Greater Cambridge Partnership (GCP) are proposing that when their station at Waterbeach new town opens in 2028 the existing Waterbeach station should close because it is too close to the new station. However, the distance between them will be about the same as between Foxton and Shepreth, and no-one is suggesting that one of those should be closed. Even if up to 73% of journeys transferred to the new station, the current station would still have more footfall than Foxton (ORR figures for the year ending March 2025).
There is an increasing need for additional capacity in the Cambridge - Ely corridor. In the year ending March 2025 there were 1,106,130 journeys between Ely and Cambridge; footfall is increasing by about 12% a year and we can expect an additional increase now Cambridge South is open. There is already serious overcrowding in the evening peak. Additional services will be needed by the time the new station opens, and these services could stop at both stations.
Network Rail have claimed that the timings for the King's Lynn trains won't accommodate the additional two minutes required for the extra stop. However, during the dry summer of 2026 it was possible to add four minutes to account for temporary speed restrictions. Other possibilities include the trains that currently run between Ely and King's Cross (in the middle of the day and in the late evening), and some of the current Ely - Liverpool Street trains.
At other times, the southern end of platform 3 at Ely would be available and could be used for London services that currently terminate at Cambridge. The current timetable doesn't allow the stopping services to King's Cross to be used because the turnround time would be only about 2 minutes, but there are Liverpool Street trains for which it would typically be about 11 minutes.
Alternatively, an all-stations shuttle service between Ely and either Whittlesford or Royston could be introduced, eventually to be extended to run between Wisbech and Haverhill if those towns get reconnected to the rail network.
We also suggest that if the King's Lynn trains can't serve both stations then initially they should continue to serve the village station, transferring to the town station when there are more people living within (say) 500 metres of it than there are within that distance of the village station. This will also encourage the dwellings in the new town to be occupied by people with jobs in the Cambridge area, rather than longer-distance (e.g. London) commuters.