From the 'Suffolk Free Press' of 4 April 1963
Traffic and other figures for local stations will not be available following an embargo by British Railways.
Area Traffic Manager at Cambridge, Mr W. A. G. Suddaby, has issued a directive to Station Masters to this effect.
He told the Free Press that figures given for individual stations would not present a fair picture and would be prejudicial to his case.
However, some indication of current figures can be obtained from those that were given in 1960, bearing in mind that the Stour Valley line has shown big increases since.
As short a time ago as August of last year a railway spokesman at area headquarters said:
"I do not think anyone in the Sudbury or Stour Valley area has anything to worry about. Traffic in that area is still on the increase. Commuters from London are becoming more important".
In August 1960, the Free Press ran a story on the front page which said: 'Official figures show that Sudbury Station can more than justify its continued existence. A railway spokesman talked of 'a satisfactory increase in traffic since the introduction of diesel trains on the line'.
'The speeding up of services to London in recent years has resulted in a much more extensive use of railway transport as a means of reaching the city'.
'In the summer months the Stour Valley line has formed an indispensable link between Sudbury and the popular seaside resorts of the East Coast'.
In November 1958 our files show an interesting comment was made by the Great Eastern Line Traffic Manager, W. G. Thorpe, who, announcing diesel rail services, said:
"We are proud that East Anglia is in the forefront of railway modernisation. We intend to see that passengers on the Great Eastern get a service second to none."
We hadn't heard of Dr. Beeching then!