News from the East Anglian Branch of Railfuture, edited by Martin Thorne and Jerry Alderson.
Railfuture News Snippets 393 - 31/12/2025
At GTR's Stakeholder Forum on 1 December 2025, it was revealed that the most-recent 'weekly gate-line numbers' were at 94% of the equivalent week in 2019, showing that patronage has almost totally recovered (in terms of numbers, if not revenue) after the COVID-19 pandemic. GTR has seen 6% more passenger journeys in 2025, with weekdays now growing twice as fast as weekends and Thursday is still the busiest day of the week: 13 of 17 days over one million in 2025 were on a Thursday. In the year to March 2024, passenger revenue was £12 billion with £4 billion of subsidy for train operators. GTR was on £200 million subsidy a year for both the years to March 2024 and March 2025, but it is expected to reduce to £100 million for the yeat to March 2026. In the year to March 2025, GTR's revenue was £2.3 billion, which is 16% lower than the year to March 2020 after adjusting for inflation.
With effect from Sunday 14th December 2025, when the timetable changes, GTR extended contactless pay-as-you-go (PAYG) to 50 more stations across its network. In East Anglia, stations between Baldock and Welwyn North have been added. As a result, it has altered its fares to more closely resemble the TfL fare structure. Within the zone, Super Off-Peak fares have been withdrawn and Off-Peak fares have been reduced. Single journeys are half of a return journey and all journeys now have off-peak fares. There is a standard peak times: mornings until 09:30 and afternoons during 16:00-19:00.
As of the start of December 2025, GTR now has 19 class 379 units in traffic. As a result, Class 700 trains will no longer operate on services between Ely and King's Lynn. Eleven class 387 units have been transferred from Great Northern to Southern to support longer formations and additional trains.
Network Rail's C3R Re-signalling, Re-lock and Re-Control project, which has been on-going in Cambridgeshire for more than two years, will see a lot of work done over Christmas 2025, not least for Cambridge south station. The level crossing near Meldreth will be converted (NR says "upgraded") from half-barrier to a full-width manually controlled barrier (using CCTV cameras controlled remotely by a signaller), with new road signs and warning signals, including lights and audible sounds. For the work, the level crossing will close for 19 days, from 07:00 on Wednesday 24th December 2025 until 19:00 on Monday, 12th January 2026. More information can be read here.
On 2nd December 2025, BBC News Online published a news story entited "MP bemused by lack of rail junction upgrade" quoting Charlotte Cane MP, who is leading a debate in Parliament on Wednesday 3rd December about the Ely North junction. The local Liberal Democrat MP cited the business case that "for every £1 spent [the project is] likely to bring back nearly £5". A Department for Transport (DfT) spokesperson said it recognised the scheme's importance and fully anticipated Ely North "will be part of a pipeline of projects to be considered as part of future funding decisions", adding: "There is a strong case for Ely Junction, and we are committed to working with a broad range of stakeholders to support its inclusion in the future pipeline." As expected, the scheme was not included in the Budget annoucement on 26th November 2025.
The Cambridge University Railway Club (CURC) was very disappointed to announce (just two hours before) that Laura Shoaf was unable to make the talk on Wednesday 3rd December 2025, which was therefore cancelled. This was because of disruption caused by a person being hit by a train that afternoon between London King's Cross and Cambridge. The CURC said that Ms Shoaf was looking forward to speaking to and it hope to reschedule for the Lent (January-March) term.
STATIONS
Spencer Rail Engineering issues press release to promote its £28.5m contract to build Waterbeach Town station
Keywords: [WaterbeachStation]
On 2nd dEcmerb 2025, Spencer Rail Engineering issued a press release, which was picked up by various news outlets, about how it has begun design work on the new Waterbeach Town station, which it will also construct. It had been has been awarded a £28.5 million contract by the Greater Cambridge Partnership (GCP). The press release said that thew new station would "replace the existing Waterbeach station" although this is still uncertain, particularly as a statutory closure process would be necessary, and 'hardship' (current users inconvenienced by having to travel further to access the railway) would have to be taken account of.
It said: "Spencer Rail Engineering's team will carry out the enabling works, M&E, construction of the station platforms, drainage, minor track works and overhead line equipment (OLE) adjustments. As part of the works, Spencer will also install piled foundations for the platforms, lifts and staircases, utilising steelwork for the canopies and pre-cast elements for the platforms. The project will also include the creation of a new car park with up to 280 spaces to service the station."
Work is expected to begin on site in autumn 2026, with construction completed by 2028.
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Railfuture East Anglia Branch News Snippets 393 - 31/12/2025
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