Cambridge railway station

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Cambridge
Cambridge railway station, front entrance
Location
Place Cambridge
Local authority Cambridge
Operations
Station code CBG
Managed by National Express East Anglia
Platforms in use 6
Live departures and station information from National Rail
Annual Rail Passenger Usage
2004/05 * 6.060 million
2005/06 * 6.137 million
History
Key dates Opened 1845
National Rail - UK railway stations

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z  
* Annual passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Cambridge from Office of Rail Regulation statistics.
Portal:Cambridge railway station
 UK Railways Portal

Cambridge railway station is a railway station serving the city of Cambridge in Cambridgeshire, England.

There are several routes starting at the station

Most of these routes are electrified at 25 kV AC overhead but the Ipswich to Ely Line isn't.

At 514 yards, it is sometimes claimed that Cambridge has the longest railway platform in the country, but this honour belongs to Gloucester. This suggestion is due to the station having only one through platform, with a scissors crossover in the middle to divide it in two, and to allow trains from both directions to pass trains already stopped there. The section south of the crossover is platform 1 (alongside bay platforms 2 and 3), and the section north is platform 4 (alongside bays 5 and 6). There are proposals to create an additional island platform incorporating platforms 7 and 8, on the eastern side of the station. This would enable southbound through trains to use these new platforms enabling the existing platforms 1 and 4 to be used exclusively for northbound trains. However, there is no timescale for this and costs have escalated in recent years.

The station was built some distance from the town centre (about one mile (1.6 km) south-east) owing to opposition from university authorities according to legend, but engineering factors were also important. There are tentative plans to built an additional station at Chesterton (Cambridge Parkway) approximately 3 miles north of the existing station. It is envisaged that this may alleviate some of the pressure on the existing station.

Contents

[edit] Services

One of East Anglia's major stations, Cambridge is served by several operators.

  • First Capital Connect serve the station as part of their service from London King's Cross. These services use Class 317 or Class 365 electrical multiple units, although Class 365 units usually work the Cambridge Cruiser and semi-fast services.
    • The "Cambridge Cruiser" (termed 'Cambridge Express' from London) operates non-stop between London and Cambridge. It operates every 30 minutes Monday-Saturday during the off-peak, departing Cambridge for London at xx15 and xx45. One service per hour continues beyond Cambridge, stopping at all stations on the Fen Line to King's Lynn. The northbound service departs Cambridge at xx33 for King's Lynn, and the southbound service forms the xx45 Cambridge Cruiser departure to London. The Cambridge Cruiser north and south bound services depart each hour at xx15 on Sundays and bank holidays.
    • There are also semi-fast trains between Cambridge and London, calling at Royston, Baldock, Letchworth Garden City, Hitchin, Stevenage and Finsbury Park. These services depart Cambridge at xx24 or xx28.
    • There is an hourly stopping service to London King's Cross, stopping at all station to Stevenage, then Knebworth, Welwyn North, Welwyn Garden City, Hatfield and Potters Bar. These services depart Cambridge at xx54.
    • An hourly service between Cambridge and Norwich via the Breckland Line. These services use new Turbostar units. During the weekday off-peak, these trains depart at xx12. From the new Summer 2007 timetable, all trains will call at Brandon and there will be additional stops on Sundays at Lakenheath (for the nearby RSPB reserve).
    • The Ipswich-Cambridge service. These services use Class 153, Class 156 or rarely, Class 170 diesel multiple units. Almost without exception, these depart (Monday to Saturday) at xx43, with the 1943 extended through to Harwich International.
  Preceding station     National Rail     Following station  
Terminus   National Express East Anglia
Breckland Line		   Ely
Terminus   National Express East Anglia
Ipswich to Ely Line		   Dullingham
Whittlesford Parkway   National Express East Anglia
West Anglia Main Line Semi Fast		   Terminus
Shelford   National Express East Anglia
West Anglia Main Line stopping		  
London King's Cross   First Capital Connect
Cambridge Cruiser		   Waterbeach
or
Terminus
Terminus   Dutchflyer
Cambridge-Amsterdam		   Dullingham
Ely   CrossCountry
Birmingham - Stansted Airport		   Audley End
Ely   East Midlands Trains
   Terminus
Great Northern semi-fast Terminus
Great Northern stopping Terminus

[edit] History

The Eastern Counties Railway opened to Cambridge in 1845. The station building, with its long classical façade and porte-cochère (infilled during the 20th century) has been attributed to both Sancton Wood and Francis Thompson[1] and is listed Grade II. The single long platform is typical of its period but now unusual in that (apart from a brief period in the mid-19th century) it was never supplemented by another through platform. There were major platform lengthenings and remodellings of the main building in 1863 and 1908. The station layout was altered in 1896 by deviating the Newmarket line approaches.

The University helped to block later 19th century attempts to create a central station.[2] It also took powers to allow it to prevent undergraduates from travelling by train.

Historically, services from the station included

  • Great Northern Railway
    • Services to London King's Cross via Hitchin, the best remembered being the Cambridge Buffet Car Expresses (known as the “beer trains”)

Each of the four companies also had its own goods facilities in the station area, and, except for the M.R., its own motive power depot. The G.E.R. maintained a special locomotive for the Royal Train here. Under the London and North Eastern Railway in the 1920s signal boxes in the station area were converted to electric operation.

The line from Bishop's Stortford to Cambridge was electrified by British Rail in 1987, enabling electric trains to operate between Liverpool Street and Cambridge.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Biddle, Gordon and Nock, O. S. (1983). The Railway Heritage of Britain. Michael Joseph. 
  2. ^ Gray, Adrian (1976). "Cambridge’s quest for a central station". Journal of the Railway and Canal Historical Society 22: 22–4. 

[edit] Bibliography

  • Fellows, Reginald B. (1976). London to Cambridge by Train 1845-1938. Oleander Press.  ISBN 0-902675-65-6
  • Fellows, Reginald B. (1976). Railways to Cambridge, actual and proposed. Oleander Press.  ISBN 0-902675-62-1
  • Gordon, D. I. (1977). A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain. Vol. V, The Eastern Counties. David & Charles.  ISBN 0-7153-7431-1
  • Spendlove, Richard (1978). Cambridge and its Branch Lines. 
  • Warren, Alan and Phillips, Ralph (1987). Cambridge Station: a tribute. British Rail. 
  • Bonavia, Michael R. (1996). The Cambridge Line. Ian Allan.  ISBN 0-7110-2333-6
  • Skelsey, Geoffrey (2005). "“Of great public advantage”: aspects of Cambridge and its railways 1845–2005". Backtrack 19: 400–6,501–6,573–4. 

[edit] External links

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