Up to 1923

In 1822, the first survey for a railway line in the Cambridge area was made and, in the 1820s and 1830s, a number of other surveys were undertaken none of which came to fruition although the Northern and Eastern Railway had opened up a line as far as Bishop's Stortford by May 1842.^[1] The financial climate in the early 1840s ensured that no further scheme got off the ground but, by 1843, Parliament had passed an act enabling the Northern and Eastern Railway to extend the line to Newport (Essex). The following year, a further act was passed, extending the rights to build a railway through to Cambridge itself. In 1844, the Northern and Eastern Railway was leased by the Eastern Counties Railway (ECR), which built the extension.^[2]

The 1844 act also covered an extension of the line north of Cambridge to Brandon in Suffolk forming an end on connection to the line through to Norwich. Robert Stephenson was appointed engineer and, on 29 July 1845, the station opened with services operating from Bishopsgate station in London via Stratford and Bishops Stortford.^[3]

In the years following the opening of the main line from Cambridge through to Norwich in 1845, other railways were built to Cambridge. Initially, some of these planned to have separate stations but opposition from the university saw them all eventually using the same station. The first line to arrive was the St Ives to Huntingdon line which opened in 1847 and was built by the East Anglian Railway. Services to Peterborough also commenced that year, with the opening of the line from Ely via March to Peterborough, which also became the main route for coal traffic into East Anglia which was built by the Eastern Counties Railway.^[4]

The following year, the Eastern Counties Railway opened a line between St Ives and March which saw some passenger services although the coal traffic (mentioned above) was then diverted on to this route.

In 1851, a branch line from Newmarket to Cambridge (Coldham Lane Junction) was opened which partly used the alignment of the Newmarket and Chesterford Railway which subsequently closed. In 1854, the Newmarket line was extended eastwards to meet the Eastern Union Railway line at Bury St Edmunds, allowing through running to Ipswich.^[4]

A parliamentary act in 1848 was granted to the Royston and Hitchin Railway to extend its line from Royston. Although Cambridge was its goal, Parliament sanctioned only an extension as far as Shepreth (as the Eastern Counties Railway had opposed the extension to Cambridge). The line was completed in 1851 and initially the GNR, who had leased the Royston and Hitchin Railway in the interim, ran a connecting horse-drawn omnibus service. This proved unsuccessful, so in April 1852 the line was extended to join the ECR main line south of Cambridge and was leased to the Eastern Counties Railway for 14 years with a connection to enable the ECR to run trains from Cambridge to Hitchin.^[5]

In 1862, the Bedford and Cambridge Railway opened. Originally a local undertaking, it was soon acquired by the London & North Western Railway (LNWR), extended to Bletchley, and saw services between Oxford and Cambridge introduced on what became known as the "Varsity Line".

By the 1860s, the railways in East Anglia were in financial trouble and most were leased to the ECR; they wished to amalgamate formally, but could not obtain government agreement for this until 1862, when the Great Eastern Railway was formed by amalgamation. Thus Cambridge became a GER station in 1862.^[6]

The University of Cambridge helped block later 19th-century attempts to create a central station.^[7]

The GER opened the cross-country line from Marks Tey via Sudbury and Haverhill to Shelford in 1865, which enabled the introduction of direct services to Colchester.^[4]

The Midland Railway built a line from Kettering to Huntingdon which opened in 1866 and services ran to Cambridge using running powers over the Huntingdon to St Ives line. In 1866 the Great Northern Railway (GNR) again applied to run services from King's Cross as the lease on the line to Hitchin was ending. Initially the GER opposed this but eventually agreement was reached and, from 1 April 1866, services started operating between Cambridge and King's Cross from a dedicated platform at Cambridge station.

In 1882, the Great Northern and Great Eastern Joint Railway was opened. As well as becoming the major route for coal traffic from the north east to East Anglia it saw the introduction of direct services between London, Cambridge and York. Goods trains generally passed Cambridge on dedicated goods lines to the east of the station. Between these and the station a number of carriage sidings existed.

The next line to open was in 1884 when the Fordham line opened joining the main line towards Ely at Barnwell Junction. The following year the branch to Mildenhall railway station opened and services operated direct from there to Cambridge.^[4]

A 1914 Railway Clearing House map showing (right) railways in the vicinity of Cambridge

Each of the four companies also had its own goods facilities in the station area and, except for the M.R., its own motive power depot. The G.E.R. maintained a special locomotive for the Royal Train here for workings between London and Sandringham.

LNER 1923-1947

In the 1923 Grouping, the GER amalgamated with other railways to form the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) and Cambridge became a LNER station. The Midland and LNWR similarly amalgamated with other railways to form the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS).

In around 1928, the London and North Eastern Railway re-signalled the station replacing its five signal boxes with two electrically controlled boxes, with the work carried out by the British Power Railway Signal Company.^[8]

British Railways 1948-1996

Following nationalisation of the UK's railways, Cambridge station was operated by the Eastern Region of British Railways.

