Eye Branch
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The Eye Branch was a two miles 72 chains long single track branch railway line in Suffolk, England that ran from Mellis railway station on the Great Eastern Main Line to Eye via one intermediate station, Yaxley Halt. It was the shortest railway branch line in East Anglia to enjoy a regular passenger service.
As early as the 1820s various railway schemes were planned to serve the town of Eye. In the 1840s, the town leaders of Eye lobbied to have a station on the main line, but when the main line from Ipswich to Norwich opened in 1849 it ran three miles to the west of the town and the provision of the station at Mellis railway station was "built to afford a communication with the neighbouring town of Eye". The station at Mellis was proposed by the Ipswich and Bury Railway as part of their route to Norwich. Such were the changes in the railway industry that in 1847 the Ipswich and Bury Railway became part of the Eastern Union Railway who started operating service between Haughley and Burston on 2 July 1849. This railway became part of the Great Eastern Railway in 1862.
It was not until 30 November 1864 an act was deposited for the building of the railway from Mellis to Eye. This passed into law on 5 July 1865 and the Mellis and Eye Railway (M&ER) started construction soon after.
The first special train ran on 10 December 1866 but it was not until 8 February 1867 that the Board of Trade inspected the line (the delay being as a result of bad weather). Regular passenger services did not begin until 2 April 1867 as the independent company negotiated with the Great Eastern Railway (GER) who supplied rolling stock to run the line. Eventually a deal was struck where the GER took 50% of the gross receipts in return for operating the line for ten years.
The GER exploited the fact the small company could not afford its own locomotives and rolling stock and in fact increased its take to 60% of gross receipts in order to cover the costs of operating the line. By 1883 relations between the owning company and the GER improved and a dividend was paid. Freight traffic was good at this point and when the GER finally absorbed the original railway company they paid face value for the shares.
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Wikipedia