Whittlesea railway station

This article is about the station in Cambridgeshire, England. For the former station in Melbourne, Australia, see Whittlesea railway station, Melbourne.

Whittlesea
Looking west from platform 2 towards platform 1 and the level crossing
General information
Location	Whittlesey, Fenland England
Coordinates	52.5493°N 0.1184°W / 52.5493; -0.1184
Grid reference	TL277963
Manager	Greater Anglia
Platforms	2
Other information
Station code	WLE
Classification	DfT category F2
Passengers
2020/21	8,026
2021/22	26,436
2022/23	33,738
2023/24	43,364
2024/25	51,194
Location
Notes Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

Whittlesea Railway Station is situated in the market town of Whittlesey, in Cambridgeshire, and is located on the Hereward Line, which runs between Ely and Peterborough. It was opened on 2 June 1845 by the Eastern Counties Railway as a part of a project to connect Ely and Peterborough by rail. Its name preserves the historic spelling of the town. Whittlesea Station originally consisted of two station buildings, one being on each platform, alongside a manually operated level crossing, although both of the buildings were later demolished.

It is located in between March and Peterborough stations, 94 miles 60 chains (152.5 km) away from London Liverpool Street via Ely.

History

All of the original station buildings have long since been demolished, and only the two staggered platforms remain. Unlike most level crossings, the gates at Whittlesea station are still opened and closed manually by a member of railway staff, who is based in the adjacent Crossing Keeper's Hut. Two ticket machines can be found at Whittlesea Station, one of them being located on Platform 1, and the other being located next to the path on the way to Platform 2, near the Crossing Keeper's Hut

On 14 September 1968, Flying Scotsman stopped at the station twice to have its tenders refilled with water. The locomotive was chartering The Chesterfield Flyer from Ipswich to Chesterfield, via Norwich.

Volunteer Station Adopters come and maintain the station in their spare time, as Whittlesea has no employed members of staff.

Station Updates

Updates to the station were announced on the 20th of May 2025 as a part of the plan drawn up by the local council and Hereward Community Rail Partnership. In early 2026, after several surveys were conducted by commuters and locals, it was announced that Whittlesea Station would be updated with longer platforms, an improved car park, and a pedestrian footbridge.

Services

Greater Anglia provides the primary service at Whittlesea. There is one train every two hours each way, including Sundays, between Peterborough and Ipswich; there are occasional extensions to Colchester.

CrossCountry operates three trains per day Monday-Saturday between Birmingham and Cambridge, of which two are extended beyond Cambridge to Stansted Airport.

East Midlands Railway runs a single morning service to Liverpool Lime Street Monday-Saturday only.

Preceding station		National Rail		Following station
March		Abellio Greater Anglia Ipswich–Peterborough		Peterborough
		CrossCountry Birmingham–Stansted Airport Limited service
		East Midlands Railway Liverpool–Norwich Limited service
Historical railways
Eastrea Line open, station closed		Great Eastern Railway Ely–Peterborough line		Peterborough East Line open, station closed

External links

Media related to Whittlesea railway station at Wikimedia Commons