East Anglia was one of the first areas in the UK where British Railways wanted to phase out steam operation in favour of diesel traction. From 1959, diesels started to take over operation of services with Cambridge engine shed closing to steam in 1962. Diesel shunters and DMUs were allocated to another shed on the opposite side of the line known as Coldham Lane.

The 1960s saw a series of closures and a number of the lines serving Cambridge were closed at this time.

First to go was the lightly used line to Mildenhall, closed to passengers on 18 June 1962.

The Stour Valley Railway route to Colchester via Haverhill and Sudbury closed on 6 March 1967 although the Sudbury-Marks Tey section remains operational as a branch line. The Varsity Line to Oxford also saw passenger services to Bedford withdrawn during this year (on 30 December 1967) as did the line between March and St Ives.

Passenger services along the Cambridge & St. Ives Branch managed to survive the Beeching Axe, but with British Rail citing heavy losses the final passenger service ran between St Ives and Cambridge on 5 October 1970. Despite campaigns to reopen the service during the 1970s, the only subsequent rail traffic on the line was a freight service to Chivers in Histon which ran until 1983 and a contract to ferry sand from ARC at Fen Drayton which continued until May 1992.^[9]

The line from Bishop's Stortford to Cambridge was electrified by British Rail in 1987, enabling electric trains to operate between Liverpool Street and Cambridge.

When the link to Stansted Airport from London Liverpool Street opened in 1991, the Cambridge line became more important; all non-stop trains now take this route to London King's Cross, reducing congestion on the very busy stretch of the West Anglia Main Line between London Liverpool Street and Bishop's Stortford.

The privatisation era 1994 - present

Services up to 1923

• Great Eastern Railway
  • Main line from London Liverpool Street to Norwich and King's Lynn
  • Cross-country services to Bury St Edmunds via Newmarket and to Colchester
  • Cross-country services via Ely, March and the Great Northern and Great Eastern Joint Line to northern England
  • Branch line to St Ives and beyond
  • Branch line to Mildenhall
• Great Northern Railway
  • Services to London King's Cross via Hitchin, including the Cambridge Buffet Car Expresses
• London and North Western Railway
  • Cross-country "Varsity Line" to Oxford
• Midland Railway
  • Services via St Ives to Kettering

Present day services

Railways around Cambridge
Fen Line Cambridge North Cambridge & St Ives branch River Cam Cambridge & Mildenhall Line Ipswich–Ely line (via Dullingham) Cambridge LNWR goods Varsity Line Cambridgeshire Guided Busway Cambridge South Cambridge line Shelford Stour Valley Railway West Anglia Main Line

Cambridge is served by several operators.

Summary

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Ely		CrossCountry Birmingham to Cambridge		Stansted Airport or Terminus
Foxton or Royston		Thameslink Hitchin to Cambridge Line		Terminus
London King's Cross		Great Northern Fen Line		Cambridge North
Royston Peak Hours Only
Whittlesford Parkway or Terminus		Greater Anglia Breckland Line
Whittlesford Parkway or Shelford		Greater Anglia West Anglia Main Line		Cambridge North or Terminus
Terminus		Greater Anglia Ipswich to Ely Line		Dullingham or Newmarket
	Future Services
Cambourne		East West Rail Oxford-Norwich		Ely
		East West Rail Oxford-Ipswich		Bury St Edmunds
	Disused railways
Lord's Bridge Line and station closed		British Railways Varsity Line		Terminus
Histon Line and station closed		Great Eastern Railway Cambridge to Huntingdon
	Historical railways
Harston Line open, station closed		British Railways Cambridge Line		Terminus
Barnwell Junction Line open, station closed		Great Eastern Railway Cambridge to Mildenhall
Terminus		Newmarket and Chesterford Railway		Cherryhinton Line open, station closed

Future services

Local and regional bus services

Several local bus services by Stagecoach in Cambridge and Whippet Coaches stop immediately south-west of the main station building. There are 9 stops linking the railway with the city centre and other parts of Cambridge, including Addenbrooke's Hospital, and the surrounding area. The southern section of the Cambridgeshire Guided Busway connects directly to the station, allowing buses to run from Trumpington via the station to St. Ives and Huntingdon. Buses also travel from the station out of the city to Sawston and Saffron Walden. A taxi rank is located just outside the main entrance.

Cambridge Cycle Point

Since February 2016, a 3-story cycle parking facility, with up to 2,850 spaces, has been open, named Cambridge Cycle Point.^[21] It is located in a building just to the north of the main station entrance. The ground floor of Cycle Point has a cycle shop.

Main Shed

Cambridge Locomotive Depot 2 October 1960

The Eastern Counties Railway opened a small motive power depot at the station in 1845. This was replaced by a larger depot on the west side of the line at the north end of the station, in 1847 and this shed became a Great Eastern Railway shed in 1862. The shed was enlarged in 1913.

