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Cambridge line

The Cambridge line connects the East Coast Main Line at Hitchin to the West Anglia Main Line at Cambridge. The line is owned by Network Rail, and is 23 miles 15 chains (23.19 miles, 37.32 km) in length, serving nine stations. Train services are operated by Thameslink and Great Northern.

Originally opened in 1851, the Royston and Hitchin Railway built a route between Hitchin and Shepreth. There, it met the Shepreth Branch Railway, and the two were joined in 1862 to form the modern route. A station at Letchworth was added in 1905 in conjunction with its opening as the world's first garden city. However, the line fell into decline throughout the mid 1900s, and Harston station was closed as part of the Beeching Axe in 1963.

The line was electrified as far as Royston in 1978, which severed through services on the line. Network SouthEast then expanded electrification to Cambridge in 1988, which was combined with major track improvements. In 2013, the new Hitchin Flyover marked the end of the historic bottleneck for trains entering the line at Hitchin.

The line forms part of the Great Northern route. It is also part of the Network Rail Strategic Route 5 and is classified as a London and South East Commuter line.

Route

The Cambridge Line[1] diverges off the East Coast Main Line at Cambridge Junction north of Hitchin, heading north-east until Shepreth Branch Junction, where it meets the West Anglia Main Line south of Cambridge.[2][3] The line is 23 miles 15 chains (23.19 miles, 37.32 km) in length, and serves nine stations, as well as having one disused station at Harston.[2][3]

An alternative route between London and Cambridge also exists in the form of the West Anglia Main Line from Liverpool Street, with trains operated by Greater Anglia.[4] Historically, it has been quicker to travel from Cambridge to London via the Cambridge line;[5] this is still the case today.[6][better source needed]

All stations on the line have two tracks and two platforms, with the exception of Hitchin (two platforms facing four tracks) and Cambridge (eight platforms).[7] Cambridge South will have four platforms when it opens.[8] The line forms part of the Network Rail Strategic Route 5 and is classified as a London and South East Commuter line.[9]

Infrastructure

The flat junction at Hitchin, which trains used to use to access the line from the East Coast Main Line, is a historic bottleneck.[10] The Hitchin Flyover to the north of the existing junction was opened in 2013 to grade-separate the northbound Down Cambridge Flyover track,[11] preventing conflicting movements with southbound services on the ECML.[12]

Traction current is supplied at 25 kV AC using overhead line equipment overseen by York Electrical Control Room, with Neutral Sections at Cambridge junction, Litlington and Shepreth Branch Junction.[3] It has a loading gauge of W8 and a maximum line speed of 90 mph (140 km/h).[3]

Just under a mile to the east of Royston station lies the boundary between the Network Rail London North Eastern Route and Anglia Route.[13] All signals between King's Cross and this point are controlled by Kings Cross Power Signal Box, whilst those from here to Cambridge are controlled by Cambridge Signal Box.[3] The signalling system for the whole Cambridge line is Track Circuit block,[3] with all main signals being multiple-aspect colour light signals.[citation needed]

Stations

In the 'down' Cambridge direction (Southwest to North):[2]

Harston railway station was situated between Foxton and Cambridge. It opened in 1852 and closed in 1963 as part of the Beeching Axe.[14]

Cambridge South station will open between Foxton and Cambridge in 2026, a delay from the originally proposed date of 2025.[15]

Future

The planned route of East West Rail will include a grade-separated junction with the line at Hauxton, between Foxton and Cambridge. This will include improvements to Hauxton level crossing.[16]

History

The Royston and Hitchin and the ECR Shepreth branch

1846–1850: Beginnings of the railway

The Eastern Counties Railway (ECR) completed its main line from London to Norwich on 30 July 1845, running from the south through Cambridge and on to Ely.[17] Cambridge was an important industrial and agricultural centre.[18]

