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Network Rail publishes the business case for a Wisbech to March rail shuttle service




A leading rail campaign group is calling for a commitment from authorities to open a temporary shuttle service between Wisbech and March.

The call from RailFuture East Anglia follows today’s publication by the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority (CPCA) of the long-awaited reports from Network Rail of the business case for a Wisbech to March shuttle service.

However, the campaign group also wants the CPCA to commit to a definite future plan of providing an hourly direct service from the Fenland town to Cambridge, once the bottleneck at Ely North Junction is eventually sorted out.

Wisbech is recognised as being one of the largest towns in England without a rail link. Photo: Richard Humphrey/Geograph Project.
Wisbech is recognised as being one of the largest towns in England without a rail link. Photo: Richard Humphrey/Geograph Project.

The CPCA’s transport and infrastructure committee is due to discuss Network Rail’s findings at its meeting on Monday, November 4.

The plans to reopen the line have been progressing for over a decade, and in 2020 a CPCA-commissioned business case was produced showing a good benefit-to-cost ratio of up to three for a scheme with a half-hourly direct heavy rail or tram-train service to Cambridge.

At the time it was assumed that the Ely Area Capacity Enhancement (EACE) project would provide extra capacity through Ely to allow this new service.

Unfortunately, the EACE project was, and still is, stalled awaiting government funding so in 2022 it was decided to study if there was a business case for a simple shuttle from Wisbech to March, and it is this study that has just been published.

RailFuture said: “The good news from the study is that the previous costs for reopening the line were reasonably accurate.

“The less welcome news is that reducing the reopening to a shuttle has a serious effect on the benefit-to-cost ratio, caused by the longer journey time, unappealing and time-consuming change of trains in March onto the relatively poor rail service to Cambridge, and fewer people travelling.

“We, therefore, call for the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority to commit to building the railway back to Wisbech, initially as a temporary shuttle service, but with a definite future plan, when the capacity at Ely is enhanced, of a train service of at least once an hour direct to Cambridge and eventually, to Peterborough, matching the strong business case from 2020.

“This will enable sustainable growth in Wisbech through the proposed new town suburb and will also benefit economic growth in Peterborough and Cambridge.”

Wisbech is the only major town in Cambridgeshire without a railway station. Towns approaching its size, St Neots, Huntingdon, and Ely, all have railway stations that are used by thousands of their residents each day for journeys long and short.

RailFuture said: “Wisbech by contrast is in urgent need of this quality infrastructure to begin to make it thrive once again and enable its residents to simply enjoy the mobility their fellow county residents take for granted. People want a new station and service that inspires pride.”

For more information see https://www.wisbechrail.org.uk/



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