NATIONAL RAIL AWARDS
2017 LARGE STATION OF THE YEAR
Greater Anglia was top of the crop here for its Large station at Cambridge, which judges singled out as the most impressive station of all this year’s entries.
Cambridge is one of the most visited cities in the UK, attracting some 4.6 million people each year. Famous for its architecture and its world-renowned university, the city is thriving and the station has recently undergone development works, in conjunction with a wider redevelopment of the area surrounding the station. These factors helped make it stand out from the crowd for the NRA panel.
Cambridge has a large and attractive Grade 2 listed station building with eight platforms, two of which were brought into use in 2011 to help manage the expanding number of services.
There are four through platforms and four bay platforms for terminating services, The newly expanded Cambridge station was named Large Station of the Year. It now accommodates more than 11 million passengers a year, after two extra platforms (left) were opened in 2011 to cope with increased traffic. operated by Greater Anglia, CrossCountry and Great Northern. It is a thriving station that copes well with the demands of the modern railway.
GA has created a larger station concourse, as well as a larger ticket hall, additional ticket vending machine and ticket gates. These expanded facilities and improvements were introduced at the beginning of this year, brought about following complaints about crowded conditions.
A large car park alongside the station provides more than 370 spaces for users. Bicycle parking at the station is also very well
catered for, with over 2,800 bays for bikes on three floors at CyclePoint, the largest facility of its kind in Britain.
The ticket office is open seven days a week from early morning until late evening. Station staff were praised for their welcoming attitude to visitors and for dealing with enquiries about a complex network of lines.
Highly Commended in this category were the Virgin Trains West Coast station at Birmingham International, and Derby, which is managed by East Midlands Trains.