Cambridge railway station

Cambridge
Cambridge railway station, front entrance
Location
Place	Cambridge
Local authority	Cambridge
Coordinates	52.194°N 0.138°E / 52.194; 0.138
Grid reference	TL462572
Operations
Station code	CBG
Managed by	Greater Anglia
Number of platforms	8
Live arrivals/departures and station information 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 *	7.661 million
History
Opened 1845 (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 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. Please note: methodology may vary year on year.

Panoramic view northward in 1960

Cambridge railway station serves the city of Cambridge in eastern England. It stands at the end of Station Road, off Hills Road, 1 mile south-east of the city centre. It is the busiest railway station in the East of England, with almost 8 million passengers using it in 2009/10.

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 Line, which is 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 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 of Cambridge helped to block later 19th century attempts to create a central station. It also took powers to prevent undergraduates travelling by train.

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. 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.

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 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.

The "CB1" area in front of the station buildings had been due for redevelopment by Ashwell Property Group. In December 2009 the developers went bust 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.

Platforms

Platform 8 Platform 7
Platform 4 Platform 5				Platform 1 Platform 2
		Station building
Platform 6				Platform 3

Plan of current 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).

On the eastern side of the station is a newly constructed island platform with two faces (Platforms 7 and 8). These came into use in December 2011, enabling 12-car trains to use the station for the first time.

Platform 1 is generally used for southbound through services to London King's Cross (with some additional peak services to London Liverpool Street). It is also occasionally used for through northbound services or for frequently terminating trains.

Platforms 2 and 3 are south-facing bay platforms used primarily for services to London King's Cross or London Liverpool Street.

Platform 4 is generally used for both Birmingham New Street and Stansted CrossCountry services and also occasionally for through southbound services to London or terminating trains as well as services to Kings Lynn.

Platform 5 is a north-facing bay platform used almost exclusively for services to Norwich (and occasionally Birmingham New Street).

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

Platforms 7 and 8 are bi-directional 12-car through platforms.

Services

Railways around Cambridge
Legend Fen Line Cambridge & St. Ives Branch River Cam Cambridge & Mildenhall Line Barnwell Junction Ipswich to Ely Line (via Dullingham) Cambridge LNWR goods Varsity Line Cambridgeshire Guided Busway 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.

• First Capital Connect 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.
    • At London King's Cross, stopping trains are often displayed as operating to Foxton, the last station before Cambridge, though the train does actually continue in service to Cambridge. This is done when users will arrive earlier by waiting for the next non-stop service. Likewise, stopping trains from Cambridge to King's Cross are often displayed as running to Finsbury Park.
  • Travelling northbound, there are hourly FCC 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 FCC'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.
  • In total there are approximately 3 FCC trains per hour each way between Cambridge and London Kings Cross.

• Greater Anglia serves the station with three routes:
  • To London Liverpool Street via the West Anglia Main Line. These services use Class 317 or occasionally Class 315 electric multiple units. During the morning peak some services start back from King's Lynn or Ely, and during the evening peak some 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 do not go to London Liverpool Street, instead calling at all stations to Stratford via Tottenham Hale.
  • 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 uses Class 153, Class 156 or rarely, Class 170 diesel multiple units. 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		First Capital Connect Cambridge Cruiser		Waterbeach or Terminus
Royston		First Capital Connect Great Northern semi-fast		Terminus
Foxton		First Capital Connect Great Northern stopping		Terminus
Terminus		Greater Anglia Breckland Line		Ely
		Greater Anglia Ipswich to Ely Line		Dullingham
Whittlesford Parkway		Greater Anglia West Anglia Main Line Semi Fast		Terminus
Shelford		Greater Anglia West Anglia Main Line stopping
	Disused railways
Lord's Bridge		British Railways Varsity Line		Terminus
Harston		British Railways Hitchin-Cambridge Line		Terminus
Histon		Great Eastern Railway Cambridge and Huntingdon railway		Terminus

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. Bicycle rental is available from a shop adjacent to the station.

Gallery

• 

  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

View of the railway station at the end of Station Road

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 0902675621.  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 0711023336.  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
• Details from listed building database (47778) . Images of England. English Heritage.