Cambridge railway station

Cambridge
Cambridge railway station, front entrance
Location
Place	Cambridge
Local authority	City of Cambridge
Coordinates	52°11′38″N 0°08′17″E / 52.194°N 0.138°E / 52.194; 0.138Coordinates: 52°11′38″N 0°08′17″E / 52.194°N 0.138°E / 52.194; 0.138
Grid reference	TL462572
Operations
Station code	CBG
Managed by	Abellio Greater Anglia
Number of platforms	8
DfT category	B
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2004/05	6.060 million
2005/06	6.137 million
2006/07	6.522 million
2007/08	6.998 million
2008/09	7.572 million
2009/10	7.660 million
2010/11	8.245 million
2011/12	8.823 million
- Interchange	0.732 million
2012/13	9.168 million
- Interchange	0.528 million
2013/14	9.825 million
History
Key dates	Opened 1845 (1845)
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Cambridge from Office of Rail Regulation statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

Cambridge railway station serves the city of Cambridge in eastern England. It stands at the end of Station Road, off Hills Road, 1 mile (1.6 km) south-east of the city centre. It is the busiest railway station in the East of England, used by 8.8 million passengers in 2011/12.

Several routes start at the station including the West Anglia Main Line to London Liverpool Street, the Fen Line to King's Lynn, the Breckland Line to Norwich, services to Ipswich on the Ipswich to Ely Line, and the Cambridge Line, heading southwards and following an alternate route, to London King's Cross, via Hitchin. These routes are electrified at 25 kV AC overhead, except for the Ipswich to Ely and Cambridge to Norwich lines, which are diesel-operated. The station has the third-longest platform in England. Ticket barriers are in operation.

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 long platform (platforms 1 and 4) is typical of its period but was unusual in that (apart from a brief period in the mid-19th century) it was not supplemented by another through platform until platforms 7 and 8 were added in 2011. 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 of Cambridge helped block later 19th-century attempts to create a central station.^[2]

Historically, services from the station included:

• Great Eastern Railway
  • Main line from London Liverpool Street to Norwich and King’s Lynn
  • Cross-country services to Bury St Edmunds via Newmarket and to Colchester
  • Cross-country services via Ely, March and the Great Northern and Great Eastern Joint Line to northern England
  • Branch line to St Ives and beyond
  • Branch line to Mildenhall

• Great Northern Railway
  • Services to London King's Cross via Hitchin, including the Cambridge Buffet Car Expresses

• London and North Western Railway
  • Cross-country "Varsity Line" to Oxford

• Midland Railway
  • Services via St Ives to Kettering

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.

In around 1928 the London and North Eastern Railway re-signalled the station replacing its five signal boxes with two electrically controlled boxes, with the work carried out by the British Power Railway Signal Company.^[3]

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.

When the link to Stansted Airport from London Liverpool Street opened in 1991 the Hitchin-Cambridge Line became more important; all non-stop trains now take this route to London Kings Cross, reducing congestion on the very busy stretch of the West Anglia Main Line between London Liverpool Street and Bishop's Stortford.

The "CB1" area in front of the station buildings had been due for redevelopment by Ashwell Property Group. In December 2009 the developers went bankrupt and reformed under the name Brookgate. Part of the redevelopment scheme had included a £1 million contribution towards the Cambridgeshire Guided Busway scheme passing through the area.^[4]

In 2012 the station infrastructure was under scrutiny as it emerged passengers were forced to queue for over 40 minutes to purchase tickets.^[5]

Motive Power Depots

The Eastern Counties Railway opened a small motive power depot at the station in 1845. This was replaced by a larger depot on the west side of the line at the north end of the station, in 1847. This was enlarged in 1913 and again in 1932 but closed 18 June 1962 and was demolished to make room for a car park.^[6]

