Soham station re-opening: could this be the catalyst for service improvements?

[Meerkat]

Why does this station exist at all?
A station on a line that doesn’t go to (actually heads away from)the most obvious destination, on a single track line that is already a capacity problem.

 

[mwmbwls]

I am completely unsighted as to the Soham business case. Are there any proposals to double the line? Has it always been single track? Does the single track present operational difficulties?

 

[edwin_m]

I am completely unsighted as to the Soham business case. Are there any proposals to double the line? Has it always been single track? Does the single track present operational difficulties?

As far as I know it's always been single, although someone's suggested in another thread that there were plans to double it but WW2 stopped them. It was certainly single at the time the munitions train exploded there. It's become a major capacity constraint for freight to/from Felixstowe (though several other things would have to happen as well before freight could increase much) and probably prevents the passenger service being more frequent than every two hours. Network Rail has been looking at re-doubling it for at least a decade but I believe the ground conditions make widening the earthworks very difficult.

 

[dk1]

I am completely unsighted as to the Soham business case. Are there any proposals to double the line? Has it always been single track? Does the single track present operational difficulties?

The new river bridge that replaced the damaged one when the Road stone train derailed near Ely Dock Jcn a few years back was built with double track in mind. It is all connected with rebuilding Ely & the North Junction apparently but I have to agree, the majority want Cambridge which unless the curve is reinstated Warren Hiil-Snailwell isn't going to happen direct.

 

[Bald Rick]

I am completely unsighted as to the Soham business case. Are there any proposals to double the line? Has it always been single track? Does the single track present operational difficulties?

Proposals to double have been on the BOFP* board for a long time.

Yes it’s always been single (Ely - Soham)

Operational difficulties - not unless someone wants to run more services. Even then, as @dk1 says, it’s all linked in with Ely and the North Jn. Sorting any one of those alone doesn’t really help.


* Back of Fag Packet

 

[Class 170101]

Proposals to double have been on the BOFP* board for a long time.

Yes it’s always been single (Ely - Soham)

If its difficult to redouble due to ground conditions how about reducing the block sections to allow successive moves so say 1 passenger followed by two freights Ely to Soham and then swap it over every half hour?

 

[Bald Rick]

If its difficult to redouble due to ground conditions how about reducing the block sections to allow successive moves so say 1 passenger followed by two freights Ely to Soham and then swap it over every half hour?

There are two block sections, and freights can follow on the single line. In fact it’s just happened..

 

[Class 170101]

There are two block sections, and freights can follow on the single line. In fact it’s just happened..

Not sure TPRs allow planning for following moves like that though unfortunately.

 

[Ianno87]

Not sure TPRs allow planning for following moves like that though unfortunately.

Even if they didn't, there'd be no reason why they couldn't be changed to permit it, as it is clearly possible.

 

[edwin_m]

Not sure TPRs allow planning for following moves like that though unfortunately.

Even if they didn't, there'd be no reason why they couldn't be changed to permit it, as it is clearly possible.

For both 2020 and 2021 the TPRs simply state "Single line. One train in Section" for Soham to Ely Dock Jn. Possibly the following move isn't allowed to be timetabled but can be used for recovery from disruption.

 

[Bald Rick]

Not sure TPRs allow planning for following moves like that though unfortunately.

Well they wouldn’t, as planning is supposed to be done on green signals. A second train following can only get a green at the start of the single line when the first train has cleared it. Some extra signals would help there, but may not help overall - that depends on the planning headway from Haughley to Soham. I seem to remember a long black section from Elmswell to the Bury Home.

 

[Class 170101]

Well they wouldn’t, as planning is supposed to be done on green signals. A second train following can only get a green at the start of the single line when the first train has cleared it. Some extra signals would help there, but may not help overall - that depends on the planning headway from Haughley to Soham. I seem to remember a long black section from Elmswell to the Bury Home.

Five minutes planning headway Haughley Jn to Bury St Edmunds, 6/7 minutes from Bury to Kennet (though thats changed recently), AB Kennet to Chippenham Jn, 8 minutes to Soham and Single Line one train in section to Ely as I recall without hunting through the TPRs.

Definitely would like to see extra signals on the single line if its not doubled, especially if they stick Soham Station on the single line section.

 

[DaveHarries]

As far as I know it's always been single, although someone's suggested in another thread that there were plans to double it but WW2 stopped them.

I am not sure. The 11th picture down in this news article about the disaster of 02-Jun-1944 shows the scene being cleared and, aside from showing the colossal damage, gives the impression that Soham station either had an island platform with tracks on both sides or was double track and that the line on the right in that photo is a siding. Incidentally when I was looking at that article this evening (30th September) there was also a link to a video mockup of how the new Soham station might look. Rather suggests possible provision for a second platform and track?

