Government Agrees To Fund £200m Cambridge South Station
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the BBC.
This is the sub-heading.
The government has agreed to fully fund a new £200m railway station.
These are a few points.
- Work has already started.
- The station is next to the city’s Biomedical Campus and Addenbrooke’s Hospital.
- Cambridge South station will be on the East West Railway.
It is expected to be open within two years.
I have a few thoughts.
Services At Cambridge South Station
In a typical hour, it seems the following trains go through the proposed site of Cambridge South station.
- 2 tph – Greater Anglia – Liverpool Street and Cambridge North via Tottenham Hale, Cheshunt, Broxbourne, Roydon (1tph), Harlow Town, Harlow Mill (1tph), Sawbridgeworth (1tph), Bishop’s Stortford, Stansted Mountfitchet (1tph), Elsenham (1tph), Newport (1tph), Audley End, Great Chesterford (1tph), Whittlesford Parkway, Shelford (1tph) and Cambridge.
- 1 tph – Greater Anglia -Norwich and Stansted Airport via Wymondham, Spooner Row (1tpd), Attleborough, Eccles Road (1tpd), Harling Road (1tpd), Thetford, Brandon, Shippea Hill (1tpd), Ely, Cambridge North, Cambridge, Whittlesford Parkway and Audley End
- 1 tph – Great Northern – King’s Cross and Ely via Cambridge, Cambridge North and Waterbeach.
- 1 tph – Great Northern – King’s Cross and King’s Lynn via Cambridge, Cambridge North, Waterbeach, Ely, Littleport, Downham Market and Watlington.
- 1 tph – Great Northern – King’s Cross and Cambridge via Finsbury Park, Alexandra Palace, Potters Bar, Hatfield, Welwyn Garden City, Welwyn North, Knebworth, Stevenage, Hitchin, Letchworth Garden City, Baldock, Royston, Meldreth, Shepreth and Foxton.
- 2 tph – Thameslink – Cambridge and Brighton via Royston, Ashwell & Morden, Baldock, Letchworth Garden City, Hitchin, Stevenage, Finsbury Park, St Pancras International, Farringdon, City Thameslink, London Blackfriars, London Bridge, East Croydon, Gatwick Airport, Three Bridges, Haywards Heath and Burgess Hill
- 1 tp2h – CrossCountry – Birmingham New Street and Stansted Airport via Coleshill Parkway, Nuneaton, Leicester, Melton Mowbray, Oakham, Stamford, Peterborough, March, Ely and Cambridge.
Note.
- tph is trains per hour.
- tp2h is trains per two hours.
This gives a base frequency through Cambridge South, Cambridge and Cambridge North of 8.5 tph.
Could some services be extended to Cambridge South or Stansted Airport?
- 1 tph – Greater Anglia – Ipswich and Cambridge via Needham Market, Stowmarket, Elmswell, Thurston, Bury St Edmunds, Kennett (1tp2h), Newmarket and Dullingham (1tp2h).
- 1 tp2h – CrossCountry – Birmingham New Street and Cambridge via Coleshill Parkway, Nuneaton, Leicester, Melton Mowbray, Oakham, Stamford, Peterborough, March and Ely.
These two trains would gives frequencies of.
- Cambridge South – 10 tph
- Cambridge – 10 tph
- Cambridge North – 9 tph
I have assumed these services would terminate at Cambridge South.
There could also be some new services.
1 tph – Greater Anglia – Wisbech and Cambridge via March, Ely and Waterbeach, Cambridge North and Cambridge.
1 tph – East West Railway – Oxford and Great Yarmouth via Oxford Parkway, Bicester Village, Winsford, Bletchley, Bedford, Tempsford, Cambourne, Cambridge, Cambridge North, Ely, Brandon, Thetford, Attleborough, Wymondham and Norwich.
1 tph – East West Railway – Oxford and Manningtree via Oxford Parkway, Bicester Village, Winsford, Bletchley, Bedford, Tempsford, Cambourne, Cambridge, Newmarket, Bury St. Edmunds, Stowmarket, Needham Market and Ipswich.
These three trains would gives frequencies of.
- Cambridge South – 13 tph
- Cambridge – 13 tph
- Cambridge North – 11 tph
I have assumed these services would terminate at Cambridge South.
The A14 Parkway Station
The A14 Parkway station is a proposal from the East West Railway.
- It would be just to the East of Chippenham junction and would be served by both Greater Anglia’s services between Ipswich and Cambridge and Ipswich and Peterborough.
- It would also be close to the major road junction, where the A11 and the A14 meet.
- It would be a Park-and-Ride station.
I believe it could be a major factor in cutting road mileage in East Anglia, as drivers going to Cambridge from Ipswich, Norwich, a large area of North-East East Anglia and North Essex could find that using the A14 Parkway station an easier and faster route. But the A14 Parkway would need a frequent service to the soon-to-be-three main Cambridge stations.
A Soham and Cambridge service could reverse at the A14 Parkway station or by careful timetabling, passengers would be able to change trains in a minute or two.
A Soham and Cambridge service, that terminated at Cambridge South, would give an extra train between Cambridge South and Newmarket and these frequencies at the three Cambridge stations.
- Cambridge South – 13 tph
- Cambridge – 14 tph
- Cambridge North – 12 tph
There would be a minimum interval of no more than five minutes between trains, if you wanted to hop between any of the three Cambridge stations.
Frequencies between Cambridge station and other main stations in the area would be as follows.
- A14 Parkway – 2 tph
- Attleborough – 2 tph
- Bishop’s Stortford – 2 tph
- Bletchley – 2 tph
- Bury St. Edmunds – 2 tph
- Ely – 6 tph
- Great Yarmouth – 1 tph
- Harlow Town – 2 tph
- Hitchin – 3 tph
- Ipswich – 2 tph
- King’s Lynn – 1 tph
- Letchworth Garden City – 3 tph
- Manningtree – 1 tph
- March – 1 tph
- Needham Market – 2 tph
- Newmarket – 2 tph
- Norwich – 2 tph
- Peterborough – 1 tph
- Royston – 3 tph
- Soham – 1 tph
- Stansted Airport – 2 tph
- Stevenage – 3 tph
- Stowmarket – 2 tph
- Thetford – 2 tph
- Wisbech – 1 tph
- Wymondham – 2 tph
Looking at this list, I think that the timetable needs reinforcing, to perhaps Colchester, Haverhill, March, Peterborough, Soham and Sudbury.
But these services will help.
- 1 tph – Greater Anglia – Ipswich and Peterborough via Stowmarket, Bury St Edmunds, Soham, Ely, Manea, March and Whittlesea.
- 1 tph – East Midlands Railway – Liverpool and Norwich via Liverpool South Parkway, Widnes, Warrington Central, Manchester Oxford Road, Manchester Piccadilly, Stockport, Sheffield, Chesterfield, Alfreton, Nottingham, Grantham, Peterborough, Ely and Thetford
But I can’t help feeling that the Stour Valley Railway needs to be reopened.
The Anonymous Widower 