The Great Eastern Railway opened a small motive power depot on the east side of the line at the south end of the station for its own and Great Northern Railway locomotives in 1879. This was closed by the London and North Eastern Railway in 1924, and used as a wagon works until it was demolished in 1985. The Bedfordshire and Cambridge Railway opened a small motive power depot on the west side of the line at the south end of the station in 1862. This was closed by the London Midland and Scottish Railway in 2 December 1935, but remained in use, unofficially until 1951. The building was demolished in 1964.^[6]

Platforms

At 514 yards (470 m), Cambridge has the third-longest railway platform in the UK, after Colchester and Gloucester. This platform is divided into Platforms 1 and 4 with a scissors crossover in the middle to divide it in two, which allows trains from either direction to pass those already stopped there. Bay platforms exist at both ends of the station: Platforms 2 and 3 at the southern end of the station and Platforms 5 and 6 at the northern end. Platforms 7 and 8 are located on an island platform on the eastern side of the station. These came into use in December 2011.^[8]

Platform 1 is a 12-car bi-directional through platform generally used for northbound services to Ely, King's Lynn and Birmingham New Street. It is also used for some early morning southbound services to London King's Cross and London Liverpool Street and for some late evening terminating services.

Platforms 2 (10-car) and 3 (8-car) are south-facing bay platforms generally used for services to and from London King's Cross or London Liverpool Street (with some Sunday services to Stratford).

Platform 4 is a bi-directional 10-car through platform generally used for northbound services to Ely, King's Lynn and Birmingham New Street. It is also used for some early morning southbound services to London King's Cross and London Liverpool Street and for some terminating late evening services.

Platform 5 is a 6-car north-facing bay platform generally used for services to and from Norwich (and occasional services to and from Birmingham New Street).

Platform 6 is a 6-car north-facing bay platform used for services to and from Ipswich (with occasional services to and from Harwich International).

Platforms 7 and 8 are bi-directional 12-car through platforms generally used for southbound services to London King's Cross, London Liverpool Street and Stansted Airport. These platforms are also used for longer terminating trains from London Liverpool Street and London King's Cross.

.^[9]

Services

Railways around Cambridge
Legend Fen Line Cambridge Science Park (under construction) Cambridge & St. Ives Branch River Cam Cambridge & Mildenhall Line Ipswich to Ely Line (via Dullingham) Cambridge LNWR goods Varsity Line Cambridgeshire Guided Busway Hitchin to Cambridge Line Shelford Stour Valley Railway West Anglia Main Line

Cambridge is served by several operators.

• CrossCountry serves the station with its Birmingham New Street to Stansted Airport service, via Leicester and Peterborough. This is operated using Class 170 diesel multiple units. There is an hourly service in each direction.^[10]

• Great Northern serves the station as part of its service from London King's Cross. This uses Class 317 or Class 365 electric multiple units. Class 365 units usually work the Cambridge Cruiser and semi-fast services.
  • The "Cambridge Cruiser" (termed 'Cambridge Express' from London) runs non-stop between London King's Cross and Cambridge. There is an hourly service in each direction.
  • There are also hourly semi-fast trains between Cambridge and London, calling at Royston, Baldock, Letchworth Garden City, Hitchin, Stevenage and Finsbury Park.
  • There is an hourly stopping train to London King's Cross, calling at all stations between Foxton and Hitchin, then Stevenage, Knebworth, Welwyn North, Welwyn Garden City, Hatfield, Potters Bar and Finsbury Park.
  • Travelling northbound, there are hourly Great Northern services to Fen Line stations, calling at Waterbeach, Ely, Littleport, Downham Market, Watlington and King's Lynn. Off-peak these trains run non-stop between Cambridge and King's Cross; during peak hours additional stops are usually made. Some of these additional stops were phased out in First Capital Connect's May 2009 'Seats for You' timetable, since in some cases extra trains now run to call at the stops removed, such as Royston and Letchworth Garden City. A certain number of services to/from Cambridge start or terminate at Ely or Kings Lynn
  • In total there are 4 Great Northern trains per hour each way between Cambridge and London Kings Cross.^[11]