The year 1846 was a peak time for the authorisation of railway schemes, part of the railway mania. The Great Northern Railway obtained its authorising act of Parliament, the Great Northern Railway Act 1846 (9 & 10 Vict. c. lxxi), on 26 June 1846; this was a huge project: it was to build a line from London to York, with a number of small branch lines.[19] The Royston and Hitchin Railway (R&HR) had been submitted to Parliament as a proposed Cambridge and Oxford Railway, which would have run as a single track through Royston, Hitchin and Dunstable, but the scheme was very considerably cut back by the Lords in Parliament; there were other contenders in the field for occupation of the route. The railway as actually authorised in the Royston and Hitchin Railway Act 1846 (9 & 10 Vict. c. clxx), on 16 July 1846, was renamed the Royston and Hitchin Railway, and the Lords demanded double track for the truncated version.[20][21][19][22]

The Great Northern Railway (GNR) had encouraged the Cambridge and Oxford Railway scheme (now the Royston and Hitchin Railway), and had guaranteed the shareholders 6% on paid-up capital. The GNR wanted to use the line to get access to Cambridge, and at all costs it wanted to keep the Eastern Counties Railway out. If the ECR could seize control of the R&HR it would have yet another penetrating line into GNR territory. The Eastern Counties Railway had secured the Eastern Counties (Cambridge to Bedford Railway) Act 1847 (10 & 11 Vict. c. clviii) giving approval for a Cambridge to Bedford line, and the GNR tried to get its Cambridge connection using that line, but this attempt failed too, in 1848.[23]

However the Royston and Hitchin Railway had more success: on 14 August 1848 it obtained an act of Parliament, the Royston and Hitchin Railway Amendment (Shepreth Extension) Act 1848 (11 & 12 Vict. c. cxix) to extend its line from Royston to Shepreth, joining the Cambridge to Bedford branch there. If the Eastern Counties failed to construct its Cambridge to Bedford line in a reasonable time, the R&HR would have power to build the line itself.[24][25]

Construction of the Royston and Hitchin Railway was not difficult and not expensive, and the 12+3⁄4 miles from Hitchin junction to Royston were opened on 21 October 1850. The route was hilly and the line had a series of gradients. Beyond Royston the line, still under construction, was also beset by gradients, one as steep as 1 in 100. The line served a purely agricultural district, but a connecting bus service ran between Royston and Cambridge.[19][26]

1851–1862: Extension to Shepreth

The extension of 5 miles 4 chains to Shepreth was brought into use on 1 August 1851. A service of five daily omnibuses between Shepreth and Cambridge was laid on, taking 40 minutes for the 9 miles. The fastest combined journey from King's Cross to Cambridge was 130 minutes by the 09:15 northern express. Fares were lower than on the ECR, but the service did not prove viable. For the time being the R&HR was simply a short branch line in a purely agricultural area, and the GNR was paying nearly £15,000 a year because of its guarantee.[23][26]

The Eastern Counties Railway was compelled by a condition in its act of Parliament to open its line to Shepreth without undue delay; despite considerable prevarication, it opened from Shelford Junction to Shepreth on 1 April 1852, with works constructed for double line, although only a single line was laid. It was 5 miles 28 chains in length, and ran to an end-on junction with the R&HR at Shepreth. The Board of Trade Inspecting Officer sanctioned opening only on condition that the ECR could use the R&HR turntable at Shepreth. It seems that through carriages were worked between King's Cross and Cambridge. The ECR paid £300 per annum for use of Hitchin station. The ECR was always well behind in payment of rent, as was its successor, the Great Eastern.[27][19]

During this period the Eastern Counties Railway had opened negotiations to lease the R&HR, and a fourteen-year lease had been agreed in February 1852, to start from the connection of the lines at Shepreth: the ECR would pay £16,000 per annum guaranteed rent and interest on the R&HR. The GNR was not sorry to have passed over the financial obligation for the R&HR to its rival. The GNR agreed to pay the ECR 60% of any earnings in respect of King's Cross and Hitchin traffic to and from Cambridge and stations east of Ashwell on the R&HR. During the operation of the lease, the Railway Clearing House referred to it as the "Shelford & Hitchin Railway". Three daily services, subsequently four, with two on Sundays, were provided between Cambridge and Hitchin.[23]

The Eastern Counties and others merged and together formed the Great Eastern Railway (GER), by the Great Eastern Railway Act 1862 (25 & 26 Vict. c. ccxxiii) of 7 August 1862.[28]

