News from the East Anglian Branch of Railfuture, edited by Martin Thorne and Jerry Alderson.
Railfuture News Snippets 398 - 31/05/2026
- STATIONS [all issues]
- TRAIN OPERATORS [all issues]
- RAIL ROUTES [all issues]
- WEBSITES AND APPS [all issues]
- GUIDED BUSWAY [all issues]
- PRESERVED RAILWAYS [all issues]
Proposals have been submitted to transform brownfield railway land at Cambridge North into 425 new high-quality build-to-rent homes, with parks, community spaces and amenities. The development at the Cambridge North Residential Quarter (a mix of residential, alongside linear parks, pocket gardens, and tree-lined streets) is being brought forward by 'blocwork', a joint venture between Platform4 (which is Network Rail's property development company) and partnership developer bloc ltd. Grainger plc will forward fund the scheme and manage the development once complete. The design also prioritises pedestrian and cycle movement. Being close to Cambridge North station should reduce car dependency for future residents and is bound to see continued storng growth in patronage at the station, which already sees around 1.6 million journeys per year. See news story.
Greater Anglia (GA) was brought into public owsnership in October 2025, just after c2c in July 2025, with the intention of creating a unified leadership team for the two train operators and Network Rail's Anglia routes. The new Anglia Railway integrated railway team is now in place (MD Jamie Burles, COO Martin Beable and CCCO Rob Mullen) and they will be aligning track and train more closely to deliver a more joined-up and reliable railway for passengers in the East of England. It should enabling faster, more coordinated decision-making across the network, with benefits for both day-to-day service delivery and the long-term planning of customer improvements. It is hoped that more coordinated planning of engineering work and an even stronger focus on minimising disruption will arise. Similar integrated teams have already been shown to benefit passenger and freight services on publicly owned South Eastern Railway and South Western Railway, and will become the industry standard across the network as the Government sets up Great British Railways (GBR). See news story and statement from the Network Rail Media Centre, which includes the full management line-up and a link to a video presented by Jamie Burles, Martin Beable, Louise Kavanagh and Natalie Allen.
On 17th May 2026, Greater Anglia (GA) introduced a new evening return train service between Lowestoft and Beccles on Mondays toSaturdays. However, it cannot go further south (e.g. as far as Ipswich with stops at Brampton, Halesworth, Darsham, Saxmundham, Wickham Market, Melton, Woodbridge and Westerfield) because the partly single-track railway llne is occupied with late night freight trains to the Sizewell C construciton site in order to get construction traffic off the roads (one freight ttain can replace 50 lorries). The MP for Suffolk Coastal, Jenny Riddell-Carpenter, has been pressing GA on this and it will see if the timetable could be "flexed" to accommodate improvements to the passenger service. As an alternative, the MP has asked if buses could be used from Beccles.
The bridge under the railway crossing in Bridge Road in Ely was once dubbed the "most bashed" in Britain by Network Rail after 18 incidents were recorded in 2023-24. The new bypass was supposed to prevent similar incidents in future, but some over height lorries still take the route, presumably to save time or because their navigation aid advises them to do so. On Tuesday 19th May 2026, a van became wedged under the railway bridge just a day after a similar crash involving a tractor (on Monday 18th May).
Cambridge Science Park has unveiled major plans that could create up to 20,000 new jobs. The Science Park has submitted plans to increase floor space from 2.8 million sqft to 8 million sqft as part of its major 'masterplan', which would triple its economic output from £1 billion to £3 billion. The aim is to create a vibrant science park, that is open to the public, helping to nurture and inspire the next generation of innovators. At its closest end, Cambridge North station is just a 10-minute walk away. The guided busway links the Science Park to Cambridge North station in just a few minutes.
In its Fenman newsletter, FLUA reported that Greater Anglia (GA) had withdrawn the refreshments trolley service operated on some Norwich to Stansted Airport trains saying that the three-month trial had come to an end. However, GA has since reinstated it — see announcement.
STATIONS
Cambridge South station will open on Sunday 28 June 2026
Keywords: [CambridgeSouthStation]
On 11th May 2026, the Department for Transport (DfT) announced that services would begin calling at Cambridge South station on Sunday 28th June, with the station's official opening ceremony taking place the following day. Cambridge South will be the first Great British Railways (GBR) branded station in Britain. The official estinated patronage for Cambridge South is 1.8 million passengers annually — a figure calculated using the government's Green book methodology — although many observers, including Railfuture, expect it to be far higher, perhaps reaching that figure within 10 months of opening, not least because of its closeness to the city's Biomedical Campus, with its world-class science, NHS hospitals, and business facilities. It will be served by up to nine trains an hour in each direction. The new station is being promoted heavily by Greater Anglia including at Cambridge United's football ground where leaflets were recently handed out. The cost of the new station has exceeded £250m; — not helped by a supplier going into administration — and required a substantial amount of new track, remodelling and signalling. It was almost entirely funded by the government, and represents good value for month as the Cambridge Biomedical Campus contributes £4.7 billion annually in Gross Value Added (GVA) to the UK economy, a figure expected to rise to £18.2 billion by 2050 alongside a doubling of its 20,000 current employees thanks in part to the boost brought by the new station. There have been £5 million contributions from AstraZeneca, which is 'private money' plus the Cambridge & Peterborough Combined Authority (CPCA), and the Greater Cambridgeshire Partnership (GCP), which is 'public money'.
