Cambridge South new station opening

[jfowkes]

Shame, hope that doesn't happen it's really useful for last minute purchases

Plenty of other places around Cambridge station tho. Sainsbury's just across the taxi rank, Greggs, Wasabi, Pret...

 

[WeGoAgain]

IIRC, departing Plt 1 is 50. So if going through non stop, drivers would need to slow their train before the 50 board.
The remainder of your assertion I believe to be correct.


And unfortunately not, no, sorry.

I did not remember correctly. It's 60 mph through Platform 1.

 

[neill]

Plenty of other places around Cambridge station tho. Sainsbury's just across the taxi rank, Greggs, Wasabi, Pret...

And on the other side the list continues with Tesco, Gail’s and Subway. While loss of M&S would be felt I assume EWR will bring expansion on the eastern side and maybe on or two retail outlets to go with it.

Long past are the days where M&S was the only retail offering on station road.

 

[dk1]

Long past are the days where M&S was the only retail offering on station road.

That maybe so but life without M&S is simply (excuse the pun) incomprehensible.

 

[Local59]

Sorry but did anyone get a picture of the route map poster at all?

 

[andy33gmail]

Sorry but did anyone get a picture of the route map poster at all?

Yeah, but not at useful resolution … thought I’d point it out though as I suspect there’ll be higher res photos of the most obvious aspect kicking around

 

[William3000]

Sorry but did anyone get a picture of the route map poster at all?

There is this one which now shows the C2C

 

[Local59]

Thanks that's the one I was on about

 

[DelW]

- The station is going to be freezing in winter for staff. The external walls to the station building are effectively open

Apparently Chiltern staff also said that Winslow is exposed and would be freezing in the winter - is this a problem with new station design? Is it a post-COVID thing, to be open for maximum ventilation, but at lower cost than air conditioning an enclosed space?

When Reading station was rebuilt, there was criticism of the 'transfer deck' being open to the elements over the stairs and escalators. One of the reasons given in response was that, had those been enclosed, the fire / smoke control requirements would have been much more onerous. Might that be a factor in these slightly more recent designs?

 

[Mechy]

Sectional Appendix shows 50/60mph limit (except the Up Main, which is 80mph). The drawing is a tad unclear as to where the actual changes in speed are:
View attachment 207056

https://sacuksprodnrdigital0001.blob.core.windows.net/sectional-appendix/Sectional%20Appendix%20full%20PDFs%20June%2026/Anglia%20Sectional%20Appendix%20June%202026.pdf

The public sectional appendix seems to be showing an old drawing. The current version on NESA seems to be a lot clearer.

 

[andy33gmail]

The public sectional appendix seems to be showing an old drawing. The current version on NESA seems to be a lot clearer.

So through speed of 70mph UP, 60mph down? I.e. taking the lowest speed limit in each direction

 

[Mechy]

So through speed of 70mph UP, 60mph down? I.e. taking the lowest speed limit in each direction

Nope 80mph both directions through the station on the mains. Reducing to 60mph beyond the station in the down direction just to the north, and increases to 90mph in the up direction at Shepreth Branch Jn. The asterisks indicate the point at which the speed changes.

 

[zwk500]

The public sectional appendix seems to be showing an old drawing. The current version on NESA seems to be a lot clearer.

That is a lot clearer, shame that people without NESA application access (a fair amount of industry people!) have to make do with the quality of the public copy. And that version explains why P1 was marooned so far from the line!

 

[LowLevel]

There is this one which now shows the C2C

"Bringing together training services"

Top quality proof reading!

 

[sharpener]

Surely they can isolate the OHLE more locally round 1T08 N of Cambridge so that 1T11 can be powered up again? It's like a blown bulb on one lighting circuit stopping you from running the dishwasher. Or as in 2019 do they need technicians with their special laptops to do a hard reset yet again?

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 and then find itself unable to raise it again without outside intervention? We seemed to get to a point, around 1600, where trains were able to run between London and Cambridge, 1T11 having moved out of the way via reversing at Shepreth as described above, but with hindsight, could that point have been reached earlier?

As an electrical engineer I too would be interested in the answer to this question.

If it belongs elsewhere perhaps the Mods could move it?

 

[Mechy]

As an electrical engineer I too would be interested in the answer to this question.

If it belongs elsewhere perhaps the Mods could move it?

The electrical section is all the way from Coldham Lane to Shepreth Branch Jn, so until local switching and earthing could take place the whole area was wiped out.