1862–1865: Reversion to the Great Northern Railway

Ashwell & Morden station

Towards the end of the lease period, the GNR gave consideration to taking over the Royston and Hitchin Railway Company, but there was obstruction from the GER about actually reaching Cambridge over their tracks (from Shelford Junction). During the lifetime of the lease, the Bedford and Cambridge Railway had opened its line on 7 July 1862.[29] The line was worked by the London and North Western Railway, which was friendly to the GNR at that time. The therefore put forward two alternative proposals: one envisaged running powers from Shepreth to Cambridge, doubling of the track between Shepreth and the main line, use of the GER Cambridge station and a one-mile extension to a separate terminal; the alternative was to be an extension from Shepreth to the Bedford and Cambridge Railway, joining it 1+1⁄2 miles east of Lord's Bridge, with running powers over that line to the outskirts of Cambridge, and then a new two-mile branch would run to the town centre.

The GER saw that if the second choice materialised, they would be left in possession of a useless short branch that ended at Shepreth, and they agreed to the GNR's wishes, signing an agreement on 2 May 1864. The Royston and Hitchin Railway Act 1864 (27 & 28 Vict. c. cxxiv) conceded to the GNR full running powers to Cambridge station, where all facilities and a separate platform would be provided; double track capable of carrying express services was promised between Shepreth and Shelford by 31 March 1866, the last day of the lease, on the expiration of which the R&HR line would be returned to the GNR.[30][31]

1865–1870: Track maintenance shortcomings

The ECR and later the GER were supposed to have kept the leased line in good order, but the GER was not in good financial health. In December 1865 the GNR and the GER engineers made a joint inspection of the R&HR line. The stations and permanent way were in a state of dilapidation, and there were insufficient sleepers to each length of rail. The GNR's engineer demanded that 11,400 sleepers should be renewed. When the line was handed back on 1 April 1866, the sleepers had been supplied but not installed, and it was left to the GNR to put the road in order. Eleven miles had been relaid and 5,000 new sleepers inserted within three months; nevertheless on 3 July a fatal derailment occurred.[32][31]

Captain Tyler reported on the causes of the derailment. The permanent way was laid with 16-foot rails, and the joints were not fished. The sleepers were widely spaced, with only four for each rail length; many were "in the last stages of rottenness".[31] The track geometry near the point of derailment was very poor ("wavy" in Tyler's words).[33]

I find that this portion of railway, which had been for some 11 years in the charge of the Great Eastern Company, was taken over, at the expiration of the agreement under which it was worked, by the Great Northern Company, on the 1st April last. I learn from the engineer of the Great Northern Railway that he inspected it, with the engineer of the Great Eastern Company, in December 1865, and that he then required that 11,400 new sleepers should be inserted in the permanent way; but this not having been done, the same number of new sleepers were handed over to the Great Northern Company, with the line, in April. Out of 18 miles of double or 36 miles of single line thus taken over, 11 miles have since been re-laid, with fished joints, and sleepers 2 feet apart at the joints, and 2 feet 9+3⁄4 inches apart in the intermediate spaces; besides which, 5,000 new sleepers have been inserted by the ordinary gangs. I am glad to learn also that... the re-laying of the whole 18 miles may be completed in 12 weeks from the present time... Orders have wisely been given to slacken the speed of the trains pending the completion of this re-laying; and the posts have been erected, and wires strained, for providing telegraphic communication, which, strange to say, had not previously been supplied.[34]

The GER section east of Shepreth was in no better shape, and on the previous 31 May, the 7.10 p.m. from Cambridge was derailed between Shelford Junction and Shepreth, but there were no serious casualties. This section had not been doubled as promised; nor was the accommodation provided at Cambridge, where there was no shelter for GNR passengers. W. Bell & Sons, the contractors for these works, had ceased operations when the GER was unable to pay them, leaving the GNR to advance £5,000 for the work to proceed. From 1 January 1868 the GNR provided its own staff at Cambridge for passenger traffic. Doubling the line between Shelford Junction and Shepreth was completed early in May 1867, and the electric telegraph was working between Hitchin and Cambridge a few months afterwards.[32][35]