News: https://news.railbusinessdaily.com/cambridge-south-new-stations-opening-date-revealed/.
TRAIN OPERATORS
Govia Thameslink Railway becomes Greater Thameslink Railway as it moves into public ownership
Keywords: [TSGN]
Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR), which is responsible for one in six passenger rail journeys in Britain, and is the largest train operating company, was renamed Greater Thameslink Railway when it became publicly owned operators on Sunday 31st May 2026. Although public ownership offers no direct benefits to passengers, the government is funding a doubling of the number of services between Gatwick Airport and London Victoria every hour and training 110 new Travel Safe Officers to crack down on anti-social behaviour on the network. However, consolidating the ownership of operators — in this case under the government's DFTO companty — gives an opportunity to reduce fragmentation that does have negative consequences for all rail users.
GTR has been given a 100-day plan will focus on getting the basics right, to create a reliable service that delivers better on-board experience. Recruiting more drivers to reduce the number of services cancelled is a obviously a priority. Thameslink train toilets are being refreshed to crack down on graffiti and provide a better experience for passengers. GTR will resurface toilet interiors on two trains every week with over half the fleet completed by the end of the year. In future, passengers will be able to get support when there is disruption from staff directly via a customer support WhatsApp channel. GTR is also adding more online payment options for customers.
Although Network Rail responsibility, rather than GTR, and therefore nothing to do with the transition of GTR to the public sector, a secondary signalling system will be deployed between Farringdon and Blackfriars to reduce delays and boost resilience. Whilst this is not in the Railfuture East Anglia branch area, the delays caused there propoagate all the way bacj to Cambrdge and Peterborough.
A BBC article entitled "Biggest rail operator nationalised: What it means" tried to explain the impact of moving the operator to public ownership, but concluded that it meant no (immediate) changes for anyone.
Govia Thameslink CEO Angie Doll left the operator the day before it is nationalised for a new role with Go-Ahead as Managing Director Rail, Australia and New Zealand. The news had come as a surprise to GTR leaders and staff.
Chiltern Railways will be next to transfer to public ownership on 20th September 2026, followed by Great Western Railways on 13th December 2026. EMR, CrossCountry and Avanti West Coast will transfer by the end of 2027, completing the ownership programme.
RAIL ROUTES
East Suffolk line level crossings upgraded to cope with Sizewell C freight traffic
Keywords: [EastSuffolkLine]
Level crossings along the East Suffolk line are in the process of being upgraded with new technology to comp[ly with Network Rail's safety assements as preparations continue for an expected increase in rail freight linked to the Sizewell C nuclear power station — Sizewell C is targeting 60% of all construction materials to be delivered by rail and sea, reducing pressure on local roads and supporting more sustainable logistics.
The enhancements vary by location and include miniature stop lights for pedestrians, red light enforcement cameras, improved train detection technology, and in some cases full crossing upgrades with barriers, lights and audible alarms. Work began in January 2026.
WEBSITES AND APPS
Real-Time Trains smartphone app reintroduced
An new free-to-use Realtime Trains app has been launched to provide real-time train running information, based on the very popular RTT website that has been providing rail users with timely train running information for over ten years. With over a million data requests made each day, the RTT app will make it even easier to access details of train times and platforms. Realtime Trains was founded by Tom Cairns in 2012. It has more than 1.5 million active users each month.
Like the website the app also allows users to monitor freight and special train movements in a specified window time. RTT+ subscribers (£4/month with a full year's subscription costing £25) can login to the app for ad-free browsing and upwards of five years' historical data, as opposed to the standard 14 days. The app is available for both iOS and Android smartphones.
News: https://news.railbusinessdaily.com/realtime-trains-now-available-on-app/.
GUIDED BUSWAY
Contractors are being called up to bid for the £150m Cambourne to Cambridge guided busway
Cambridgeshire County Council, acting for the Greater Cambridge Partnership, is seeking to appoint a single contractor to deliver the proposed new guided busway between Cambourne and Cambourne if the controversial scheme is approved by the government. A start of construction is expected in early 2027 with works running through to the end of 2031.
News: https://www.constructionenquirer.com/2026/05/22/150m-cambridge-busway-opens-race-for-contractor/.
PRESERVED RAILWAYS
Nene Valley Railway sets up a resilience fund
Keywords: [NeneValleyRailway]
The Nene Valley Railway, which is based in Peterborough and operates over 7.5 miles (12km) of track, has set up a resilience fund for donations from supporters and the public, after that warning it faced a "tricky" financial position in 2026. Ticket sales alone do not cover its full running costs, while steam coal now costs about £3.50 a shovel, equating to £355 per round trip. The fund will help make sure that the railway is "here for the long term", it said. One migth hope that the new westrern entrance at Peterbourtgh station, which could open in 2028, will encourage more visitors as the Nene Valley Railway will then be a shorter walk from the main station.
This latest appeal by the volunteer-run railway follows an urgent appeal in 2025 to raise £300,000 to help keep it running in the face of rising costs and financial challenges. Its visitor numbers for Christmas 2025 were down, which did not help matters.
News: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c1j2971zw46o.
Railfuture East Anglia Branch News Snippets 398 - 31/05/2026
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