Summary
Shepreth railway station serves the village of Shepreth in Cambridgeshire, England. The station is on the Cambridge Line, 49 miles 67 chains (49.84 miles, 80.21 km) from London King's Cross.[1]
Shepreth  | |
|---|---|
 | |
| General information | |
| Location | Shepreth, South Cambridgeshire England |
| Grid reference | TL392481 |
| Managed by | Great Northern |
| Platforms | 2 |
| Other information | |
| Station code | STH |
| Classification | DfT category F2 |
| History | |
| Opened | 1851 |
| Passengers | |
| 2018/19 |  0.116 million |
| 2019/20 | 0.117 million |
| 2020/21 |  23,676 |
| 2021/22 | 68,718 |
| 2022/23 | 91,082 |
| Notes | |
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road | |
History edit
It was opened in 1851 by the Royston and Hitchin Railway as the northern terminus of an extension of the original route from Royston, after earlier plans by the Eastern Counties Railway to build a Cambridge to Bedford line through the village fell through due to lack of finance. The ECR did complete the line north through to a junction with its main line from London to Cambridge in 1852 and initially ran services on the R&HR, but they later gave way to the Great Northern Railway when its lease of the Royston company expired in 1866. The GNR then began running through trains between Kings Cross & Cambridge over the line from 1 April that year, having gained full running powers over ECR metals and access to Cambridge station as part of an agreement ratified by parliament two years previously.[2]
Goods traffic was handled at the station until 1965. From 1978, through trains to the capital temporarily ceased when electric operation was inaugurated to Royston as part of the Kings Cross Outer Suburban electrification scheme. Passengers then had to use a Cambridge to Royston DMU shuttle and change at the latter station for London. Government approval for extending the wires through to Cambridge was eventually granted in 1987 (as a 'fill-in' scheme to link wired routes either side) and the work was completed 12 months later, allowing through running to Kings Cross to resume.[3]
Platform 2 (for trains to Cambridge) was extended in Summer 2017 to be able to accommodate 8-car trains (including Class 700 units), without straddling the level crossing.[4] Although platform 1 was not lengthened, 8-car trains now call there using Selective door operation which opens the doors on the front four carriages only.[5]
Services edit
All services at Shepreth are operated by Great Northern using Class 387 EMUs.
The typical off-peak service in trains per hour is:[6]
- 1 tph to London King's Cross
- 1 tph to Cambridge
Additional services call at the station during the peak hours, increasing the service to 2 tph in each direction.
| Preceding station |  National Rail
|
Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Great Northern | ||||
References edit
- ^ Padgett, David (October 2016) [1988]. Brailsford, Martyn (ed.). Railway Track Diagrams 2: Eastern (4th ed.). Frome: Trackmaps. map 24C. ISBN 978-0-9549866-8-1.
- ^ "The Railway in the Rhee Valley" Spain, J Wordpress.com; Retrieved 23 August 2016
- ^ "Cambridge - Its Railways & Station"Disused Stations Site Record; Retrieved 23 August 2016
- ^ "Platform extensions in South Cambridgeshire - Thameslink Programme". Thameslink Programme. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
- ^ "Praise for platform extensions at Shepreth and Foxton but rail bosses say Meldreth work not needed". Royston Crow. Retrieved 9 July 2018.
- ^ Table 25 National Rail timetable, May 2023
External links edit
- Train times and station information for Shepreth railway station from National Rail
52°06′50″N 0°01′52″E / 52.114°N 0.031°E