The station was opened in 1845 as Mildenhall Road. In 1885 its name was changed to Burnt Fen, and in about 1904 it adopted its current name, Shippea Hill. On 7 April 1906, a passenger train was derailed due to excessive speed. Eight passengers were injured, two seriously. Ordnance Survey maps from the 1920s show a network of narrow-gauge horse-drawn feeder agricultural tramways running south west from the station yard onto the Hiam Estate. There was also a standard gauge private railway branch running east to a chicory factory, which in turn had a network of narrow gauge agricultural tramways running south east onto the Chivers Estate. On 3 December 1976, at about 4 pm, a passenger train collided with a lorry on an unmanned level crossing at Shippea Hill. The train driver, Robert Hitcham, was killed and eight of his passengers were injured. The wooden level crossing gates at Shippea Hill used to be operated manually by the signalman in the localsignal box. In 2012, the signal box was closed and the crossing was renewed with automatic barriers and warning lights.
Quietest UK railway station
Shippea Hill has been recorded as one of the least-used railway stations in Britain. According to Office of Rail and Road estimates, it was the least-used railway station in 2014/15 and 2015/16. In 2016/17 there was an increase to 156 passengers. This trend has continued in subsequent years, to a recent record of 432 passengers in 2018/19. Due to its unusual status, it sometimes attracts attempts to boost its numbers. In December 2016, a finalist from The Great British Bake Off attracted at least 16 people to the station by handing out free mince pies., and in 2017 there was an increase from All the Stations, a project to visit all National Rail stations in Great Britain. In June 2019, the Odd Socks, a society at the University of Cambridge, hosted a Garden Party at the station. 71 members of the Society and their guests, all students at the university, gathered on platform 2 for dancing and drinks before returning by train to Cambridge. Simon Usborne of The Guardian wrote, "It's hard to imagine a more desolate place to get offa train. Shipping containers for sale stand in a muddy yard behind the far platform, opposite the pitched-roof signal box, now shuttered. Otherwise the view is of field after field, some showing maize stumps, others now peat-black and ploughed."
Services
Shippea Hill is a request stop, so passengers must signal to the conductor or driver if they wish to alight or board. the station is served by one train per day to, except on Sundays. Additionally, on Saturdays only there is one train to. Despite the next station, Lakenheath, being only a few miles away, there are no direct services between the two stations.
