 A large tract of territory between Ipswich and Lowestoft remained unconnected to the growing railway network, and the route to London from Lowestoft and also Yarmouth was circuitous.The Eastern Union Railway opened a line from Colchester to Ipswich in 1846, and its ally the Ipswich and Bury Railway obtained Parliamentary authority to build a branch from Ipswich to Woodbridge by an Act of 1847, authorising share capital of £200,000.At the time Woodbridge was a port served by sea-going shipping.