Recent content by Jimcam

Thanks. Do you know why it does that, rather than make the stop at Ely like all other trains on that route?

Am I correct in thinking that the only passenger service to use Ely West Curve is the 1556 Sundays only Norwich to Manchester Piccadilly?

Agreed; it was above all anxiety about the unfamiliar rather than the familiar. As an aside, she is someone who has come to the railway late in life. She lives in Cornwall, a good distance from any station. When her husband was alive and her vision OK they would both drive everywhere: it was...

Which is fine if you are able-bodied and reasonably confident of finding your way. Two weeks ago I took a family friend to Cambridge South for the first leg of her journey to Cornwall. On the face of it, ideal: ten minutes drive from our home, uncluttered drop-off area, and she is familiar...

Maybe my acquaintances are not typical, but it's surprising how many mention trips between Cambridge and Gatwick. People don't use airports only for holidays. I also have friends who regularly use Cambridge to Farringdon (for the interchange with the Elizabeth line), Cambridge to East Croydon...

Not rhetorical nor, unfortunately, in jest. Whenever I've looked, there's always been at least one cancellation or short termination. I really don't think there has ever actually been a "clean" day.

Has there ever been a day - just one - since the inception of the Cambridge-Brighton service (2018?) when all the trains on that route have run, and have run the full length of their timetabled journey?

Which is exactly what's being proposed to Stagecoach. The 7 could stop in Francis Crick Avenue by the new station, thus also serving Royal Papworth and AstraZeneca, significant destinations in themselves, then turn right into Robinson Way, stop outside the Rosie maternity hospital, and rejoin...

Great Shelford Parish Council's transport working group suggested to Stagecoach in May 2024 that the 7 could be re-routed to serve a stop in Francis Crick Avenue adjacent to the station. These things move slowly, and there are a lot of fingers in the pie of deciding where buses can run and...

It does seem minimal provision, but bear in mind, though, that for a great many of the Cambridge South passengers, their ultimate destination or origin will be on the adjacent biomedical campus. So they will only be a few minutes away from their office / lab / treatment area / whatever. By...

Now we're back to normality, can someone explain why 1T11 was unable to move? I read above that it "dropped its pantograph", but is that because the incident with 1T08 caused the power to be off as far south as 1T11 was, or did it drop the panto because of the consequent voltage fluctuation...

There's also the AstraZeneca Hub and a cafe in the main AstraZeneca building, both of which are open to the public (and have very reasonable prices). The Hub has a small shop area as well as food and drink. Plus various food vans that park on the green between Royal Papworth and the main AZ...

Yes - I found that at least on platforms 2 and 3 the screens were showing the next but one train to arrive, not the next one.

Another difference is that a passenger can see what the driver is doing. They will instinctively pause the conversation if, for example, they can see that the (car) driver is concentrating hard when waiting to turn into a major road. Someone on the end of a phone call has no idea of the...

Does this make sense? If you're going "from Shelford via Royston to London Kings Cross", how do you do that without passing through Cambridge or Cambridge South?