As well as the being 200 years since the world's first loco-hauled passenger train service began, 2025 is 180 years since the opening of the line through Cambridge and Ely, 50 years since Watlington reopened, and 40 since FLUA was founded. There have been a number of events on our line marking these milestones. National events continue into 2026, and Inspiration, the Railway 200 Exhibition Train, will be at Cambridge station on January 31st and February 1st. Book your visit here.
Of all FLUA’s aims, the one on which we have made the least progress is the integration of train services with other public transport, particularly buses.
The government has recently announced that services using driverless vehicles on public roads will be permitted from 2027. We set out here (also as a PDF) how such services can be used together with rail to build a system that offers seamless transport to everyone.
A consultation to gather views on the Railways Bill, which will enable the establishment of Great British Railways (GBR), closed on April 15th. The Bill has now been published) and is working its way through the parliamentary process. To avoid the compensation costs that would be incurred by nationalisation, RoSCos and open access operators will continue in their present roles. The Act to allow train operators to be taken into public ownership was passed last year; Greater Anglia was one of the first, on 12th October 2025, and Great Northern will follow it at the end of May 2026.
This new station will give travellers from Fen Line stations direct access to hospitals including Addenbrooke's and Papworth, and to employment on the Biomedical Campus. We have been assured that all trains will call there; the line speed at Shepreth Branch Junction has been raised to partly compensate for the extra journey time. The station was originally planned to be open by now, but there have been problems with the new signalling that is needed to give trains access to all four platforms and it is now planned to be installed over the 2025 Christmas holiday. Further delays have been caused by problems with the fit-out, putting the opening back to June 2026.
There is more detail on the project here and pictures of work at the site in our picture library and a video here.
There are two parts to this project (detail here). Mainly it is concerned with replacing life-expired signalling equipment, which we support in the hope that it will reduce the number of signalling failures.
However, it also includes work on a number of level crossings; there are six that Network Rail proposes to convert from half barriers to full barriers, to improve safety although level crossing fatalities in Britain are only one seventeenth of the European average. This would result in them being closed to road traffic for much longer than at present, which could be a particular problem at Waterbeach station, preventing passengers crossing the line to catch their trains, as already happens at Downham Market and Shepreth. We raised our objection at the public inquiry; the Inspector and the Secretary of State accepted our argument and refused permission for Network Rail to compulsorily purchase the land needed to make the change at Waterbeach. However, Network Rail is acquiring the land without using compulsory purchase powers, and intends to convert the crossing as part of stage 3 of the project. There is as yet no date for when stage 3 will be implemented.
GTR have agreed to lease the class 379 trains that GA previously ran on the West Anglia main line linking Stansted Airport and Cambridge with Liverpool Street. We think they give a more comfortable ride than the class 387s. The plan is that they will replace GN's 387s, of which the borrowed ones will be returned and some others will go to Southern to relieve overcrowding there. However, we have heard that some of the 379s have been rejected because their condition had deteriorated while in storage.
This important project includes re-dualling Ely North Junction, improving the track layout through Ely station, and replacing two river bridges which have a low speed limit due to their age and design. This would accommodate the 11 train paths per hour that are needed now to support the all-day half-hourly service to King's Lynn, and to move more of the freight from Felixstowe off the A14 and onto rail. It would also enable future projects to increase capacity further. More information on the project here.
However, currently there is no funding allocated, and no prospect of funding in the near future.
We represent the interests of users of the Fen Line to the rail industry management.
We monitor to ensure that services offered are maintained and improved.
We inform our members of the latest developments.
The AGM takes place each November, located close to one of our stations and also on Zoom. Representatives of the rail industry attend to give members the opportunity to raise issues with key staff from across the network.
The 2025 AGM was on 15th November at Marriott's Warehouse in Kings Lynn.
FLUA works to develop services between the Fen Line stations (King's Lynn, Watlington, Downham Market, Littleport, Ely, Waterbeach, and Cambridge North) and onwards to Cambridge and London.
We seek the best for users from the fast-changing railway scene by working with all parties in the rail industry and with other relevant bodies in the development of services on the Fen Line.
Electric trains from Fen Line stations to Cambridge and London King's Cross are run by Great Northern for commuters, business and leisure users.
Greater Anglia operates electric trains to London Liverpool Street from Cambridge North, and at peak times from Ely.
Contact:
Secretary: fluasecretary@flua.org.uk
Webmaster: flua@ninetiles.com