News from the East Anglian Branch of Railfuture, edited by Martin Thorne and Jerry Alderson.
Railfuture News Snippets 399 - 30/06/2026
- STATIONS [all issues]
- Cambridge South station opens on Sunday 28 June 2026 with widespread media coverage (local and national)
- Greater Anglia spends more than £1.4m on repainting 29 stations
- Great Yarmouth station sees multiple improvements totalling £700,000
- Multi-storey cark for new commercial development close to Cambridge North station is approved by councillors
- Greater Anglia completes security upgrade at several station cycle hubs to help keep customers' bikes better protected
- Community interest company to be formed to fight for the future of the Trimley station building
- GUIDED BUSWAY [all issues]
Railfuture has submitted its response to the East West Rail route-wide consultation, which ran from 14th April to 9th June 2026. A copy of it and the briefing to members can be read at www.railfuture.org.uk/eastwestrail. The East West Rail Company says that its 16 consultation events 16 events — both in-person and online — were attended by more than 3,100 people, who were able to learn about updated plans and provide feedback on the latest designs for the project that will connect Oxford, Milton Keynes, Bedford and Cambridge. Over 5,000 feedback forms have also been received, with 47,000 website consultation page views, and more than nine million views to the EWR Company's Facebook page. Feedback will be published in autumn 2026, and be taken into account as designs for the project are finalised before a Development Consent Order (DCO) application to build the railway is submitted in 2027. See news story. The Bedford Independent newspaper, which looked only at the events in its area, said "just 281 people attended East West Rail's main Bedford consultation event" on 23rd May 2026, which it said was 39% down from the previous round of consultations. The EWR Company told the newspaper that the reduction was "not unexpected" as fewer route options remained open for discussion as the project moves closer to its final design.
The plans for the Universal United Kingdom Resort (the name has now been confirmed) had a dramatic impact on the East West Ral Company's plans. A BBC article on 14th June 2026 revealed that construction has started and provided a host of facts and figures about it. The resort will start off slightly smaller than Universal's Orlando park, but has the potential to expand over time.
On 3rd June 2026, the Chancellor confirmed government funding from the Growth Mission Fund to support the construction of an eastern entrance at Bletchley station. This will provide a direct link to the town centre, which is on the other side of West Coast Main Line from the current entrance. The government has committed £17m to the project, with Milton Keynes City Council to contribute up to £5m. The East West Rail Company's latest proposals had included an eatrern entrace but it was unfunded, until now.
Cambridge South station opened on Sunday 28th June 2026, with the first train arriving at 06:35, having left Cambridge station at 06:31. Several Railfuture members were on board. See article below. Meanwhile, David Hill has been appointed as the CEO of the new Greater Cambridge Development Corporation, which is being established by the government to drive forward growth in Cambridge and South Cambridgeshire. He is due to take up the role in September 2026. His previous roles have included interim permanent secretary at the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and director general with national responsibility for water policy, and was also director of strategic commissioning and policy at Essex County Council. Peter Freeman, chair of the Cambridge Growth Company, welcomed his appointment.
An article in Peterborough Matters reported that early works with trial hole digging have started on the new City Link, which is part of the £48m Peterborough Station Quarter project. Construction compounds were due to be established by the end of the June. Councillor Angus Ellis, cabinet member for transport at Peterborough City Council, said: "While the station is only a 10-minute walk away from the city centre, it's very disconnected and not easy to navigate, with poorly lit pavements and walkways. City Link will transform this area into a brighter, safer, and more accessible route." The project is expected to be completed in phases by the end of 2028, and will see the creation of a modern arrival point, upgrades to station facilities, a new western entrance, a new multi-storey car park, and improved links with other transport modes. The western entrance will be designed to serve the 30% of station users travelling from the west of the city, whilst the new multi-storey car park will consolidate parking on the west side, freeing up land on the eastern side.
Meanwhile, the Peterborough Telegraph reported that the Great Northern Hotel, which is opposite the station entrance, could be bought through compulsory purchase powers at some time in the future in order to complete the redevelopment of the area around Peterborough station.
