Waterbeach railway station

Waterbeach railway station is on the Fen line in the east of England, serving the village of Waterbeach, Cambridgeshire. It is 61 miles 1 chain (98.2 km) measured from London Liverpool Street and 63 miles 29 chains (102 km) from London King's Cross; it is situated between Cambridge North and Ely stations. Its three-letter station code is WBC.

Waterbeach
The northbound platform at Waterbeach in March 2014
General information
Location	Waterbeach, South Cambridgeshire England
Grid reference	TL500650
Owned by	Network Rail
Managed by	Great Northern
Platforms	2
Other information
Station code	WBC
Classification	DfT category F2
History
Original company	Eastern Counties Railway
Pre-grouping	Great Eastern Railway
Post-grouping	London and North Eastern Railway
Key dates
30 July 1845	Opened[1]
Passengers
2019/20	0.378 million
2020/21	0.100 million
2021/22	0.265 million
2022/23	0.309 million
2023/24	0.332 million
Location
Notes Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

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.

Waterbeach railway station is planned to be relocated north to support the development of the Waterbeach New Town, with completion expected by 2027.^[2]

History

The northbound platform in May 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.^[3]

Future relocation

Waterbeach railway station is planned to be relocated approximately 1.5 miles (2.4 kilometres) north of its current location to support the development of a new town on the former Waterbeach Barracks site.^[4] The new station will be closer to the planned housing development, which is expected to include 8,000 to 9,000 homes.^[5]

The relocation was originally to be managed by the developer, but the Greater Cambridge Partnership (GCP) assumed responsibility for the project in 2022 after the developer was unable to secure commercial funding. Funding includes a £23 million repayable grant from Homes England and a £20 million contribution from the GCP.^[6] Planning permission for the station was granted in 2020, with construction scheduled to start in 2026 and completion expected by 2027.^[2]

Services

Great Northern operate all off-peak services at Waterbeach using Class 387 EMUs.^[7]

The typical off-peak service in trains per hour is:^[8]

• 2 tph to London King's Cross (non-stop from Cambridge)
• 2 tph to Ely of which 1 continues to King's Lynn

During the peak hours, the services to London King's Cross call additionally at Royston and Letchworth Garden City and all northbound services are extended to King's Lynn.

The station is also served by a number of peak-hour services operated by Greater Anglia. The station is served by two daily services from and one to Norwich as well as two daily services to and one from London Liverpool Street.

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Cambridge North		Great Northern Fen Line		Ely
		Greater Anglia Fen Line Peak Hours Only