Roaming Around East Anglia – Newmarket Station
I went to Newmarket station for two reasons; to assess if the East West Rail Consortium’s plans for Newmarket were feasible and also to see a friend, who trains racehorses in the town, to tell him about the plans.
I should say, that I haven’t been to Newmarket for perhaps six years and it struck me that the town was much more crowded with traffic, with a lot of full car-parks. Around the station, there were lots of cars parked. How many were owned by commuters going to Cambridge.
The Plans Of The East West Rail Consortium For Newmarket
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?
These are pictures that I took of the station.
It does appear that there is space for another track on the other side of the current track to the platform.
Newmarket station has some positive attributes.
- It is in the centre of the town.
- There is enough shelter and storage for cycles.
- The platform will be long enough for Greater Anglia’s new four-car Class 755 trains.
- There is a wide, spacious platform.
But these are outweighed by these drawbacks.
- The vehicle access is terrible.
- There is no Kiss-and-Ride facility.
- Car parking is in the surrounding streets and as it’s free, the local roads will get choked, especially when Greater Anglia’s larger trains are introduced later this year.
- The East West Rail Link will introduce a two trains per hour (tph) through the station.
- Will the platform at Newmarket be long enough for the East West Consortium trains, which will be running between Ipswich and Oxford? Probably not!
- There is no coffee kiosk, shop or toilets.
But above all it is not a destination station., that gives a good impression for visitors and tourists, who could make up a proportion of travellers.
The East West Rail Consortium are planning a parkway station on the A14 to the North of Newmarket and this will surely solve the problem of traffic and parking, that blocks the local streets,
But I believe that Newmarket needs a station, that will attract visitors.
My pictures, show the previous station building still standing next door to the current station.
- This could be converted into a first-class station with excellent passenger facilities.
- There could be a large taxi rank.
- There could be passenger drop-off and pick-up facilities.
- There is space for a bus connection to the race-course on race-days.
- Limited car-parking of a short-term nature.
- A two-hundred metre long platform could be built to accommodate the longest-possible trains.
This Google Map, shows the combined site of the current and previous stations.
Both stations are effectively side-by-side, with the current station to the East.
The large area behind the stations is parking for horse-boxes during the numerous sales at Tattersalls. For much of the year, it is virtually empty.
I’m pretty sure, that with some management, the area could serve both its current purpose and as a forecourt to a landmark station,, that would enhance the town and the racing industry.
I don’t think that a second platform would be needed for the following reasons.
- Adding the step-free access to the seond platform would cost a seven figure sum.
- Commuters into Cambridge would be encounraged to use the proposed A14 Parkway station.
- Probably only on race days, would there be large enough numbers of passengers to need to accommodate two trains in the station at the same time..
However space could be left, if a second platform were to be needed in the future.
Conclusion And Recommendations
The current Newmarket station is totally inadequate for the current service of one three-car train per hour in both directions.
Greater Anglia’s new Class 755 trains could be a car longer and will certainly attract more passengers to use Newmarket station, as new trains always do!
I feel that in the next couple of years, possible additional trains, more passengers and lack of car parking will create problems at Newmarket station.
I would recommend the following actions.
A14 Parkway Station
Work should start as soon as is practical for the A14 Parkway station, proposed by the East West Rail Consortium.
This station would have the following Greater Anglia services.
- Peterborough and Colchester – 1 tph
- Ipswich and Cambridge – 1 tph
These two services would give the following frequencies to these places.
- Bury St. Edmunds – 2 tph direct
- Colchester – 1 tph direct and 2 tph with a change at Ipswich
- Diss – 1 tph with a change at Stowmarket
- Ipswich – 2 tph direct
- London – 1 tph with a change at Cambridge and 1 tph with a change at Ely
- Newmarket – 1 tph direct
- Norwich – 1 tph with a change at Cambridge, 1 tph with a change at Ely and 2 tph with a change at Stowmarket
- Peterborough – 1 tph direct and 1 tph with a change at Cambridge
- Stansted Airport – 2 tph with a change at Cambridge
- Stowmarket – 2 tph direct
A14 Parkway station sitting at the junction of two of the busiest roads in East Anglia; the A11 and A14, and two important rail routes,would be one of the most important stations in the East.