On 18th June 2026, the Office of Rail and Road published passenger rail usage figures for Great Britain during January to March 2026 inclusive. A total of 447 million journeys were made, which is a 4% increase on the 429 million journeys in the same quarter in the previous year (January to March 2025), with 16.3 billion passenger kilometres, a 3% increase compared with the 15.8 billion travelled in the same quarter in the previous year. Total passenger revenue was £2.9 billion in the latest quarter, a 1% increase compared with the same quarter in the previous year (when adjusted for inflation). Data for the next quarter will be published on 1st October 2026. Data can be viewed at https://dataportal.orr.gov.uk/statistics/usage/passenger-rail-usage/.
New anti-trespass measures have been installed at railway stations across Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk and Suffolk, including at Attleborough, Brandon, Cromer, Diss, Eccles Road, Gunton, Harling Road, Lakenheath, Manea, March, Roughton Road, Shippea Hill, Spooner Row, Stowmarket, Thetford, Trimley, West Runton, Whittlesea and Wymondham. The measures consist of additional fencing, gates and rubber spikes installed on the ground known as witches' hats. They have been installed to help keep people away from the railway and reduce the risk of trespass. The start of works in January 2026 was reported in [Snippets 394].
Network Rail (NR) has announced its acquisition of 22,000sqm of arable land to the south of Hobson's Park in Cambridge to relocate vital habitats that would have been lost from the footprint of the new Cambridge South station. This includes native trees, shrubs, hedgerows and rich wet grassland. As part of the station project, NR set a target of 10 per cent net gain in biodiversity. The station's 'green roof' includes a wildflower meadow environment and a rainwater catchment system that will slowly discharge rainwater back into the environment and a nearby brook. We've included solar panels to reduce reliance on power from the national grid.
The Marshall airport site has been acquired by Hill and Homes England to deliver 10k homes — one of the UK's largest urban extensions — on the east of Cambridge. It is intended to build Cambridge East staton in the area. Marshall will relocate its operations by mid-2029 to enable the development. Meanwhile, the government has confirmed its intention to establish a Greater Cambridge Development Corporation.
On 30th June 2026, the government's Transport Infrastructure Planning Unit announced the Secretary of State's decision that the Transport and Works Act (TWA) Order application for the Cambridge South East Transport (CSET) has been taken out of abeyance and will proceed to a public inquiry. Some £44m has already been spent on preparations for CSET, without building anything.
An article in the Suffolk News, on 18th June 2026, said that lifts at Stowmarket station are still not in use, 70 days after the £5.5 million bridge had opened to boost accessibility on 8th April 2026, having been first being announced in 2022. It reported a Greater Anglia spokesperson saying: "The lifts are currently undergoing final testing and are not yet available." The AVA stainless steel footbridge had been described as 'revolutionary' with 'plug-and-play' lifts intended to reduce installation time by more than half.
GTR is spending £3.6m on polishing 46km of exteriors across 1,140 of its class 700 Thameslink carriages to a gleaming white finish, as well as repainting toilets and applying smart new interior wall vinyls to deter graffiti and make it easier to clean after any attack. Every area onboard is also being deep steam-cleaned at the Sussex depot in Three Bridges. See news story.
On weekdays between Monday 6th July and Friday 17th July 2026, railway engineers will be replacing 2km of old jointed track on wooden sleepers, some of which is 80 years old, with flat-bottomed rail and 2,755 new steel sleepers on the single line near Berney Arms station. See news story. During the affected weekdays, services between Norwich and Great Yarmouth that normally operate via Reedham will be diverted via Acle, with a minibus shuttle operating between Lingwood, Cantley and Reedham. Passengers will experience a smoother ride. Engineers will also improve the surface of four user-worked level crossings.
