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Cambridge South : no parking (and local CCTV is dissuade anyone from stopping near by...)
- Thread starter Justin Smith
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RailUK Forums
But I don't understand what you mean, Visiting Scientists, Surgeons (for Addenbrookes) and endless other profressions may well travel up from London for visiting, meetings etc etc., Cambridge fasts will be an ideal stop for these passengers and in turn they would need to stop to take people back.
dk1
Veteran Member
Because so many travel to the biomedical campus to/from London too and the non-stop services are a boon for them too. On top of that with the nature of cycling around Cambridge it is now perfect for commuters bound for the capital who live around Trumpington, Cherry Hinton & other areas south of the CB1.
Trainman40083
Established Member
Imagine the people who work by Cambridge South. They could commute by rail from Ely etc
wagnaga
Member
Every train that passes through the station stops including Cross Country who presumably in normal circumstances wouldn't have stopped. I believe this was how they made the timetable worked given Cambridge is a challenge and they have to fit around ECML and WAML.
My step-son (not a train buff) travelled from Harlow Town (the train originating at London Liverpool Street and calling at Tottenham Hale) to visit us in Suffolk. Changing at Cambridge on an off peak semi fast train he realised it was pretty busy for a late morning service and then watched a lot of passengers alight at Cambridge South. He noticed on the London/Stansted bound platform there was plenty of people waiting. Just a laymans view of the new station to which he thought that that information I would find interesting.
dk1
Veteran Member
Yes it’s like this on a daily basis and exactly what I have witnessed along with what’s relayed from ex-colleagues working trains through it too. It really is such an asset to the local area and I have nothing but positivity about it.
Failed Unit
Established Member
It is very likely I will use it to change trains for Stansted Airport. I have two choices change at Finsbury Park and Tottenham Hale or Cambridge South. It does save a lot of time as what was not a safe connection at Cambridge suddenly becomes acceptable.
Ely-Cambridge commuting is huge. In the 2024/25 station flows data, Ely-Cambridge is only just outside the top 10 where both stations are outside London, just behind Bath-Bristol and Durham-Newcastle, but ahead of Newport-Cardiff.
There are also commuters from London to jobs on the Biomedical Campus.
Also, bear in mind that, until we get East West Rail, the rail route Cambridge-Oxford is via London.
The difference between how Ashington and Cambridge is treated, is stark.
Both places have cramped streets unsuitable for cars, but where there is plenty of provision for cycling, both in cycle lanes and in pedestrianisation in general (albeit the cuts and back alleys in Cambridge are no doubt cleaner).
Both places have cramped streets unsuitable for cars, but where there is plenty of provision for cycling, both in cycle lanes and in pedestrianisation in general (albeit the cuts and back alleys in Cambridge are no doubt cleaner).
trundlewagon
Member
Ah, but have you considered the OP and their car?
dk1
Veteran Member
Not in the slightest.
Hmm, I wouldn't go that far!
zwk500
Veteran Member
Correct
I have, and concluded that the OP and their car would add to Cambridge's chronic traffic congestion.
In particular, the OP and their car would thereby worsen Cambridge's bus service. Chronic traffic congestion is one of the main reasons why the Cambridge bus network is not as good as it used to be.Hmm, I wouldn't go that far!
dk1
Veteran Member
There was once a congestion charge plan for the city which unfortunately never got passed.
bramling
Veteran Member
I might be missing something here, but say you live on the south side of Cambridge, would it not be preferable to drive to Cambridge South rather than having to drive into Cambridge to reach the main station?
In terms of other options going south, no other nearby stations offer all-day non-stop services to London, and in any case it’s a fair drive to the likes of Royston or Whittlesford.
It does seem outwardly a little odd that the station hasn’t been designed as a railhead to relieve the main Cambridge station, in the way that Cambridge North presumably does.
Or are we saying that it really is the case that everyone cycles?
This was euphemistically called the sustainable travel zone (STZ). The political consensus for the STZ disintegrated when the "cost of living crisis" hit after Russia invaded Ukraine. Cambridge is a very unequal city, and the STZ was widely regarded as an attempt to price the poor off the roads so that the rich in their SUVs didn't have to queue in traffic.
The parking options for south of Cambridge are Whittlesford and Royston. Both have 2tph fast trains to/from London in the peaks. Although the driving distances may be longer, the driving time will be shorter because of the traffic congestion in Babraham Road/Hills Road and Shelford Road/Trumpington Road. Also fares to London from Whittlesford or Royston will generally be cheaper than Cambridge.
Cambridge North does not just relieve Cambridge. There is a lot of employment nearby, on the Business Park and Science Park, and also Cambridge Regional Collage. Cambridge North is also a destination station.
jfowkes
Established Member
- Joined
- 20 Jul 2017
- Messages
- 1,264
I can see that outwardly you're right. Having a large car park and good road access is the "default" for new stations. The general public perspective on first glance might be that it's a very stupid design. <Insert some complaint about car centric culture here>
But it's not a stupid design. And people will learn that as the station gets used.
bramling
Veteran Member
I’d probably be a bit hacked off having a new station on the doorstep with fast services to London (especially off-peak), yet have to drive to Royston or Whittlesford, both of which I would regard as significant mileage, and also some risk of getting stuck in traffic in their own right.
However if we are saying that the local roads around Cambridge South (I don’t know them) are so congested then I guess this makes sense.
jfowkes
Established Member
- Joined
- 20 Jul 2017
- Messages
- 1,264
Honestly if people are close enough to Cambridge South that Royston/Whittlesford are "significant mileage" they can cycle to Cambridge South.
dk1
Veteran Member
No point being hacked off. You would’ve known from the time the first spade went into the ground that it was a sustainable development as that was the only way planning permission was obtained. Just need to be less reliant on your own car.
It's a bit like the terminating tube stations. There is someone's genuinely nearest station, and there is a nearby preferred station. Someone who does live nearest Cambridge South (the far side of Trumpington is 2km away) is well adjusted to the Cambridge set of options for such a short leg of their journey. (This is where one of those polygonal nearest of set points maps would help.)
So, no doubt, are / were the differences in travel patterns in the two towns long before "cycle provision" became a thing (ie what people did naturally without being "treated"). I will admit to knowing little about Ashington, but Cambridge has been for decades (over a century) a place where cycling is the norm (Basing my claim here on the observations of my Cambridge native father who was growing up there in the 40s and 50s). In the particular case of the two recent (re-)openings, the difference is also stark. Ashington is primarily a "source" station - a large percentage of users will be travelling from their own homes to the station to go somewhere else by train. How they do that will have been researched - and given the nature of the hinterland, that is bound to include cars, whether we would want it to or not. Cambridge South is primarily a destination station (ie aimed at people who arrive by train to go somewhere - to work / visit people in hospital etc - and who therefore have no use for a car park). Those who would potentially drive to Cambridge South, park there and travel onwards by train already have several options in the local area, so are probably using them anyway. The number of road journeys over all that provision of a car-park at Cambridge South would eliminate will pale in to insignificance compared with the increased local traffic volumes that a car park at the station would generate.