Memorial event in Soham for men who 'saved the town'

A memorial event was held in Soham to mark the bravery of two men who died after saving the town from destruction 75 years ago.

www.elystandard.co.uk

The industry has "cunning plans" for something we hope when the station opens. Deservedly.

I quite agree: it would be remiss if no memorial was placed to the brave railwaymen who quite probably saved most, if not all, of the town from total obliteration that night. If the industry does have plans for something then perhaps something similar to the metal plate in that concrete post in the first picture of that article? Whatever it is it should tell the story of what took place.

Dave

 

[Julia]

Given the pretty poor standard of bus services from Soham to Cambridge - hourly, 75 minutes in morning peak to city centre only - even rail via Ely to the various Cambridge stations will have some merit, especially for people commuting to the Science Park (North) or the Biomedical Campus (South). And as noted above, if it acts as the first step in resolving a lot of projects stuck in the cycle of "A isn't worth it until B is done, but B is someone else's problem" it has to be a positive.

 

[Ianno87]

Given the pretty poor standard of bus services from Soham to Cambridge - hourly, 75 minutes in morning peak to city centre only - even rail via Ely to the various Cambridge stations will have some merit, especially for people commuting to the Science Park (North) or the Biomedical Campus (South). And as noted above, if it acts as the first step in resolving a lot of projects stuck in the cycle of "A isn't worth it until B is done, but B is someone else's problem" it has to be a positive.

Only concern would be the current 2-hourly passenger service via Soham and timing this for commuter times; e.g. existing times towards Ely (https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/se...21-06-09/0600-2000?stp=WVS&show=all&order=wtt).

So if you're Cambridge-bound (via Ely), your options are 0649 (very early, but probably OK for London journeys) or 0850 (a bit late for traditional commuting times). Trains the other way are at similar timings, and involve a longer double-back via Bury St Edmunds (if tickets are even valid for that).

 

[MikeWM]

Given the pretty poor standard of bus services from Soham to Cambridge - hourly, 75 minutes in morning peak to city centre only - even rail via Ely to the various Cambridge stations will have some merit, especially for people commuting to the Science Park (North) or the Biomedical Campus (South). And as noted above, if it acts as the first step in resolving a lot of projects stuck in the cycle of "A isn't worth it until B is done, but B is someone else's problem" it has to be a positive.

The links from Soham to Ely are currently very poor too. There's the bus, and that's about it. To cycle or walk you either have to take your chances on the busy A142 (not nice on a bike, and almost impossible for pedestrians as large sections have no pavement) or take a large diversion via Barway and the river (not a great plan in the dark).

 

[Ianno87]

The links from Soham to Ely are currently very poor too. There's the bus, and that's about it. To cycle or walk you either have to take your chances on the busy A142 (not nice on a bike, and almost impossible for pedestrians as large sections have no pavement) or go in a large diversion via Barway and the river.

In normal times, the number 12 bus (hourly) seems reasonably well-patronised on that stretch. I'm surprised Stagecoach have never tried a half-hourly service.

 

[21C101]

Never understood why they closed stations serving towns of that size on lines that remained open to passengers.

Same with WR. Can understand why the stopping services and most stations went, but closing places like Wellington (Som), Somerton Wooton Bassett, Cullompton and Corsham was madness

 

[DynamicSpirit]

Never understood why they closed stations serving towns of that size on lines that remained open to passengers.

Same with WR. Can understand why the stopping services and most stations went, but closing places like Wellington (Som), Somerton Wooton Bassett, Cullompton and Corsham was madness

Well I would assume that in general the reason was because it was thought that closing the stations would speed up fast services between the main cities, which is where the real passenger numbers at the time were considered likely to come from - and to some extent that is correct.

Of course with hindsight it does now look very regrettable in many places - especially in Soham's case because as far as I'm aware the line never really had super-fast inter-city services anyway. It does puzzle me though that somewhere like Soham closed but not too far away stations like Dullingham and Shippea Hill (both surrounded by fields) remained open. Doubtless there was some rationale that someone thought sensible at the time

 

[edwin_m]

Well I would assume that in general the reason was because it was thought that closing the stations would speed up fast services between the main cities, which is where the real passenger numbers at the time were considered likely to come from - and to some extent that is correct.

Of course with hindsight it does now look very regrettable in many places - especially in Soham's case because as far as I'm aware the line never really had super-fast inter-city services anyway. It does puzzle me though that somewhere like Soham closed but not too far away stations like Dullingham and Shippea Hill (both surrounded by fields) remained open. Doubtless there was some rationale that someone thought sensible at the time

It depended partly on whether there was a suitable "slow" service that could stop and serve those stations. The smaller stations east of Soham are served by a Cambridge-Ipswich stopper but until the two-hourly Ipswich-Peterborough started the section through Soham was only served by longer-distance trains. Most Soham people then and now would want to go to Cambridge, not possible without a change of trains or reversal or restoration of the curve at Newmarket. Another issue, even in the Beeching era, was capacity, so those main lines selected for development tended to have most of their minor stations closed outside the London suburban area.