1870–1900: Competition and absorption

Slip carriages were first used on the line in the August 1872 timetable.[36] These were useful as they allowed for faster journey times with more stops; this would allow the GNR to compete more effectively against the GER's alternative route.[37]

As the GNR were already responsible for maintaining the western portion of the line between Hitchin and Shepreth, it was agreed that the GER would pay for the GNR to maintain the rest of the route between Shepreth and Shelford Junction. The agreement lasted 21 years from 1 January 1874; the GER paid £320 per annum in return. Between 1874 and 1878, the GNR resignalled the entire line, in order to install the signalling block system.[35] Signal boxes were built at Letchworth (although there was no station there at the time), Baldock, Ashwell, Royston, Meldreth, Shepreth, Harston, and Foxton, of which the latter two were paid for by the GER. The GER also paid for the improvement of Shelford junction. As part of the works, new sidings were installed at Baldock. The project was delivered by Saxby & Farmer and finished by April 1878.[35]

Competition with the GER led to mounting pressure for faster journey times; in summer 1880, the GNR ran a midday express service which reached Kings Cross in 75 minutes. The service stopped only at Hitchin, making it one of the only services to not stop at Finsbury Park. In contrast, the fastest service towards Cambridge took 80 minutes. However, despite further attempts to improve journey times, by 1898 it was no longer possible to compete with the GER between London and Cambridge. Instead, the GNR decided to concentrate on developing passenger numbers at intermediate stops, rather than specifically from Cambridge itself.[38]

The GNR officially acquired the Royston and Hitchin Railway on 3 June 1897 by means of the Great Northern Railway Act 1897 (60 & 61 Vict. c. xl).[19] This came into effect on 1 July 1897,[31] bringing the line under single ownership and management for the first time in its existence.[30][31]

1900–1910: Addition of Letchworth

Letchworth railway station, built in 1913.

Sir Ebenezer Howard's 1898 book "Tomorrow a Peaceful Path to Real Reform" detailed his proposal of a garden city; that is, a self-sufficient town designed in a circular pattern, with a large park at the centre.[39] In the book, he presents his ideal garden city being surrounded by a circular goods railway, with a mainline railway running through the centre.[40] Furthermore, he includes the railway as one of the mechanisms by which the town would raise revenue, both by means of goods and passengers.[41]

As a result of Howard's work, the first garden city was founded at Letchworth in 1903. At first, construction workers made use of a wooden halt on the line; regular passenger services were provided from 1905. A goods depot was added on 19 August 1907, and a permanent station on 18 May 1913. The station originally had two island platforms, but only the centre two tracks were used.[42][43] This has since been reduced to two platforms.[44][when?]

A second garden city was also founded at Welwyn in 1920;[45] its railway station is situated on the East Coast Main Line, making it also part of the Great Northern route.[46]

1910–1965: Grouping and decline

Hostility between the Great Northern Railway and the Great Eastern Railway cooled in the twentieth century, with GNR withdrawn from Cambridge station in July 1912. However, four GNR engines were still based there, and there were still five or six fast trains each way between King's Cross and Cambridge.[47] Foxton was linked to a cement works near Barrington by a short branch line sanctioned by a Light Railway Order of 1920.[42]

During World War I (1914–1918), the government took control of all the railways in order to use them for the war effort.[48] In an attempt to stem the losses of the 120 extant railway companies at the time, the government enacted the Railways Act 1921, which grouped the railways into four large companies, which were dubbed the "Big Four".[49] Both the GNR and GER became part of the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER), which was the second largest of these companies.[50] This meant that both routes between Cambridge and London were under the same ownership, ending the competition between the two lines.[42] In May 1932, the LNER introduced five daily 'Garden Cities Expresses', which took 82 minutes to run from London to Cambridge and 77 minutes to return. These were soon renamed to the 'Cambridge Buffet Expresses', and from July 1932 they were accelerated to 72 and 72 minutes respectively.[42] The popularity of the service was largely derived from Letchworth's status as an alcohol-free town, which led residents to use the train as a pub.[51] The service was suspended at the outbreak of World War II in 1939, but was reinstated on 6 December 1948, with four daily services in times of 82–90 minutes. In the pre-war years the original three-coach formations had on occasion to be strengthened to as many as nine or ten coaches.[42]

