The Anonymous Widower

Soham Station’s Inaugural Year A Soaring Success

The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Rail Technology Magazine.

This is the first paragraph.

Soham station has seen healthy and consistent passenger usage over its first year since opening to the public, seeing almost 50,000 journeys starting or finishing there, according to Greater Anglia’s figures.

I took these pictures, when the station opened.

I think Soham station is a good design of a single-platform station.

• It’s a short walk from car park or drop-off point to the platform.
• There is adequate car parking.
• There is a shelter.

The station has also been built, so that it can be expanded.

These are my thoughts.

A Service To Cambridge

Soham station probably needs a train service to Newmarket and Cambridge, as it already has a two-hourly service to Bury St. Edmund’s, Ely and Ipswich and Peterborough.

Wikipedia says this.

There are no current plans for direct services to Cambridge, but the CPCA has expressed support for the idea in a future phase of the project. Mayor James Palmer said “the delivery of Soham station gives us a much stronger case to go to Government and Network Rail and lobby for the reinstating of the Snailwell loop which will provide a direct service between Ely, Soham, Newmarket and Cambridge”

This map from OpenRailwayMap shows the Snailwell Loop.

Note.

1. The triangular junction in the middle of the map,
2. The line from the junction leading East goes to Bury St. Edmunds and Ipswich.
3. The line from the junction leading North goes to Soham, Ely and Peterborough.
4. The line from the junction leading South goes to Newmarket and Cambridge.
5. The Western side of the junction was removed by British Rail.

It would appear that by reinstating the Western side of the junction, a service between Ely and Cambridge via Soham and Newmarket could be run.

There are proposals for new stations in this area and given the need for comprehensive commuter services into Cambridge this Ely and Cambridge service could develop considerably.

The simplest service pattern would be

• Peterborough via Ely, Manea, March and Whittlesea.
• Ely non-stop.
• Ipswich via Bury St. Edmunds and Stowmarket.
• Cambridge via Newmarket and Dullingham.

All trains would be one train per two hours (tp2h).

Snailwell Junction And Cambridge

There could be problems between Snailwell junction and Cambridge, as the line is mainly single-track and it would need to handle the following trains.

Ipswich and Cambridge – 1 train per hour (tph)

Ely and Cambridge – 1 tp2h

Sundry freight trains.

In Roaming Around East Anglia – Newmarket Station, I wrote this about the plans of the East West Rail Consortium in the area.

In this document on the East-West Rail Consortium web site, this is said.

Note that doubling of Warren Hill Tunnel at Newmarket and
redoubling between Coldham Lane Junction and Chippenham Junction is included
in the infrastructure requirements. It is assumed that most freight would operate
via Newmarket, with a new north chord at Coldham Lane Junction, rather than
pursuing further doubling of the route via Soham.

So would it be possible to create a double-track railway through Newmarket station?

In the related post, I came to this conclusion.

Newmarket can benefit from East West Rail, but the two parties must agree objectives that don’t cause problems for the other.

But I do think, that Newmarket will not welcome the building of a double-track railway through the town.

The Proposed A14 Parkway Station

December 9, 2022 - Posted by AnonW | Transport/Travel | A14 Parkway Station, Cambridge Station, East West Railway, East West Railway - Eastern Section Prospectus, Ely Station, Ipswich Station, Newmarket Station, Peterborough Station, Soham Station