I thought Soham closed because the station was blown up and they never thought it worthwhile to rebuild one? Obviously different if there's already one there, but finding the cash to actually effectively build one from scratch is a lot harder to justify.

The station only closed in 1965 so must have been repaired after the explosion.

 

[bspahh]

In normal times, the number 12 bus (hourly) seems reasonably well-patronised on that stretch. I'm surprised Stagecoach have never tried a half-hourly service.

My kids went from Ely to the secondary school in Soham. Their school bus usually sat waiting at the level crossing for ~ 10 minutes leaving Ely and ~ 20 minutes coming back

The delays might have been shorter during the day. Now that the Ely Southern bypass has been built, the bus journeys will much more reliable. However, increasing the frequency of the bus service would have risked of delaying the Mayor's glory of reopening a station in his home town.

 

[Egg Centric]

I may be talking nonsense, but I believe there's a memorial to Gimbert/Nighthall in Littleport of all places.

 

[Starmill]

If you lived in Soham, you would probably think it very odd indeed that a service were being delivered to your town that does not go to Cambridge, i.e. the place where a large majority of local people will want to go to, and only runs once every two hours for the foreseeable future, with no long-term plans to implement direct Cambridge services.

I'm not against the building of the station - not by a long chalk, I think it's marvellous. But it's worthwhile stopping to consider the views of the majority of the population who use trains somewhere from infrequently to never. Finally, consider how they will feel when their first connection at Ely is missed going home to Soham. Most people would probably be astonished that the train couldn't be held for 5 minutes or that you're asked to sit and wait for two hours, and will have doubts about using the service in future as a result.

 

[Bald Rick]

I fear that the station will become un éléphant blanc.

 

[DynamicSpirit]

Throwing in my (completely uninformed) prediction... I could imagine it looking like a white elephant in the short term, but becoming well used in the long term.

Short term - a train every 2 hours is, as @Starmilll implies, going to make a lot of people pretty angry and not attract many passengers. But at some point in the next 5-8 years, Ely remodelling will get done. At that point we're likely to see an hourly Peterborough-Ipswich service AND slightly more frequent Ely-Cambridge trains, making changing at Ely a lot more do-able for commuters. The nature of the service will also mean that it will attract a higher proportion of long-distance passengers looking to change at Ipswich/Ely/Peterborough for London/the North/the Midlands. Not good for numbers using the station but good for revenues.

And then of course, the mere fact that the station exists can only increase political pressure to rebuild the Newmarket chord and run an Ely-Soham-Newmarket-Cambridge-Cambridge South service. Once that's done (and I think it will get done eventually, even if it's not for another 10-15 years), that's when the station will really come into its own.

 

[Class 170101]

I fear that the station will become un éléphant blanc.

More pressure for the hourly service I would expect.

 

[Starmill]

More pressure for the hourly service I would expect.

By the time the station opens it could be more useful for creating pressure to protect the existing service.

 

[arb]

What causes the limitation of the Peterborough to Ipswich service only being two-hourly? Is it Ely North Junction? If so, could the full route be left two-hourly, but a shorter service, say Ely to Ipswich, or even just an Ely to Soham shuttle, be run in the opposite hour? If not all day then just at peak-time?

 

[Ianno87]

Having a flick through the business case done in 2016 (https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/455731/response/1107912/attach/html/4/Soham Station GRIP 3b Design Report Vol 1 Text Issue 3.pdf.html), which forecasts 383 passengers per day using a 2 hourly service.

By comparison, an hourly service leads to a forecast of around 1000 passengers per day.

85% of passengers travelling in the Ely direction.


Table 10-4 suggests a relatively marginal BCR (1.1 at the then-forecast cost) unless an hourly service becomes possible.

 

[ac6000cw]

What causes the limitation of the Peterborough to Ipswich service only being two-hourly? Is it Ely North Junction?

It's mostly Ely North Junction, but the capacity of the single-line between Ely and Soham is also a factor (it's heavily used by freight).

If so, could the full route be left two-hourly, but a shorter service, say Ely to Ipswich, or even just an Ely to Soham shuttle, be run in the opposite hour? If not all day then just at peak-time?

I suspect the costs of doing that would be horrendous - it's not an electrified line, so would mean using a 755 unit with a two person crew for just a relative handful of passengers. Probably much more useful & cheaper to pay Stagecoach to run a dedicated Ely Station - Soham bus every 15 minutes during peak times - it's only 5 miles via a decent, direct road after all...

I fear that the station will become un éléphant blanc.

I agree - which unfortunately might sour the prospects for more sensible enhancements/re-openings elsewhere.