There appears to have been no progress on the Ely Area Capacity Enhancement (EACE) scheme for secveral years becuase the government has been unwilling to provide funding. The last Network Rail business case was in 2022, but ther ies now a "radically different policy landscape" according to the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority (CPCA) which has pubished a new report entitled 'The Growth Intersection' that sets out a "clear and compelling investment case", highlighting that the upgrade would deliver a 5:1 return on investment to the economy, as well as providing capacity for more frequent, faster rail services in Cambridgeshire and the East. The media reported that Paul Bristow, Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, said that failing to sort out rail capacity around Ely would hold back the local economy's potential to create jobs and opportunity, and drive economic growth. The necessary upgrades have been costed at £466m and would overcome some of the constaints that restricts both passenger and freight capacity at the bottleneck where five rail lines meet at Ely. Playing to the government's primary objective to increase housing and grow the economy, the report suggests that the project could unlock economic and housing growth in the whole East of England economy, not lwast because over the next decade, the Cambridge Biomedical Campus and Wellcome Genome Campus alone are forecast to expand to create a combined 32,000 new roles, and this level of job demand cannot be met within Cambridge alone. It is estimated that the network capacity created would also remove 98,000 HGV journeys from the A14 each year. The APCA and its partners are exploring alternative funding routes, and establishing a strategic taskforce to engage government to move the project forward. See news report and read a short version of the Growth Intersection report at https://cambridgeshirepeterborough-ca.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/32145-Growth-Intersection-A4P-4pp-v2.pdf.
The Railway Delivery Group (RDG) currently organises central services on behalf of train operators, which includes the Delay Repay compensation scheme — a system that can be confusing and time-consuming for delayed passengers because of their need to know which train oeprator to raise a claim with — and it will lead delivery and operation of a consolidated Delay Repay service pending the launch of Great British Railways (GBR). The new system will process claims regardless of where the customer bought their ticket. The procurement for a single system is divided into three lots: 1) provision of the core Delay Repay service, including the customer-facing website and back-office operations portal to handle the end-to-end claim submission with tracking, decision-making and case management (estimated at £12.8m+VAT); 2) an electronic Ticket Validation Database capability with controls against duplicate or invalid claims (£0.7m); and 3) a secure managed print and postal fulfilment service for letters and rail travel vouchers/warrants issued by the Delay Repay service and BACS payments for compensation (£7.7m+VAT). A subsequent procurement could include pay-as-you-go scheme integration.
From late summer 2026, GBR Anglia will begin trials of a new BVLOS (beyond visual line of sight) drone technology in Romford to support faster response times to trespass incidents and early identification of infrastructure issues, improving journeys for passenger and freight services across the Anglia route. The trial has been approved by the UK Civil Aviation Authority, following 16 months of development work. Network Rail teams will be able to access live aerial coverage up to 400 metres from Romford Rail Operating Centre, providing faster access to information compared with standard drone systems and reducing the need for staff to enter higher-risk areas. The drones are fitted with high-resolution thermal imaging cameras, which support the early identification of wear or damage across track, drainage, structures and lineside equipment before it develops into faults. The aim is to expand the use of BVLOS drone operations in the future across locations with flights extending up to four kilometres. See news story.
The Fen Line Users Association (FLUA) will hold its 2026 AGM on Saturday 14th November in Waterbeach at the Baptist chapel (the usual venue, which is close to the village green), starting at 14:00
The Mid-Norfolk Railway (MNR) will hold its 2026 AGM on Saturday 12th September in Dereham in a temporary marquee at the station, starting at 14:00. There will be six train services providing round trips fron Dereham to Wymondham, the first three leaving Dereham and gettig back before the AGM begins.
On Saturday 6th June 2026, Greater Anglia's Norwich Crown Point depot opened its doors to the public for first time in almost 40 years, with more than 1,200 people enjoying a rare behind-the-scenes glimpse inside a busy, working railway depot. A class 745 12-carriage electric train was on display, while a number of class 755 bi-mode trains were available for in-depth tours of the driver's cab and passenger saloons. Train wheelsets, traction motors, engines and other key train components were also laid out, along with information boards explaining their purpose and how they are maintained. Cab tours of Class 37 and Class 56 diesel freight locomotives from Colas Rail Freight also proved popular, according to the Greater Anglia press release. A Freightliner Class 90 locomotive, which used to be based at Crown Point and haul Norwich to London intercity trains, was also on show. Local rail organisations including Bure Valley Railway, Mid-Norfolk Railway and the Bittern and Wherry Lines Community Rail Partnerships also had stands with information and products for visitors to view. Crown Point depot opened on 27th October 1982, replacing Norwich engine shed and allowing InterCity trains that had previously been serviced at Great Yarmouth to move to a central location. It was electrified in 1986/87, as full electrification of the Great Eastern Main Line was completed. The depot services up to 27 trains over a 24-hour period, including fuelling, cleaning and sanding. See news story.