Cambridge was the principal shed of a main GE district and during World War 1 was recorded as having 101 drivers, 89 firemen under an inspector named G Dorrington. Repairs fell under a foreman fitter who had a staff of 70 men although responsibility for boiler repairs fell to the foreman boilermaker. There was also a wagon repair facility at the depot at this time led by a leading carpenter. Finally another foreman was charged with the day-to-day running of the depot as well as being responsible for the outstations such as King's Lynn, Ely, Mildenhall and seven others. A number of clerks would also have been employed at the depot.^[23]

At the end of 1922 the Great Eastern shed at Cambridge had an allocation of 178 locomotives being the second biggest shed on the Great Eastern after Stratford shed. The allocation consisted of:^[24]

Further enlargement and improvement of facilities took place in 1932. Most significantly a mechanical coaling plant was bought into use as well as the construction of a new lifting shop and modern sand dispensers.^[25]

Cambridge shed had two locomotives allocated for royal train workings at this time - Class D15 4-4-0s numbers 8783 and 8787 (known as the Royal Clauds) which were kept in pristine condition.^[26]

Following nationalization in 1948 the shed was operated by British Railways Eastern Region. It was allocated shed code 31A at this time.

In the 1950s there was a dedicated pool of four drivers (known as the Royal Link) based at Cambridge who operated the two royal engines which were cleaned regularly. The locomotives were Class B2 4-6-0s numbers 61671 ‘Royal Sovereign’ and 61617 ‘Ford Castle’. The link system - which was operated throughout British Railways at this time was a career progression and at Cambridge these included Pilot Links (shunting), Branch Goods, Mainline Goods, Branch Passenger and Express links as well as route specific links to Bletchley, the GN (Hitchin) and Kettering routes.^[27]

Cambridge shed received its first allocation of diesels in 1958.^[28] The following year the last 2-4-0 locomotive in traffic on British Railways (Class E4 2-4-0 number 62785) was withdrawn from traffic and has been preserved in its GER guise of no 490 as part of the national collection. In 2018 it was on loan to Bressingham steam museum near Diss.

The shed closed 18 June 1962 and the demolition of Cambridge's loco shed building, repair shops and loco hoists leaving the shed offices and stores buildings took place in 1965. Some of the track in the former loco yard next to platform 6 was kept as engine sidings,^[29] while the rest was made into a car park.^[30]

Other sheds

The Great Eastern Railway opened a small motive power depot on the east side of the line at the south end of the station for its own and Great Northern Railway locomotives in 1879.

At the end of 1922 the Great Northern shed at Cambridge had an allocation of ten locomotives. The allocation consisted of:^[24]

This was closed by the London and North Eastern Railway in 1924, and used as a wagon works until it was demolished in 1985. The Bedfordshire and Cambridge Railway opened a small motive power depot on the west side of the line at the south end of the station in 1862. This was closed by the London Midland and Scottish Railway on 2 December 1935, but remained in use, unofficially until 1951. The building was demolished in 1964.^[30]

Bibliography

• Biddle, Gordon; Nock, O. S. (1983). The Railway Heritage of Britain. London: Michael Joseph. ISBN 978-0-7181-2355-0.
• Fellows, Reginald B. (1976) [1948]. Railways to Cambridge, actual and proposed (reprint ed.). Cambridge: Oleander Press. ISBN 0-902675-62-1.
• Griffiths, Roger; Smith, Paul (1999). Directory of British Engine Sheds and Principal Locomotive Servicing Points. Vol. 1: Southern England, the Midlands, East Anglia and Wales. OPC Railprint. p. 141. ISBN 0-86093-542-6.
• Hawkins, Chris; Reeve, George (1987). Great Eastern Engine Sheds part 2. Didcot, UK: Wild Swan. ISBN 0-906867-48-7.
• Network Rail (12 November 2017). Cambridge Engine Sidings in the Anglia Route Sectional Appendix. Vol. Module AR2 LOR EA1161 Seq 008.
• Network Rail (3 June 2017). Anglia Route Sectional Appendix LOR EA1161 Seq 010. Vol. Module AR2.
• Vaughan, Adrian (1997). Railwaymen, Politics and Money. London: John Murray. ISBN 0-7195-5150-1 – via archive.org.
• Yeadon, W.B. (1996). LNER Locomotive Allocations 1st January 1923. Challenger Publications. ISBN 1-899624-19-8.

Further reading

• Bonavia, Michael R. (1996). The Cambridge Line. Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-2333-6.
• Fellows, Reginald B. (1976). London to Cambridge by Train 1845-1938. Cambridge: Oleander Press. ISBN 0-902675-65-6.
• Gordon, D. I. (1977). A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain. Vol. V. The Eastern Counties. David & Charles. ISBN 0-7153-7431-1.
• Skelsey, Geoffrey (2005). ""Of great public advantage": aspects of Cambridge and its railways 1845–2005". BackTrack. 19: 400–6, 501–6, 573–4.
• Spendlove, Richard (1978). Cambridge and its Branch Lines.
• Warren, Alan; Phillips, Ralph (1987). Cambridge Station: a tribute. British Rail.