Busy bank holiday weekend reminder

Published on: Friday, 16 August 2019
Last updated: Wednesday, 21 August 2019

Passengers travelling between Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire and London on Saturday and Sunday of the August Bank Holiday weekend are being reminded that trains and stations may be much busier than usual.

The Greater Anglia line between Ely, Cambridge, Bishop’s Stortford and London Liverpool Street will be fully open.

However, other train operators including Great Northern and LNER are affected by major engineering works on the line from Kings Cross to Peterborough which will prevent them from running trains between these routes.

As a result, Greater Anglia trains and stations trains on the West Anglia line between Ely, Cambridge and Liverpool Street are expected to be even busier than usual, if passengers opt to use services to Liverpool Street instead of the rail replacement services organised by other operators.

Extra trains have been scheduled from Cambridge, but passengers are being warned that they will be very busy – as will stations along the route, particularly Cambridge.

There is also some proposed industrial action which will affect Cross Country train service. If this planned industrial action goes ahead, this is likely to result in Greater Anglia services being even busier.

Mike Barry, Greater Anglia Area Customer Service Manager for Cambridge, said: “We are doing what we can to carry extra passengers.

“We are planning for so many people we will be putting extra crowd control measures in if we need them at Cambridge station.

“We are expecting trains to be full when they leave Cambridge, so that when they stop at stations along the route, such as Bishop’s Stortford, it could be standing room only.

“We will have extra staff at stations to make sure customers catch the right train and to keep everyone safe.

“I would like to ask customers to be patient, especially if they are asked to queue to get into the station or to catch a later train.”

Greater Anglia will run four trains an hour between Cambridge and London on Saturday and Sunday 24/25 August. The usual Bishop’s Stortford-Stratford service has been altered to run between Cambridge and Liverpool Street with more carriages.

Since trains and stations are expected to be so busy, only fold-up bicycles will be permitted on trains.

On Saturday 24 August, Greater Anglia will run two trains an hour between Cambridge and Liverpool Street for much of the day. In addition the normal XX.15 Bishops Stortford to Stratford service has been extended to start at Cambridge, and will now depart Cambridge at xx.44.

The usual Cambridge to Stansted Airport trains will also run to connect with the Stansted Express service into London Liverpool Street.

On Sunday 25 August, Greater Anglia will run two trains an hour between Cambridge and Liverpool Street, as well as the Cambridge to Stansted Airport service.

Customers should check before they travel on the Greater Anglia website and app.

Network Rail is carrying out major works to the East Coast Main Line from Kings Cross to the north east of England on Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 August.

In the major upgrade project, signals are being removed from a tunnel underneath Kings Cross and relocated to York so that a new line can be built out of Kings Cross, which will improve the number of trains operators such as Great Northern and LNER can run out of the station.