NRA Large Station of the Year award: Cambridge (Greater Anglia)

Cambridge (Greater Anglia) won the Large Station of the Year award in the National Rail Awards 2024.

Highly Commended recognition was given to both Gatwick Airport (Govia Thameslink Railway) and Motherwell (ScotRail).

Cambridge has triumphed once again in this category, having previously claimed top spot for Large Station of the Year in 2017.

The judges said the varsity city’s station has “demonstrated continuous improvement” in the intervening seven years to become an iconic hub for services throughout East Anglia.

Opened in 1845 with four bay platforms and a 514-yard main platform face (the third longest in the UK after Colchester and Gloucester), the station is now home to eight platforms following construction of a new island arrangement in 2011.

Further improvements were carried out by Greater Anglia, with a larger concourse, multi-storey cycle hub, more ticket gates and a bigger ticket office opening at the beginning of 2017.

The judges praised the redevelopment for “sympathetically providing a modern welcome to the city and its famous university, without losing any of its history atmosphere”, and credited staff for the assistance provided to the wide range of foreign visitors passing through the station.

They added: “Additional platforms have improved the complex train flows, and the ticket hall and retail facilities extend into an excellent forecourt with taxi and bus interchange.”

Greater Anglia is one of three operators to serve Cambridge, alongside Govia Thameslink Railway and CrossCountry. There are two routes to London, while the station is also the terminus of the Fen Line to King’s Lynn, the Breckland Line to Norwich, and the line between Ely and Ipswich.

East West Rail could be added to that list within the next decade, if plans to build the eastern section of the route from Bedford are delivered.

Go to our results story for a list of all the winners at the 2024 National Rail Awards, together with more pictures from the event at the JW Marriott Grosvenor House hotel, Park Lane, London on 12th September.