The Whitwell & Reepham Railway says, in its June 2026 bulletin, that it's been a challenge to keep up with the demand for its driver experiences. So, they've added 2027 dates to their booking calendar. However, in a setback for the railway, plans to increase the number of caravan pitches at the heritage station (with five static caravans and two shepherd's huts, instead of the original plans for 15 pitches) have been refused again by Broadland District Council. Concerns were raised By Norfolk County Council's highways team that the quality of the track leading to the site was unsuitable, which is the same reason as the previous refusal. The planning application included no proposals for highway improvement mitigation or passing places on Whitwell Road between the station and Reepham town centre. See news story.
The Mid-Norfolk Railway (MNR) is developing tools to understand the variable costs of its operations i.e. the ones that change if it does more. The MNR is going to review its ticket pricing policy, aiming for a structure which is: a) commercially sensible; b) simple for customers to understand; c0 straightforward for staff and volunteers to operate; and d) generates a profit.
STATIONS
Cambridge South station opens on Sunday 28 June 2026 with widespread media coverage (local and national)
Keywords: [CambridgeSouthStation]
On 11th May 2026, when the 28th June opening date for Cambdrige South station was announced, the Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority (CPCA), Paul Bristow, issued a statement saying: "Cambridge Biomedical Campus is busy and growing, with 23,000 jobs and three world-class hospitals helping over 1 million people every year. With up to nine trains per hour and all passing services stopping, Cambridge South will make a real difference from day one. The campus already contributes more than £4.7 billion to the UK economy, and could rise to £18.2 billion with another 20,000 jobs on top. That kind of growth cannot happen without better infrastructure like this. We put in early funding specifically to help bring this station forward ahead of East West Rail, with benefits arriving years sooner than they otherwise would. It's a good example of what we can do to speed up infrastructure delivery." See the statement.
The BBC published an article at https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c3ryjyp72j8o entitled "Everything you need to know about Cambridge South station" a few days prior to its opening. Every local news website covered the opening e.g. https://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/cambridge-news/gallery/cambridge-south-first-commuters-use-34203931 from the Cambridge News, and were overwhelmingly positive, having taken their content from press rleeases, rather than visiting the station themselves and making a through study of it.
An article in Business Weekly magazine interviewed Ed Watson, Interim Managing Director for Cambridge Biomedical Campus Ltd, who explained why the new railway station on its doorstep will be transformative for the largest centre of medical research and health science in Europe. He wrote: "It's an exciting time for Cambridge, which is rightfully being recognised as a place of huge national and international importance in driving economic growth and scientific discovery. But the institutions and companies which make Cambridge the most intense innovation cluster in Europe, and second in the world only to the San Jose, rely on the people with the right skills and ideas collaborating with each other. Even in the post-COVID era of instant messaging and online meetings, this requires the right people being in the right place at the right time."
Mr Watson continued: "Cambridge South station makes the Campus a stop on every journey between Cambridge and London and unlocks direct rail travel to 69 places across Britain. For us, it represents more than just a station. It will be so much easier for international partners to get here from Stansted Airport and help the new collaboration between Cambridge and Manchester. It will be a key connection in future including East-West Rail connecting to Oxford. People from further away will have better access to job opportunities. More than 22,000 people currently work on the Campus, including over 750 apprentices, which makes the Campus the biggest employment site in the city. Analysis shows that every 10 jobs created on the Campus already support a further 10 jobs around the country. Commuting from many destinations outside of the city will become easier, supporting economic growth in the surrounding region, whilst easing pressure on local roads. The new station will also mean that those working on the Campus now and in the future can live further away, whilst still having an easy, sustainable commute. When we conducted a survey to inform our Housing Study in 2024, we found that 40 per cent of people who work on our Campus are struggling with the cost of housing in Cambridge."