The station could only be named after Ancient Britain’s most famous queen, who by repute once lived in the area.
Upgrade Newmarket Station
Hopefrully, the A14 Parkway station would ease the problems at Newmarket station and this would enable work to progress on the design of an upgraded Newmarket station, that would serve the town, the racing industry and the towns tourist attractions.
Improved Train Services To/From Cambridge
Once the East West Rail Link opens between Cambridge and Oxford, the current service between Ipswich and Cambridge, could eventually be replaced with a service between Manningtree and Oxford or possibly Reading, that calls at Ipswich, Stowmarket, Bury St. |Edmunds, A14
Parkway, Newmarket, Cambridge, Cambridge South, Bedford, Bletchley, Milton Keynes, Bicester, Oxford and several smaller intermediate stations.
The three Cambridge stations of Cambridge, Cambridge North and Cambridge South will also increasingly be connected to the surrounding stations like A 14 Parkway, Bury St. Edmunds, Cambourne, Ely, Kings Lynn, March, Newmarket and Peterborough. Services will be at a frequency of at least two tph, with some as high as four tph.
In addition, there could be new services to Haverhill and Wisbech.
Newmarket will get a share of these services and I wouldn’t be surprised to see these frequencies from Newmarket station to the three Cambridge stations.
- Cambridge – 4 tph direct
- Cambridge North – 2 tph direct and 2 tph with a change at Cambridge
- Cambridge South – 2 tph direct and 2 tph with a change at Cambridge
Cambridge is becoming one of the most important cities in Europe and Newmarket can benefit by holding on to big sister’s skirts.
West Suffolk And London Services
If you look at the sizeable towns in Suffolk, the following ones that are rail connected, do not have a direct train service to London.
- Beccles
- Bury St. Edmunds
- Felixstowe
- Halesworth
- Lowestoft
- Newmarket
- Sudbury
- Woodbridge
Greater Anglia’s new Class 755 trains, will be running three trains per day, between Liverpool Street and Lowestoft, which will reduce this list to just.
- Bury St. Edmunds
- Felixstowe
- Newmarket
- Sudbury
If Felixstowe is discounted as it is on a branch line busy with freight trains and Sudbury because it is on a single track branch line, we are left with just.
- Bury St. Edmunds
- Newmarket
Add in the proposed A14 Parkway station and is it feasible to run a service between London Liverpool Street and Bury St. Edmunds via Cambridge, Newmarket and A14 Parkway.
I calculate that a round trip would be possible in around four hours, thus making three trains per day possible.
I suspect, there would be capacity problems on the Southern section of the West Anglia Main Line, but if this were to be four-0tracked as is proposed, this would ease that problem.
So a service between West Suffolk and London, is probably one for the future.
A Final Conclusion
Newmarket can benefit from East West Rail, but the two parties must agree objectives that don’t cause problems for the other.
Roaming Around East Anglia – Coldhams Common
I took the spacious three-car Class 170 train from Cambridge to Newmarket.
This Google Map shows the area, where the Cambridge to Ipswich Line via Newmarket leaves the main Cambridge to Ely route.
The Cambrifge-Ipswich line is the loop at the bottom of the map crossing the green space of Coldhams Common.
These are pictures, I took as my train passed.
The East West Rail Consortium have plans for this rail line.
In this document on their 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 fit, the required chord between the two railway lines?
I suspect that a double-track chord would be preferred and there might be some extra tracks between Cambridge and Ely.
This Google Map shows the area in more detail.
Note the level crossing shown in my pictures.
The main problems in the way of a double-track chord that would allow trains to pass between the routes to Ely and Newmarket, would appear to be the industrial Buildings and the level crossing that gives access across the rail line.
But I don’t think that this will be the major problem, as industrial premises can always be relocated, especially if the compensation is good.
I estimate that it is likely, that two heavy freight trains in every hour in both directions should be passing across the quiet green space of Coldhams Common.
Would this be acceptable to the nearby residents and the users of the Common?
