Sudbury Branch Line

Gainsborough line
The Chappel viaduct carries a section of the Gainsborough line
Overview
Type	Community rail
System	National Rail
Locale	Essex and Suffolk
Operation
Owner	Network Rail
Operator(s)	Greater Anglia
Technical
Line length	11 miles 71 chains (19.1 km)
Number of tracks	1
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge

The Gainsborough line is the current marketing name of the Sudbury branch line, a railway branch line off the Great Eastern Main Line in the east of England, that links Marks Tey in Essex with Sudbury in Suffolk. It is 11 miles 71 chains (19.1 km) in length and single-track throughout.

Prior to the Beeching cuts initiated in the 1960s, the line, then known as the Stour Valley Railway, continued beyond Sudbury to Shelford in Cambridgeshire. Today the line is part of the Network Rail Strategic Route 7, SRS 07.10, and is classified as a rural line.

As of December 2016 the stations and all trains serving them are operated by Greater Anglia. The typical service frequency is one train per hour in each direction, with a timetabled journey time between one terminus and the other of 19 minutes.

The Stour Valley Railway opened on 9 August 1865, linking Shelford near Cambridge with Marks Tey in Essex, with 13 intermediate stations along the line.

The section between Shelford and Sudbury was closed on 6 March 1967 following the Beeching cuts, leaving Bures and Chappel & Wakes Colne as the only stops between the termini.