The lost Cambridgeshire railway station that served passengers for more than a century

Over the years, many railway stations across the UK have closed down for one reason or another. Cambridgeshire is no exception and lost many of its stations in the 1960s.

While many of those stations only served passengers for a few years, others stood strong for well over a century. One example is St Ives, which was operated by British Railways.

The station officially opened on August 19, 1847 and was a terminus point on the line to Cambridge. It closed on October 5, 1970 with the town being left without a railway ever since.

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St Ives railway station formed a junction with lines to the east heading towards Cambridge, north towards Ely and March, and west towards Godmanchester. It was located on the east side of the A1096 Harrison Way.

Passenger traffic was always light on the line as only market towns and villages were served. There were few through trains with expresses usually using the Ely line with Ely becoming the main GER interchange station in northern East Anglia.

The line from St Ives to March closed to goods traffic in 1966 and to passengers the following year. However, the service from St Ives to Cambridge survived the Beeching Axe despite the stations and continued until 1970.

The station was demolished in 1970 and the site is now occupied by the St Ives 'Park and Ride' area. Some traces of what used to be a buried platform could be seen, providing a reminder of what used to be there.

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