A YouTube video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJQSOS3Kmww interviewed many users of Cambridge South station and nearby businesses and organisations that will benefit from it.
The official 'celebratory' opening ceremony planned for Monday 29th June was postponed as a mark of respect for those involved in the recent Elwsow (Bedfordshire) rail accident, with Network Rail saying : "Given the ongoing impact of the incident locally, we feel it would not be right to proceed with the event at this time", although invited guests did gather that day to have a look around the station.
Greater Anglia spends more than £1.4m on repainting 29 stations
Keywords: [GreaterAnglia]
Greater Anglia has spent more than £1.4m in a major station repainting project across its network covering 29 stations across Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire — these include Norwich, Bury St Edmunds, Bishop's Stortford, Manningtree, Brundall, Cantley, Elmswell, Harwich International, Hoveton & Wroxham, Needham Market, Oulton Broad North, Oulton Broad South, Reedham, Salhouse, Shelford, Thetford, Thurston, Walton-on-the-Naze, Wivenhoe, Woodbridge, Worstead and Wymondham, all of which are in the Railfuture East Anglia branch area. The aim is to make stations look brighter, cleaner and more welcoming for passengers and local communities. Canopies, columns, window frames and signage have all been repainted. The project began in September 2025 and was completed in April 2026. See news story.
Great Yarmouth station sees multiple improvements totalling £700,000
Keywords: [GreatYarmouthStation]
More than £700,000 spent on Great Yarmouth railway station in time for the summer season, some of which was done in 2025. The work done includes upgraded waiting room (with new seating and flooring along with more efficient heating and lighting), refurbished toilets, a new Changing Places toilet (designed to meet the needs of people who cannot use standard accessible toilets), a life-saving defibrillator and improved customer information. A live onward bus information screen (jointly funded by Norfolk County Council) has been installed to help passengers arriving at the station find connections from the nearby bus stop.
A Broads Discovery Hub has been installed in collaboration with the Wherry Lines Community Rail Partnership. It consists of a series of oak plinths located near the railway station and the Bure Bridge entrance to the town. They were created and will be maintained by the Wherry Lines Community Rail Partnership and Broads Trust, the charity that supports projects across Norfolk and Suffolk.
An ongoing project to improve the fabric of the station building is nearing completion and includes the new glazing, roof repairs and redecoration or the station canopy. In hte press release, Martin Halliday, Community Rail Development Officer for Community Rail Norfolk, explained how the partnership has worked to make the station a more welcoming gateway to the town which has seen us fund new planters, image panels, a refurbishment of the night entrance with new cycle storage plus numerous way-marking and welcome signage, including a bespoke information hub that signposts visitors to the town, the Wherryman's Way and other walking routes as well as information on local history, the railway and the area's natural environment.
Multi-storey cark for new commercial development close to Cambridge North station is approved by councillors
Keywords: [CambridgeNorthStation]
Councillors at the Greater Cambridge Joint Development Management Committee have approved (following a recommendation in favour) a 600-space multi-storey car park (rather than the origainl proposal for basement parking underneath the businesses) on the edge of a new housing development near to Cambridge North station being built by the Chesterton Partnership, which comprises Network Rail, DB Cargo and Brookgate. Eventually there will be over 400 homes and multiple business buildings next in the area with the car park intended for the exclusive use of those working at the five new commercial buildings. The development as a whole was given the go-ahead by the government in 2024, although the site of the car park was not included in the initial plans. The development is obviously good for growing patronage at Cambridge North, which will itself undergo changes it its parking: a separate multi-storey car park, known as a mobility hub, built at the southern end of the existing (ground-level-only) station car park to increase capacity for rail passengers and other users.
News: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c982339yelgo
https://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/cambridge-news/new-multi-storey-car-park-34153110.