• Abellio Greater Anglia serves the station with three routes:
  • To London Liverpool Street via the West Anglia Main Line. These services use Class 317, Class 379 or occasionally Class 315 electric multiple units. During the morning peak a few services start back from King's Lynn or Ely, and during the evening peak a few are extended beyond Cambridge to Ely and King's Lynn. There are typically two services each hour, one stopping and one semi-fast. On Sundays some services from Cambridge do not go to London Liverpool Street, instead running from Cambridge to Stratford via Tottenham Hale. A few services to/from Cambridge end or start at Bishops Stortford or Ely or Kings Lynn.
  • An hourly service between Cambridge and Norwich via the Breckland Line. This uses Class 170 Turbostar units and usually departs from Platform 5. This service was started in 2002 by Anglia, which ordered four of these trains for use on the new service. On rare occasions these services use older Sprinter units.
  • An hourly service between Cambridge and Ipswich. This mainly uses Class 170 diesel multiple units with some services early in the morning and late evening using Class 153 or Class 156. One train a day continues to Harwich International. These services usually depart from Platform 6.

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Ely		CrossCountry Birmingham - Stansted Airport		Audley End
Terminus		Dutchflyer Cambridge - Amsterdam		Dullingham
London King's Cross		Great Northern Cambridge Cruiser		Waterbeach or Terminus
Royston		Great Northern Great Northern Semi fast		Waterbeach or Terminus
Foxton		Great Northern Great Northern stopping
Terminus		Abellio Greater Anglia Breckland Line		Ely
		Abellio Greater Anglia Ipswich to Ely Line		Dullingham
Whittlesford Parkway		Abellio Greater Anglia Liverpool Street-Cambridge/Ely/Kings Lynn Semi Fast		Waterbeach or Terminus
Shelford		Abellio Greater Anglia Liverpool Street-Cambridge/Ely/Kings Lynn stopping
Whittlesford Parkway or Shelford		Abellio Greater Anglia Stratford/Stansted/Bishops Stortford-Cambridge		Terminus
	Disused railways
Lord's Bridge Line and station closed		British Railways Varsity Line		Terminus
Histon Line and station closed		Great Eastern Railway Cambridge to Huntingdon		Terminus
	Historical railways
Harston Line open, station closed		British Railways Cambridge Line		Terminus
Barnwell Junction Line open, station closed		Great Eastern Railway Cambridge to Mildenhall		Terminus
Terminus		Newmarket and Chesterford Railway		Cherryhinton Line open, station closed

Future services

Cambridge North railway station

A new railway station is being built in the Cambridge suburb of Chesterton, close to Cambridge Science Park.^[12] According to the official proposal from Cambridgeshire County Council, which has the backing of the rail industry, the station will be located at Chesterton Sidings on the Fen Line. The station will connect to the Cambridgeshire Guided Busway and provide an interchange with Park & Ride and local Stagecoach bus services. Construction commenced in July 2014 and the station is due to be operational by March 2016.^[13]

Thameslink Programme

New services are anticipated for 2018, to destinations south of central London.^[14] In May 2014, a proposed timetable was released; the planned services are:

• 2 trains per hour to Brighton (fast) via Letchworth Garden City, Stevenage, London St Pancras, London Bridge, East Croydon, Gatwick Airport and Burgess Hill;
• 2 trains per hour to Tattenham Corner (semi-fast) via Letchworth Garden City, Stevenage, Welwyn Garden City, London St Pancras, London Bridge, Norwood Junction, East Croydon and Purley.

Transport links

Several bus services stop outside the main station building, linking the railway with the city centre and other parts of Cambridge, including Addenbrooke's Hospital. Buses also travel from the station out of the city to Sawston, Saffron Walden and Imperial War Museum Duxford to the south and Histon and Impington and Cottenham to the north. A taxi rank and a large area for bicycle parking are also located outside the station, although only a small number of free spaces are available for cycles.

