Waterbeach railway station
Waterbeach | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| Location | South Cambridgeshire |
| Owned by | Network Rail |
| Managed by | Great Northern |
| Platforms | 2 |
| Other information | |
| Station code | WBC |
| History | |
| Original company | Eastern Counties Railway |
| Pre-grouping | Great Eastern Railway |
| Post-grouping | London and North Eastern Railway |
| Key dates | |
| 30 July 1845 | Opened[1] |
Waterbeach railway station is on the Fen line in the east of England, serving the village of Waterbeach, Cambridgeshire. It is 61 miles 1 chain (98.2 km) measured from London Liverpool Street and 63 miles 29 chains (102.0 km) from London King's Cross; it is situated between Cambridge North and Ely stations. Its three-letter station code is WBC.
The station and most trains calling are operated by Great Northern, with limited peak services being operated by Greater Anglia.
Waterbeach station is unstaffed, and has only basic waiting shelters on each of the two platforms. All the 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.[2]
Future plans
Plans to develop a New Town of 8,000 to 9,000 homes on the former Waterbeach Barracks site have been outlined by South Cambridgeshire District Council. As part of the proposal, there are plans to relocate the station to a new site and extend the platforms to accommodate 12 car trains.[3]
Services
Waterbeach is served by two train operating companies, Great Northern and Greater Anglia, and therefore has service to different London terminals.
Great Northern
Great Northern serves Waterbeach on its "Cambridge Cruiser" services inbound to London King's Cross and outbound to King's Lynn. Services are usually operated by Class 387s or, on occasion, Class 365s.[4]
Inbound trains call at Cambridge North and Cambridge, then run non-stop to King's Cross.[5] 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).[5]
Outbound trains to King's Lynn operate every hour during off-peak times with trains every 30 minutes during peak hours.[5] 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).[5]
Greater Anglia
Greater Anglia also provides peak services with trains running to Liverpool Street station in London and north to Ely and King's Lynn. These are operated by Class 379s.[6]
| Preceding station |  National Rail
|
Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cambridge North | Great Northern Fen Line |
Ely | ||
| Greater Anglia Fen Line Limited services |
||||
References
- ^ Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Yeovil: Patrick Stephens Ltd. p. 242. ISBN 1-85260-508-1. R508.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - ^ Brown, Raymond (20 February 2017). "New tactics to tackle bad parking as police flooded with complaints". cambridgenews. Archived from the original on 4 March 2017. Retrieved 4 April 2017.
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 6 April 2017. Retrieved 4 April 2017.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "New trains on London to King's Lynn route". 23 May 2017. Archived from the original on 10 December 2018. Retrieved 9 December 2018.
- ^ a b c d Great Northern route timetable Archived 10 December 2018 at the Wayback Machine Great Northern Retrieved 2018-12-09
- ^ Vehicle Change Notice Archived 28 December 2016 at the Wayback Machine Network Rail 14 April 2010
External links
- Train times and station information for Waterbeach railway station from National Rail