Waterbeach railway station

Waterbeach Add→{{rail-interchange}}
General information
Location	South Cambridgeshire
Owned by	Network Rail
Managed by	Great Northern
Platforms	2
Other information
Station code	WBC
History
Opened	?

Waterbeach is a railway station serving the large village of Waterbeach in Cambridgeshire, England. The station lies on Fen Line from Cambridge to King's Lynn, electrified at 25 kV AC overhead. The station is 61.01 mi (98.19 km) from London Liverpool Street station via the West Anglia Main Line and 63.29 mi (101.86 km) from London King's Cross station via the East Coast Main Line.

Waterbeach station is unstaffed, and has only basic waiting shelters on each of the two platforms. All 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

The northbound platform in 2004

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.

Services

Waterbeach is served by two train operating companies, Great Northern and Abellio 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. Trains on these services are usually composed of Class 365 or, on occasion, Class 317 electric multiple units.

Inbound trains call at Cambridge and then run non-stop to King's Cross. 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).

Outbound trains to King's Lynn operate every hour during off-peak times with trains every 30 minutes during peak hours. 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).

Abellio Greater Anglia

Abellio Greater Anglia also provides peak services with trains running to Liverpool Street station in London, Ely and King's Lynn.

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Cambridge		Great Northern London King's Cross-King's Lynn		Ely
		Abellio Greater Anglia London Liverpool Street-Ely/King's Lynn

External links

• Train times and station information for Waterbeach railway station from National Rail

• Fen Line Users Association (FLUA)