 The Long Melford-Bury St Edmunds branch line from Melford to Bury St. Edmunds was also completed in the same year.The line was now connected to the Colne Valley and Halstead Railway at Haverhill serving Castle Hedingham, and .The closure of the line in 1967 under the Beeching Axe was the subject of a protracted battle and a proposal, led by Haverhill Urban District Council, that local authorities subsidise the line.