The lost Cambridgeshire railway station demolished to make way for major road
There are far fewer railway stations in Cambridgeshire than there were a century ago. The development of roads and vehicles has meant that fewer goods and passengers rely on trains to travel, which in turn has led to many stations becoming disused.
Some of these stations are still visible, like the one in Histon, where the railway line became the guided busway and the former station house was transformed into a café[1]. Others have been lost forever – like the station in Pampisford.
The station was initially opened as Abington in 1865, but was renamed in 1875. It was on the Stour Valley Railway which ran between Shelford and Marks Tey in Essex.
The first section which joined Shelford and Haverhill opened in June 1865, following a dispute between two railway companies over approval for the line. In August of the same year the section between Haverhill and Subbury opened.
The line was busiest before the First World War, with trains travelling from Cambridge via Sudbury to Clacton. During the war, traffic continued at a similar level, but in the years afterwards goods and passengers increasingly travelled by road.
Passenger services were reduced in the Second World War, though freight services continued. The lines became particularly important during the Allied bomber offensive because of airfields in the area.
After the war, trains continued to run for people taking days out to Clacton and other seaside towns. However, the line was losing financial viability and the station at Pampisford closed in 1967.
The station was finally demolished during the dualling of the A11. The site of the former station is nearby to Solopark on Station Road.
References
- ^ the railway line became the guided busway and the former station house was transformed into a café (www.cambridge-news.co.uk)