Gallery

• 

  Panoramic view northward in 1960

• 

  Platform 3 with an Oxford train arriving, 1963

• 

  365538 arriving at Cambridge from London Kings X

• 

  The south end of the station, with the bay platforms originally used by GNR trains to Kings Cross and LNWR trains to Bedford and Oxford, viewed from Hills Road railway bridge after the 2010 fire at Foster Mill, a former flour mill to be a cultural centre as part of the CB1 development.

• 

  Railway station with the roundabout at the end of Station Road in front

• 

  General view of the entrance to the railway station

• 

  Entrance to the railway station

• 

  View of the railway station building

• 

  Cambridge station sign

• 

  View of Platform 1, looking north

• 

  View of Platform 3, looking south

• 

  View of Platform 4, looking south

• 

  View of platform 8, looking north

• 

  View of platform 7, looking south

References

Bibliography

• Fellows, Reginald B. (1976). London to Cambridge by Train 1845-1938. Cambridge: Oleander Press. ISBN 0-902675-65-6. 
• Fellows, Reginald B. (1976). Railways to Cambridge, actual and proposed. Cambridge: Oleander Press. ISBN 0-902675-62-1. 
• Gordon, D. I. (1977). A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain. V. The Eastern Counties. David & Charles. ISBN 0-7153-7431-1. 
• Spendlove, Richard (1978). Cambridge and its Branch Lines. 
• Warren, Alan; 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. 

External links

Media related to Cambridge railway station at Wikimedia Commons

• Train times and station information for Cambridge railway station from National Rail
• Historic England. "Details from image database (47778 )". Images of England. 

Great Northern Route GN core route stations King's Cross Finsbury Park Harringay Hornsey Alexandra Palace New Southgate Oakleigh Park New Barnet Hadley Wood Potters Bar Brookmans Park Welham Green Hatfield Welwyn Garden City Welwyn North Knebworth Stevenage Hitchin Northern City Line Moorgate Old Street Essex Road Highbury & Islington Drayton Park Hertford Loop Line Bowes Park Palmers Green Winchmore Hill Grange Park Enfield Chase Gordon Hill Crews Hill, Cuffley Bayford Hertford North Watton-at-Stone Peterborough Line Arlesey Biggleswade Sandy St Neots Huntingdon Peterborough Hitchin-Cambridge Line Letchworth Garden City Baldock Ashwell & Morden Royston Meldreth Shepreth Foxton Cambridge Train operating company Great Northern (part of Govia Thameslink Railway) Former operators West Anglia Great Northern (WAGN) First Capital Connect Closed line Varsity Line Closed stations Abbots Ripton Denver Enfield Harston Hilgay Holloway and Caledonian Road Holme (Cambridgeshire) Holme (Norfolk) Maiden Lane Offord and Buckden Ouse Bridge Stapleford Stow Bardolph Tempsford Three Counties Yaxley and Farcet Future stations and infrastructure Cambridge Science Park Hitchin flyover

West Anglia Main Line Audley End Bishop's Stortford Broxbourne Cambridge Cheshunt Elsenham Great Chesterford Hackney Downs Harlow Mill Harlow Town London Liverpool Street Newport Roydon Sawbridgeworth Shelford Stansted Airport Stansted Mountfitchet Stratford Tottenham Hale Whittlesford Parkway

Thameslink, Great Northern, Southern and Southeastern routes Thameslink and Great Northern routes serving this station Great Northern Peterborough & Cambridge London King's Cross Finsbury Park Potters Bar Hatfield Welwyn Garden City Welwyn North Knebworth Stevenage Hitchin Arlesey Biggleswade Sandy St. Neots Huntingdon Peterborough Letchworth Garden City Baldock Ashwell & Morden Royston Meldreth Shepreth Foxton Cambridge Great Northern Fen Line London King's Cross Cambridge (Cambridge North planned) Waterbeach Ely Littleport Downham Market Watlington King's Lynn Southern routes serving this station None Southeastern routes serving this station None Stations in italics are served on limited occasions, at peak hours or on Sundays only. Govia - National Rail - Thameslink and Great Northern - Southeastern - Southern - Gatwick Express - South West Trains