee commented he was quite sure that the whole line would have closed but for the strong objections made locally.

22 September 1966 (Haverhill Edition)

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RAIL DECISION IS ONLY A REPRIEVE: POSITION 'MIGHT CHANGE'


Latest statement by the Ministry of Transport on the question of the Stour Valley railway suggests the Sudbury link may have been 'reprieved' rather than 'saved'. The impression is rather different to the one given by the original statement.


In the second statement, Mr J. H. H. Baxter, Assistant Secretary to the Minister of Transport comments: "It may be on a review of the situation in connection with some future proposal for the withdrawal of passenger services between Sudbury and Marks Tey, the matter might appear quite differently.


"Thus the present refusal (of permission to close Sudbury's rail link with London) does not in any way prejudge any such future proposal which the Railways Board might put forward should there be a material change of circumstances".


Mr Baxter says the Minister considered the report of the Transport Users Consultative Committee and all other relevant factors, including the advice of the Economic Planning Councils for East Anglia and the South-East, before coming to her decision.


BUS SERVICES


"She notes the view of the committee that for the section of line between Cambridge and Sudbury, having regard to the proposed revisions to the existing bus services and the proposed additional bus services, where there will be some small pockets of hardship, in the majority of cases, this will only amount to inconvenience".


The Minister accepts that the needs of people travelling between Sudbury and Marks Tey "cannot be adequately met by any pattern of alternative bus services".


She also guarantees that closure of the Sudbury-Cambridge section, including Haverhill, will not take place "unless and until" arrangements to ensure the extended bus services are available immediately the line closes.


The bus service between Cambridge and Haverhill looks as if it will be quite a good one and various additions are proposed for the Sudbury-Haverhill route over which buses from the firm of Theobald's operate.


Mr William Theobald Jnr, however, last week said while his firm had agreed to provide additional services, nothing had been decided about times of new services or re-arrangements of existing ones.


The ministry propose weekday services between Haverhill and Sudbury (via Sturmer, Stoke, Clare, Cavendish, Glemsford and Melford) as follows:


From Haverhill Market Place: 8.45 a.m., 1.15 p.m. and 6.20 p.m.; from Sudbury Market Hill: 6.40 a.m., 12.13 p.m. and 5.05 p.m. These services will connect at Haverhill with buses for Cambridge.


PROPOSALS


It is also proposed the weekday bus which at present leaves Cavendish for Sudbury at 6.45 a.m. should start out from Haverhill and similarly with the bus which leaves Clare at 4.42 p.m.


A further weekday service from Sudbury to Haverhill is proposed. It will leave at 9 p.m. - after the arrival of the Chambers' bus which departs from Colchester North Station at 8.02 p.m.

29 September 1966