The railway company was formed by the amalgamation of the Lynn & Dereham, the Lynn & Ely and the Ely & Huntingdon Railways, on 22 July, 1847. By 1851 the company were almost bankrupt and in the May of that year Great Northern Railway agreed to operate the line, for 60% of the receipts. The Eastern Counties Railway contested this and, by blocking the line between between the systems at Wisbech, forced the GNR and the EAR to accepts its own offer. This became operative on 1st January 1852 and lasted until the company was absorbed by the GER in 1862.