The Transport Act 1947 merged the Big Four into a single nationalised operator under the ownership of the British Transport Commission's Railway Executive, which traded as British Railways.[50] This meant the Cambridge line was owned by the British Transport Commission, the fourth time the ownership of the line had changed hands.[52]

Situated between Foxton and Cambridge,[2] Harston railway station had served the villages of Harston and Hauxton since it opened with the rest of the line in 1852.[27] A victim of the Beeching Axe, it was closed to passengers in 1963, and goods traffic continued until 1964. A feasibility study to re-open the station was carried out in 1996 but rejected by South Cambridgeshire District Council.[53] In 2021 Anthony Browne, the MP for South Cambridgeshire at the time, called for the station to be reopened, saying that "Installing a small new station on an existing line should be straightforward and cause minimal disruption". The proposal did not materialise in any form, and no other attempts to reopen the station have been made since.[53]

1965–1996: Revitalisation and electrification

The towns on the line have seen significant growth, in particular Letchworth, Baldock, and Royston.[42] For example, the population of Letchworth grew from 10,302 in 1921 to 29,760 in 1971,[54] and is currently at 33,990 as of 2021.[55] Furthermore, many of its industries have developed with the railway; in 1965 Letchworth despatched 64,197 tons of freight in full wagon loads and 8,554 in smaller consignments. The station also issued 151,295 ordinary and 2,795 season tickets the same year.[42]

During the 1970s, British Rail focussed their electrification efforts on the Great Northern suburban services. Electrification reached Welwyn Garden City and Hertford North on 3 November 1976, and as far as Stevenage on 6 February 1978. The Cambridge Line was chosen for electrification in 1978, primarily because it allowed an alternative electrified route to London while essential upgrade works were carried out on the West Anglia Main Line. However, electrification was not pursued further than Royston as it was not considered value-for-money to electrify as far as Cambridge.[5] However this meant that the through service was severed; passengers had to change from the electrified service at Royston to a diesel train service to Cambridge.[56]

In early 1978 ten sidings and a carriage washing plant were added 3⁄4 mile (1.2 km) east of Letchworth.[56]

British Rail had originally subdivided its services by region, including the Eastern region,[57] which the Cambridge line had been part of. However, in 1982 sectorisation split operations by traffic type, and the line fell under the Great Northern subdivision of London & South East, which was rebranded as Network SouthEast in 1986.[57] It was expected that Network SouthEast would cover its costs from revenue in contrast to rural services, which were heavily subsidised.[58][page needed]

On the 4 March 1987, approval was given by Network SouthEast for the extension of electrification as far as Cambridge;[5][59] electric operation commenced on 16 May 1988.[5][60] This was combined with track improvements to increase speed on the line.

1965–1996: Privatisation

On 7 December 1996, it was announced that Prism Rail had won the West Anglia Great Northern franchise, which allowed them to operate the services on the line until 2004.[61] The Great Northern section of the franchise was extended until 2006,[62] with West Anglia Great Northern rebranding to WAGN to reflect their loss of the West Anglia portion.[citation needed]

On 13 December 2005, the Department for Transport awarded the new franchise to FirstGroup, with the services operated by Thameslink and West Anglia Great Northern transferring to First Capital Connect on 1 April 2006.[63] In December 2011, the DfT announced that all services operated by First Capital Connect would be included within the new Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern franchise.[64] Their franchise was extended twice, ending on 13 September 2014.[65]

The Hitchin Flyover to the north of the existing junction was opened in 2013 to grade-separate the northbound Down Cambridge Flyover track,[11] preventing conflicting movements with southbound services on the ECML.[12] However, the alleviation of this bottleneck has done little to increase service frequency due to the continued bottleneck of the Digswell Viaduct between Welwyn Garden City and Welwyn North.[10]

In 2014, the newly-created Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern franchise was awarded to Govia Thameslink Railway, with the handover of services occuring on 14 September.[66] Their franchise agreement included connecting Cambridge to the Thameslink route via the Canal Tunnels;[66] these services started on May 20, 2018.[67]

Services

A Class 700 Desiro City in 2016. These are used to operate the Thameslink services on the line.

