The Cambs railway station that only sees 100 passengers each year
If you’ve ever been at a railway station in rush hour, you’ll know that it can be hell on earth. Massive crowds, platform changes, people with enormous suitcases – all these and more could make anyone wish to become a hermit.
There’s at least one station in Cambridgeshire[1] that never struggles with the problem of overcrowding. In fact, Shippea Hill welcomed just 102 passengers in 2021/22, according to the Office of Rail and Road.
In the same period, Cambridge saw nearly seven million people using the station. Ely saw 1.6million passengers over that year.
The station is a few miles east of Ely[3] and the line runs between Cambridge and Norwich. It is on the Breckland Line, which serves the Burnt Fen area in Cambridgeshire and Suffolk[4].
Although 102 passengers sounds like a low figure, that’s not even the quietest year the station has seen. In 2015/16, just 12 people used the station – one for each month.
The station is a request stop, meaning trains only stop there if passengers request it. It has had three different names since its opening in 1845: Mildenhall Road, Burnt Fen, and Shippea Hill.
It has not always been so quiet. The timetable for 1966/67 showed that 12 trains a day were called in each direction.
The station has previously been used to serve the airbases at Mildenhall and Lakenheath. Although nearby Lakenheath is only a few miles away, there are no direct trains between the two.
Of the station, Google reviewer Daniel Mckenzie said: “Pretty much this station is only good for trainspotting as the train service provided is a single morning train a day at best. Not even a shelter is provided on the Ely bound platform (mainly since no trains are scheduled to stop on that side).”
References
- ^ Cambridgeshire (www.cambridge-news.co.uk)
- ^ ‘I visited Cambs’ newest car park – and there were just five other cars when I arrived’ (www.cambridge-news.co.uk)
- ^ Ely (www.cambridge-news.co.uk)
- ^ Suffolk (www.cambridge-news.co.uk)