- The East West Rail Consortium are well funded and I suspect they have a cunning plan here, that could put a double track railway through this sensitive area.
- If the landowner of these industrial buildings happened to be Network Rail, that would surely help, as they would co-operate.
- There also appears to be very little housing alongside the Cambridge-Ipswich rail line.
I could see a solution, where more of the industrial buildings than needed were removed and some of the land given over to extend Coldhams Common.
Roaming Around East Anglia – Cambridge Station Square
Cambridge station now has a station square with a hotel, a pub, several coffee shops, a convenience store and a taxi rank, which is a big difference from when I left Suffolk ten years ago.
It is so much better than the crowded space squeezed between the car parking.
As a pedestrian, I like it! I was able to walk to everything I would need like a coffee, some gluten-free snacks, a bed, a decent meal, bus or a taxi.
The only thing missing is a proper tram to take you to the City Centre.
How many towns and cities need a station square like this in the UK?
Roaming Around East Anglia – London Overground’s Luxurious Metro Trains
I spent Friday and Saturday roaming around East Anglia, ending up at the football at Portman Road.
These pictures show one of London Overground’s Class 317 trains, which I used to start my journey between Hackney Downs and Cheshunt stations.
Some questions?
- Are then any other inner-city metro trains, where there are comfortable seats and tables for four?
- How are passengers going to react, when it is replaced with a high-capacity Class 710 train, with longitudinal seating?
- Will the wi-fi and charging points of the new trains compensate.
One factor that will help the changeover, is that most on the line are Class 315 trains, which need to be delivered to the scrapyard.
The Class 317 trains will surely find a good home.
Minicab Drivers Claim Discrimination Over New London Charge
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on The Guardian.
This is the first paragraph.
Minicab drivers are launching a legal action against the London mayor, Sadiq Khan, accusing him of discrimination against a largely ethnic minority workforce by making them pay the congestion charge while black cab drivers, who are overwhelmingly white, will be exempt.
Black cab drivers may or may not be overwhelmingly white, but I have certainly never seen a South Asian black cab driver.
But Central London is getting increasingly polluted and congested and this slows the buses, that I regularly use through the centre.
I am no legal expert, but I have a feeling, that the Ultra Low Emission Zone, which will extend to the North and South Circular Roads will be a very big factor in the next Mayoral Election.
The lawyers, who will be big winners in this debate, have surely been sharpening their pencils.
Ovo Partners With Glen Dimplex To Deliver Smart Heating
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on Utility Week.
If you read the article, you will find out how the humble electric storage heater could be joining the smart electricity grid.
This is a paragraph.
It says the facility to store excess energy can lower the cost of electrification by reducing the need for backup generation and investment in the power grid to increase its peak capacity. Analysis by Imperial College London has indicated that deploying smart flexible heating could cut decarbonisation costs by £3.9 billion per year.
This is going to be technology to watch.
Especially, if your heating needs are best met by some form of electric storage heaters.
Don’t Rule Out Rail Link Says Glasgow Airport Boss
The title of this post, as the same as that of this article on the Evening Times.
Surely, the Airport must know best what passengers want!
Articles In Today’s Times
In addition to World’s Top Wealth Fund Puts Billions Into Britain, there were other articles worth blogging about in today’s copy of The Times.
Build New Homes Away From Roads, Heath Watchdog Says
Surely, this very sensible! The distance can of course be vertical!
Plastic Packaging Used To Make Car Parts In Upcycling Revolution
Scientists working for the US Department of Defense have shown it is possible to convert recycled PET bottles and other packaging into useful long-life products.
Corbyn’s Favourite Firebrand Is Suspended In Antisemitism Row
My father believed that there was little different between the extreme left as represented by Stalin and the extreme right as represented by Hitler.
Agent Orange Shows Fatty The Third The Art Of No Deal
The title of this post is my translation of the front page headline of today’s Evening Standard.
- Agent Orange is Spike Lee’s nickname for the current US President.
- Fatty The Third is how the Chinese refer to Kim Jong-un on social media.
These two imbeciles deserve each other!
The Anonymous Widower 