Waterbeach railway station


Waterbeach railway station is on the Fen line in the east of England, serving the village of Waterbeach, Cambridgeshire. It is measured from London Liverpool Street and from ; it is situated between and stations. Its three-letter station code is WBC.
The station and most trains calling are operated by Great Northern, with limited peak services being operated by Greater Anglia.
Waterbeach station is unstaffed, and has only basic waiting shelters on each of the two platforms. All the 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

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 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.

Future plans

Plans to develop a New Town of 8,000 to 9,000 homes on the former Waterbeach Barracks site have been outlined by South Cambridgeshire District Council. As part of the proposal, there are plans to relocate the station to a new site and extend the platforms to accommodate 12 car trains.

Services

Waterbeach is served by two train operating companies, Great Northern and 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. Services are usually operated by Class 387s or, on occasion, Class 365s.
Inbound trains call at Cambridge North and Cambridge, 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.
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.

Greater Anglia

also provides peak services with trains running to Liverpool Street station in London and north to Ely and King's Lynn. These are operated by Class 379s.