All services on the line are operated by Thameslink and Great Northern, with the line forming part of the Great Northern route. A mix of stopping, semi-fast, and express services operate, with some trains between London Kings Cross and Kings Lynn not stopping at all on the line.[68]

All Thameslink services have been operated using their Class 700 Desiro City units since February 2018, as part of the Thameslink programme.[69] There are up to 8 trains per hour on the line between Cambridge and Brighton during peak times.[68]

The majority of Great Northern services are operated with Class 387 Electrostar units.[70] Great Northern also introduced Class 379s for their services to Letchworth in February 2025,[71] which will replace some Class 387 units to allow them to be transferred to Southern.[70]

Future

The under-construction Cambridge South railway station as it appeared in May 2024.

Cambridge South station is planned to serve the village of Trumpington and the Cambridge Biomedical Campus.[72] It will open between Foxton and Cambridge in 2026, a delay from the originally proposed date of 2025.[15]

Cambridge South and Cambridge stations will be served by East West Rail, which is currently under construction.[16] The first section of the line, between Oxford and Milton Keynes Central, will be operated by Chiltern Railways using Class 196 diesel multiple units.[73]

Passenger volume

Below are the passenger usage statistics on the National Rail network from the year beginning April 2002 to the year beginning April 2022. All stations have seen large increases in their passenger volumes, for example Cambridge having 71% more passengers in 2022 than it did in 2002.[74]

Station usage
Station name 2002–03 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23
Cambridge 5,478,112 6,060,475 6,137,423 6,522,309 6,997,887 7,571,838 7,661,146 8,245,416 8,823,236 9,168,938 9,824,859 10,420,178 10,954,212 11,424,902 11,530,158 11,983,320 11,599,814 2,300,528 6,952,780 9,341,600
Foxton 48,874 53,538 54,088 64,685 63,418 76,898 72,072 76,860 83,364 87,974 87,164 94,080 88,236 92,908 102,170 101,990 105,404 30,564 75,252 87,794
Shepreth 41,996 48,622 56,747 76,382 75,052 75,704 79,104 83,524 82,422 86,304 92,146 105,802 105,852 110,756 114,294 115,600 117,102 23,676 68,718 91,082
Meldreth 140,494 157,409 167,751 195,567 213,562 216,990 205,836 198,626 204,582 221,774 243,646 267,218 278,044 269,934 307,868 295,470 305,888 82,016 181,362 217,158
Royston 935,438 1,026,983 1,060,800 1,079,220 1,147,905 1,155,024 1,112,974 1,193,950 1,217,514 1,229,092 1,300,508 1,394,104 1,434,684 1,483,338 1,477,616 1,467,154 1,435,616 289,662 835,428 1,081,014
Ashwell and Morden 89,061 98,481 96,452 108,013 104,417 116,908 112,350 115,720 130,196 119,042 131,148 138,638 144,158 150,384 152,372 156,490 159,254 34,748 104,212 140,696
Baldock 331,732 377,278 386,350 427,635 419,784 473,396 455,724 496,896 517,036 535,106 568,182 623,898 658,208 648,738 653,280 637,664 654,320 154,004 387,170 502,586
Letchworth Garden City 1,091,229 1,144,661 1,186,565 1,309,067 1,364,936 1,445,886 1,366,714 1,447,418 1,513,292 1,569,410 1,652,253 1,751,820 1,861,902 1,890,116 1,900,970 1,856,558 1,834,720 457,590 1,189,236 1,471,004
Hitchin 1,806,889 1,948,003 2,049,217 2,368,121 2,543,526 2,569,494 2,478,832 2,594,012 2,641,482 2,764,232 2,902,568 3,035,692 3,199,352 3,213,416 3,237,936 3,265,142 3,233,772 750,478 1,981,466 2,512,254
The annual passenger usage is based on sales of tickets in stated financial years from Office of Rail and Road estimates of station usage. The statistics are for passengers arriving and departing from each station and cover twelve-month periods that start in April. Methodology may vary year on year. Usage from the periods 2019-20 and especially 2020-21 onwards have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

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