Waterbeach railway station

Waterbeach
The northbound platform at Waterbeach
Location
Place	Waterbeach
Local authority	South Cambridgeshire
Grid reference	TL500650
Operations
Station code	WBC
Managed by	First Capital Connect
Owned by	Network Rail
Number of platforms	2
Live arrivals/departures and station information from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage
2004/05 *	0.198 million
2005/06 *	0.214 million
2006/07 *	0.227 million
2007/08 *	0.250 million
2008/09 *	0.277 million
History
Opened ? (?)
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 Waterbeach from Office of Rail Regulation statistics. Please note: methodology may vary year on year.

Waterbeach is a railway station serving the large village of Waterbeach in Cambridgeshire, England. The station lies on Fen Line from Cambridge to King's Lynn, electrified at 25 kV AC overhead. The station is 61.01 mi (98.19 km) from London Liverpool Street station via the West Anglia Main Line and 63.29 mi (101.86 km) from London King's Cross station via the East Coast Main Line.

Waterbeach station is unstaffed, and has only basic waiting shelters on each of the two platforms. All station buildings have been demolished. The platforms are staggered on each side of a half barrier level crossing. Until electrification and the automation of the crossing, the platforms were located opposite each other.

History

Before electrification, British Rail services often did not stop at Waterbeach, or if they did stops would be unofficial. However, since electrification virtually all King's Lynn/Ely - Cambridge/London services have stopped there (the present timetable shows only three Monday - Friday in both directions not stopping there) passenger numbers surged, with people all across the area north of Cambridge in South Cambridgeshire using it as their primary station. As a result, passenger numbers are nearly as high as Downham Market, and the station sees a lot of parking problems.^{[citation needed]}

Services

Waterbeach is served by two train operating companies, First Capital Connect and National Express East Anglia, and therefore has service to different London terminals.

First Capital Connect

First Capital Connect serves Waterbeach on its Great Northern "Cambridge Cruiser" services inbound to London King's Cross and outbound to King's Lynn. Trains on these services are usually composed of Class 365 or, on occasion, Class 317 electric multiple units.

Inbound trains call at Cambridge and then run non-stop to King's Cross. During off-peak hours there is service every hour with supplementary trains every 30 minutes during peak hours, taking 58 minutes to arrive at King's Cross at an average of 65.4 mph (105.3 km/h).

Outbound trains to King's Lynn operate every hour during off-peak times with trains every 30 minutes during peak hours. Trains call at all stations and take 42 minutes to arrive at King's Lynn, operating at an average of 51.3 mph (82.6 km/h).

National Express East Anglia

National Express East Anglia also provides a limited service to the station, with trains running to Liverpool Street station in London.

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Cambridge		First Capital Connect London King's Cross-King's Lynn		Ely
		National Express East Anglia London Liverpool Street-King's Lynn

External links

• Train times and station information for Waterbeach railway station from National Rail
• Fen Line Users Association (FLUA)