In 2018, Waterbeach was promised a new railway station, funded by developers and delivered alongside a rapidly growing new town. The existing station would close.
Eight years later, the new town has barely begun, the station is years behind schedule, public money has replaced developer funding, and the existing station has already received some of the improvements originally used to justify its closure.
The original case for closure has been overtaken by events. Here are ten reasons why.
Originally promised for 2021, alongside the first homes in Waterbeach New Town East, the new station is now not expected to open before 2027.
The existing station's platforms were extended in 2019–20 to accommodate eight-carriage trains — precisely the improvement originally presented as a benefit of relocation.
In November 2024, the Greater Cambridge Partnership approved a £43.35 million budget, including up to £23.35 million in forward funding from Homes England. The public sector has taken on substantial responsibility for a project originally intended to be developer-led.
A March 2025 variation to the western development's planning obligations removed a £1.35 million contribution to improving the current station and £500,000 for staffing it. This would have greatly improved the existing station, but was instead spent on the A10 bridge. The original funding arrangements have been progressively abandoned.
Waterbeach New Town East has yet to deliver its first homes, with none expected for at least another five years. Yet the existing village faces losing the station it already uses.
On 23 October 2026, a Planning Inspector allowed 40 homes at Great Abington following a challenge to South Cambridgeshire's housing-supply calculations, including assumptions about delivery at major developments such as Northstowe. The decision exposes the risks of relying on enormous new settlements that repeatedly fail to deliver homes on schedule.
Information obtained from South Cambridgeshire District Council found no recorded assessment of how closing the existing station would affect village accessibility, property values or local development outcomes.
The original planning documents asserted that operating both stations was impossible because of signalling constraints. The supporting technical evidence has not been produced and is discredited by station proximity elsewhere.
For years, the proposal has been presented as the 'relocation' of Waterbeach station. But moving a station 2.4 km away means closing the existing station and opening a different one. Under the Railways Act 2005, closing an existing passenger station requires a separate statutory closure process, including consultation and an assessment against the applicable closure criteria. Calling it a 'relocation' does not remove these legal obligations.
Our 2026 survey finds that respondents expect to make 50% fewer rail journeys and 23% more car journeys if the existing station closes. Among respondents living within 2 km of the station, expected rail use falls by 52%.
The case for closing Waterbeach's existing station was built on promises of rapid development, developer funding and improved rail infrastructure. Those promises have not materialised as envisaged. There is now compelling evidence that closure would damage rail accessibility for the existing community. The justification for closure must be reconsidered.