Press release -
Rail passengers urged to plan ahead of vital junction rebuild
Passengers are being urged to plan ahead of vital engineering work that will greatly reduce rail services between Cambridge and London on 11 and 12 December.
Govia Thameslink Railway is finishing a major upgrade to Cambridge’s train depot, creating servicing facilities and stabling (parking between turns of duty) for the new fleets of Thameslink, Great Northern and Greater Anglia trains.
The expanded city centre train depot has been built for the longer Thameslink services that have been introduced between Cambridge, London, Gatwick Airport and Brighton. The depot will also clean, service and stable Great Northern trains to King's Lynn, and Greater Anglia’s current and new fleets.
The improved depot will have the facilities to keep all the trains clean and prepared for passenger service.
On 11 and 12 December, the rail junction between the depot and the main line will be rebuilt, regrettably requiring a closure of the main line. Network Rail will also use the closure to complete maintenance and preparation work ahead of a future re-signalling scheme in the area.
A reduced service will run between London and Cambridge. Journeys that would normally pass through Cambridge, such as those between Ely and Royston, will need to use replacement bus services between Cambridge or Royston and Cambridge North. The following train services will be running [see Editors’ notes for further detail]:
- One Thameslink train per hour between London King’s Cross and Cambridge
- One Thameslink train per hour between Brighton and Cambridge via St Pancras International
- One Great Northern train per hour between Cambridge North and King’s Lynn
- Two Greater Anglia trains per hour between London Liverpool Street and Cambridge
- One Greater Anglia train per hour between Cambridge North and Norwich
- One Greater Anglia train per hour between Cambridge North and Ipswich
- One Cross Country train per hour between Ely and Birmingham New Street
Jenny Saunders, Customer Services Director for Great Northern and Thameslink, said: “We thank everyone for their patience during this essential work to support our improved train service.
“Keeping Cambridge open and our customers moving over the weekend is important to us and we are working closely with our industry partners, the local transport authorities and bus operators to make journeys as smooth as possible.
“VisitCambridge and the local shopping centres are also helping us by sharing the key travel information. Details of train times will be available in online journey planners from late November.”
Jamie Burles, Managing Director of Greater Anglia, said: “We realise this is very inconvenient for customers. Cambridge station will be busy on that weekend and we advise people to plan ahead and allow more time for their journeys.
“We will make sure that customers can still complete their journeys, but there will be fewer trains and some services will be replaced with buses, so it is very important that people check before they travel using our app or website.”
Ellie Burrows, Network Rail’s Route Director for Anglia, said: “This work is necessary to improve rail services in the region. We’ve planned maintenance works to take place during the same closure to minimise the impact on passengers. Passengers are advised to check how this will affect their journeys before they travel.”
ends
Editors' notes
The following train services will be running on Saturday 11 and Sunday 12 December:
- One Thameslink train per hour between London King’s Cross and Cambridge – calling at Finsbury Park, Potters Bar, Hatfield, Welwyn Garden City, Welwyn North, Knebworth, Stevenage, Hitchin, Letchworth, Baldock, Ashwell & Morden, Royston, Meldreth, Shepreth, Foxton and Cambridge.
- One Thameslink train per hour between Brighton and Cambridge via St Pancras International, calling at Finsbury Park, Stevenage, Hitchin, Letchworth, Baldock, Ashwell & Morden, Royston and Cambridge.
- One Great Northern train per hour between Cambridge North and King’s Lynn – calling at Waterbeach, Ely, Littleport, Downham Market, Watlington and King’s Lynn.
- Two Greater Anglia trains per hour between London Liverpool Street and Cambridge
- One Greater Anglia train per hour between Cambridge North and Norwich
- One Greater Anglia train per hour between Cambridge North and Ipswich
- One Cross Country train per hour between Ely and Birmingham New Street
Bus services
A regular shuttle rail replacement bus service will operate between Cambridge and Cambridge North.
Great Northern will also run a bus service between Royston and Cambridge North, connecting with the Fen Line services to and from King’s Lynn. This is to avoid longer-distance customers needing to travel through Cambridge and to provide a faster journey time.
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For more information, contact the press office on 0203 750 2031.
Govia Thameslink Railway
Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) operates Thameslink, Great Northern, Southern and Gatwick Express services as follows:
- Thameslink – cross-London services between Bedford/Peterborough/Cambridge and Brighton/Horsham/Littlehampton/East Grinstead, and between Luton/St Albans and Sutton/Wimbledon/Rainham; plus services between London and Sevenoaks
- Great Northern – services between London and Welwyn, Hertford, Peterborough, Cambridge and King’s Lynn
- Southern – services between London and the Sussex coast (Brighton, Worthing, Eastbourne, Bognor Regis, Hastings) and parts of Surrey, Kent and Hampshire (Ashford International, Southampton, Portsmouth)
- Gatwick Express – fast, non-stop direct services between Gatwick Airport and London Victoria (currently suspended during the pandemic)
www.southernrailway.com, www.thameslinkrailway.com, www.gatwickexpress.com, www.greatnorthernrail.com