 

[neill]

The electrical section is all the way from Coldham Lane to Shepreth Branch Jn, so until local switching and earthing could take place the whole area was wiped out.

Anyone know if the new (manual?) cut out just north of long road was used here?

 

[absolutelymilk]

Early days, but any comments on how widely used the station is? Does it seem like there are more people getting off in the morning than getting on?

Thanks all for the replies - equally does it seem like Cambridge station is less busy with people just going straight to Cambridge South or has it not yet made much difference?

 

[William3000]

Thanks all for the replies - equally does it seem like Cambridge station is less busy with people just going straight to Cambridge South or has it not yet made much difference?

Hard to tell so far. There are several private schools in the area who broke up around the time the station opened and that inevitably reduces trips at this time of year. What I would say is that I think the estimate of 1.8m passenger numbers a year is Conservative - it feels about twice as busy as Cambridge North which has about 1.6m numbers a year so I would expect in its first full year of passenger numbers, them to be possibly just shy of 3m per annum

 

[RUK]

I’m surprised how few toilets there are at the station - on one side, there’s 1 male, 1 female, and 2 accessible (1 of which is a Changing Places toilet), plus a separate baby changing room.

On the other side, there’s just 1 accessible toilet. All are single-person cubicles. Cambridge main station’s mens’ toilet has quite a few urinals and several cubicles, at least 3 cubicles - it was enlarged some years ago, presumably because it was found that more facilities were needed.

It was questioned if Cambridge North had enough toilets, and that has 2 urinals and 1 cubicle for men, 2 cubicles for women, and 1 accessible toilet, so more provision, for a station which will be a lot less busy than Cambridge South will be.

Isn’t toilet provision meant to be something that there’s more awareness about nowadays? Especially since there will be quite a few visitors to/from the hospitals at Cambridge South, who may have more need of toilets more frequently.

 

[jon0844]

Having all the toilets essentially fully accessible toilets seems a good move to me. To be honest, they could just be unisex and the signs for male and female removed so nobody is waiting for what's a single toilet anyway.

 

[Tobberz]

Having all the toilets essentially fully accessible toilets seems a good move to me. To be honest, they could just be unisex and the signs for male and female removed so nobody is waiting for what's a single toilet anyway.

It can be useful, practically, to direct the majority of men who are happy to piss into a trough to do so, rather than take up room in cubicles.

 

[RUK]

It can be useful, practically, to direct the majority of men who are happy to piss into a trough to do so, rather than take up room in cubicles.

In the case of Cambridge South in particular though, there are no troughs (as there used to be at Cambridge main station pre-refurbishment), or any other kind of urinals (as there are at Cambridge main station post-refurbishment) - every toilet is a single-person self-contained cubicle, including a sink, no matter how they’re marked on the outside.

So only 5 people can be accommodated at once - 4 on one entrance side, 1 on the other entrance side - or one fewer than 5, if you happen to be of the non-matching sex.

 

[Jimcam]

In the case of Cambridge South in particular though, there are no troughs (as there used to be at Cambridge main station pre-refurbishment), or any other kind of urinals (as there are at Cambridge main station post-refurbishment) - every toilet is a single-person self-contained cubicle, including a sink, no matter how they’re marked on the outside.

So only 5 people can be accommodated at once - 4 on one entrance side, 1 on the other entrance side - or one fewer than 5, if you happen to be of the non-matching sex.

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 contrast, users of Cambridge main station may already have had a lengthy journey by car, bus, cycle, or foot to get there. Additionally, Cambridge South is unlikely to have many leisure users, unlike the main station.

 

[jon0844]

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 contrast, users of Cambridge main station may already have had a lengthy journey by car, bus, cycle, or foot to get there. Additionally, Cambridge South is unlikely to have many leisure users, unlike the main station.

Agreed, and I'm also pretty sure every train that calls there will have toilets onboard.

 

[saismee]

Agreed, and I'm also pretty sure every train that calls there will have toilets onboard.

700?

 

[jon0844]

700?

Class 700? Yes, an 8 car will have three toilets and a 12 car will have five.

 

[saismee]

Class 700? Yes, an 8 car will have three toilets and a 12 car will have five.

I think the heat has gotten to me, I thought they had no toilets despite knowing they are always filled with graffiti...

 

[Mag_seven]

Thread unlocked for an update from @absolutelymilk

 

[trivran]

bring it shawty