Greater Anglia completes security upgrade at several station cycle hubs to help keep customers' bikes better protected
Keywords: [GreaterAnglia]
Greater Anglia (GA) has improved security at several of its stations that have gated 'secure' cycle hubs, which are accessed using a smartcard obtained with an £25 annual subscription. All hubs have an emergency exit button. GA has now upgraded the emergency release mechanism on the gates so that it automatically re-locks 60 seconds after it has been used, to prevent someone from entering and stealing cycles. The auto-relocking upgrade took around three weeks to complete. Cambridge North, Whittlesford Parkway and Bury St Edmunds are amongst the stations where it has been installed.
Community interest company to be formed to fight for the future of the Trimley station building
Keywords: [TrimleyStation]
A new Community Interest Company (CIC) is to be formed to fight for the future of dilapidated Trimley station, which is in Trimley St Mary situated between Derby Road and Felixstowe, following the election of the board of directors and full committee at the AGM of the Trimley Station Regeneration Project at Felixstowe Town Hall on Thursday 25th June 2026.
The project's chair Amanda Folley said: "We aim to make the building water tight before the winter and are inviting Greater Anglia Railway and Network Rail to sit around the table with us." Greater Anglia responded, saying: "We will be happy to work with them or other interested parties to understand their plans and see if a viable and sustainable funding option can be identified, as part of ongoing work to assess the best future strategy for the station.".
The building at Trimley station has not been in operational use since the 1960s. None of the organisations with a direct interest in the station (e.g. Greater Anglia, Network Rail and local councils) are funded to restore and reopen it. However, the Railway Heritage Trust, which seeks to preserve historic railway buildings, is set to provide a grant to secure the building and replace the roof for phase one of the regeneration project, while phase two would involve restoring the whole building to bring it back to use."
News: https://www.eadt.co.uk/news/26230464.fight-save-trimley-st-mary-train-station-takes-next-step/.
GUIDED BUSWAY
Cost of guided busway safety fencing nearly doubles to £12.5m
Cambridgeshire County Council has been erecting fencing along the guided busway to reduce the chance of any more cyclists or pedestrians accidentally coming into contact with buses and being killed by them. Snippets has previously reported on the three people killed, the prosecution of the council by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) on health and safety grounds, which resulted in a £6m fine, and the subsequent installation of safety fencing south of Hills Road bridge in Cambridge to create a physical barrier between the adjacent path and the busway. Attention has now turned to the northern section from the Cambridge Science Park to St Ives, with both tracks currently closed from Milton Road to the Cambridge Regional College. Procurement for works along the route from Histon to St Ives, which includes flood mitigation measures to ensure walkers and wheelers can safely use the path during and after periods of heavy rain, is expected in summer 2026, with construction to start in late summer according to an article in the Cambridge News.
Temporary speed limits which mean that buses are currently limited to 30mph will be reviewed as new safety infrastructure is completed. On the northern section, variable speeds of up to 40-50mph may be introduced where appropriate, improving journey times while maintaining safety.
The original budget for the fencing was £6.5m, but according to a BBC news story, a report to the council's highways committee, which was due to meet on 30th June 2026, said the project was now forecast to hit £12.5m. The original intention was to erect a three or four-bar wooden fence, but after a risk assessment, which included the need to evacuate passengers to stranded buses, more expensive metal fencing with gates was installed. Jamie Cooke, the council's transport director, told a council meeting that while the HSE had not instructed the local authority to install fencing, it did require the council to "perform a thorough and very detailed risk assessment", further saying that said it was "very important to get that fencing installed quickly, and as we began that process it became clear that because of the amount (sic) of people using the shared-use track the fencing had to be of a higher specification...so it cost a little bit more to deliver than we first anticipated." Many would not consider an extra £6m (a doubling of the cost) to be a "little bit more". The excess cost is to be met from the County Council's Major Infrastructure Reserves.
News: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c5yzkel9qy7o.
Railfuture East Anglia Branch News Snippets 399 - 30/06/2026
[Prev Issue (398)] [Snippets Issues] [Next Issue (400)] [Category List] [Keyword List] [People List] [Story List] [Branch Dashboard]
Railfuture is a non-profit making pro-rail campaigning organisation, which is run entirely by unpaid volunteers, including production of Rail News Snippets for the East Anglian branch of Railfuture.
How we spell Railfuture — singular, one word, one capital letter (can be abbreviated to Rf).