St Neots railway station explained

St Neots
Symbol Location:gb
Symbol:rail
Borough:St Neots, District of Huntingdonshire
Country:England
Grid Name:Grid reference
Manager:Great Northern
Platforms:4
Code:SNO
Classification:DfT category D
Original:Great Northern Railway
Pregroup:Great Northern Railway
Postgroup:London and North Eastern Railway
Eastern Region of British Railways
Opened:7 August 1850
Footnotes:Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road
Mapframe:yes
Mapframe-Zoom:13

St Neots railway station serves the town of St Neots in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located to the east of the town approximately from the town centre. It is on the East Coast Main Line, about 52 miles (83 km) from . The station is managed by Great Northern, although most services are operated by Thameslink.

The station has two large island platforms and four main rail lines, a pair of "up and down" slow lines used by stopping services and a pair of "up and down" fast lines used by fast Great Northern services that stop there during peak times and for high speed services passing through.

History

The first section of the Great Northern Railway (GNR) - that from to a junction with the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway at Grimsby - opened on 1 March 1848, but the southern section of the main line, between and, was not opened until August 1850. St Neots was one of the original stations, opening with the line on 7 August 1850.[1] [2] [3]

It was the scene of a derailment of a Scottish night express in 1895.[4]

Facilities

There are toilet facilities at the station and a newsagent/coffee seller in the ticket hall. A taxi office is situated outside the station, where minicabs can be booked.

St Neots station has automatic ticket barriers, which were installed in 2008 by former franchise holder First Capital Connect, which has led to the station being staffed for longer hours, and the station also has help points throughout.

Services

Off-peak, all services at St Neots are operated by Thameslink using EMUs.

The typical off-peak service in trains per hour is:

During the peak hours, the station is served by an additional hourly service between and Peterborough. These services run non-stop between and London King's Cross and are operated by Great Northern using EMUs.

On Sundays, the service is reduced to hourly and southbound services run to London King's Cross instead of Horsham.

The station is also served by several buses, with routes to St Neots town centre, Eaton Ford, Eaton Socon, Loves Farm, Cambridge, and Eynesbury.[5]

Recent developments

A new footbridge opened in February 2014, providing lifts to the platforms and access to the station from both sides of the track including access to the Love's Farm housing development.[6]

Location

In the chainage notation traditionally used on the railways, the station is 51miles from .[7]

Notes and References

  1. Book: Gordon, W.J. . Our Home Railways . 1989 . 1910 . Bracken Books . London . 1-85170-314-4 . volume II, p. 44 .
  2. Book: Awdry, Christopher . Christopher Awdry . Encyclopaedia of British Railway Companies . 1990 . Guild Publishing . London . CN 8983 . 135 .
  3. Book: Butt, R.V.J. . The Directory of Railway Stations . 1995 . Patrick Stephens Ltd . Yeovil . 1-85260-508-1 . R508 . 204 .
  4. Web site: Accident at St Neots on 10th November 1895. Railways Archive. 23 March 2016.
  5. Web site: St Neots Station: Onward Travel. National Rail. 8 August 2022.
  6. Web site: New Footbridge at St Neots station unveiled. Network Rail. 23 March 2016. 20 February 2014.
  7. Book: Yonge, John . Jacobs . Gerald . Railway Track Diagrams 2: Eastern . 3rd . September 2006 . 1994 . Trackmaps . Bradford on Avon . 0-9549866-2-8 . map 15C .