 The Waveney Valley Railway had been authorised in 1851 to build from Tivetshall on the Eastern Union Railway main line between Ipswich and Norwich, to Bungay.In 1853 it was granted authority to extend eastwards to Beccles, and at the time it appeared that this would be a further useful outlet for the traffic of the East Suffolk Railway.However the Waveney Valley company took some time to complete the line