Soham - Britain's Newest Railway Station

[@DitzyNizzy2009]

Something I love: Soham officially (re)opened on Sunday - but no trains could call there as they brilliantly chose a weekend where they were doing rail replacement works on that stretch of line.

[@ianhenderson4560]

No, they chose the annual timetable change date. Seems sensible to me. What other date do you suggest?

[@AceCrickey]

@@ianhenderson4560 rush hour on a Monday morning. Get bums on seats.

[@sr6424]

What I never understood was how a station in the middle of nowhere (Shippea Hill) survived Beeching but a station at a sizeable village( Soham) didn’t! I don’t believe passenger trains stopped passing through.

[@paianis]

Shippea Hill was busier in the 60s.

[@MervynPartin]

I'm not sure if this was a Beeching or a Barbara Castle Hack, but it was fairly obvious that some people in the railway industry were not as dedicated as they should have been to their industry, so deliberately ran things down to achieve their targets. The ones who tried to run a railway did not fit in with the Establishment. If only there had been the likes of Chris Green at the top then.

[@sr6424]

@@paianis interesting-

[@HFStuart]

Shippea hill existed for a while as a means to get the signalman come crossing gate operative to his box. And as said it used to be slightly busier as it is just about in walking distance of RAF Mildenhall.

[@sr6424]

@@MervynPartin they were still at it 10 years ago. The Walsall Wolverhampton train left 2 minutes before the train from Cannock arrived in Walsall. Deliberately run down and closed.

[@tellat]

Grew up in Soham and desperately wanted the train station to reopen. Felt trapped, relying on busses that took hours or lifts. So happy for the people of Soham.

[@PokhrajRoy.]

I love how Geoff is doing an informal audit of Soham Station and wants dibs on the Bin Bag 😂

[@vigilantcosmicpenguin8721]

The christening of the bin bag is an important ceremony.

[@stevenclark1883]

Someone from Network Rail spotted Geoff & said quick get a bin bag ready.

[@stephendey5056]

How long before those bin bags fill with rain water, considering they seem to have no lids and are out in the open.

[@NiXnipe]

1:03 I can't belive I've pronounced Ely wrong all these years. It turns out it's pronounced 'Ee - Lee' and not 'Ee-Lie' that I originally thought.

[@TheRailwayTourManager]

Missed you this morning Geoff, but the video would have been a bit bleak in the dark at 05.30! Interestingly enough I was talking to the retired signalman of Soham who rode the last train when the station closed. He told me he also had the very last ticket from Soham; I managed to get the first from both machines!

[@Andy-ju8bb]

So good to see more of Beeching's work being undone.

[@jimmysavile69]

So am I!

[@Koganman123]

Agree totally! A great day !

[@jerribee1]

Well, it was really Marples the road builder; Beeching was just his hatchet man.

[@simonjames3845]

Nothing to do with Beeching.

[@passiveaggressive6175]

@@simonjames3845 really?

[@alexandertodd4347]

Amazing turnaround on this! I grew up on Nightall Drive, named for James Nightall and his actions in the rail disaster. Lovely to see a plaque commemorating the 4 men

[@theessentialguideforblokes7960]

I lived on Nightall for a few years, Soham was a great town, allegedly it had the longest high street in the country.

[@iankemp1131]

Indeed, good to see all 4 remembered. Fireman Nightall (who died) and Driver Gimbert (who remarkably survived) received the GC and had engines named after them but Signalman Bridges, although he was killed, didn't have either. Nor did Guard Clarke. Certainly Gimbert's and Nightall's were the key actions that saved the town from annihilation, but Bridges and Clarke also did their duty.

[@ronaldellis7835]

i saw this in the news this morning and was wondering how long it would take for a video from Geoff to appear!

[@dazzlingdaz187]

I am so glad you were there at the opening of the bin bag. There should be a plaque for that

[@vigilantcosmicpenguin8721]

They should have had Geoff cut a ribbon for the grand opening of the bin bag.

[@darrylrichardson7940]

Geoff would even turn up and make a video of the opening of an envelope if he thought it would get enough views.

[@jameshodgson1609]

I love the fact that there are so many similarities between that ceremony and the excitement it caused and what we read about when the first railways and stations were opened nearly 200 years ago. Given the changes in the world since then I find that rather comforting. You don’t get the same level of interest when a new bus stop opens !

[@darthwiizius]

Ironically there probably is a new bus stop to service the station too.

[@TalesOfWar]

Some bus stations get fancy opening ceremonies too, which I think is more comparable.

[@worldcomicsreview354]

Looks to have about as many facilities as a bus stop, though!

[@OneKnifeYeHand]

@@TalesOfWar And even bus stops can get attention. Geoff paid brief attention to the bus that now serves Oakhampton station in the reopening video.

[@4KExplorer]

Great to see a Beeching cut getting reversed! Maybe Greater Anglia could get onto Wisbech next?

[@robertyoung9611]

Haven't read anything about that recently, is it still in the pipeline for 2026?

[@stevieinselby]

@@robertyoung9611 A service from Wisbech via Ely, Soham and then a reinstated curve to Newmarket and Cambridge (and maybe on to London?) would be a great addition. I'm sure the majority of people in Soham will be wanting to go to Newmarket and Cambridge more than to Ely, Peterborough, Bury St Edmunds or Ipswich, so while having this new service is better than nothing, I don't expect it will be attracting anywhere near as many passengers as that potential new service would.

[@simonjames3845]

Nothing to do with Beeching.

[@isaactimmins8959]

well the mothballed line is still there potential for a Wisbeach Parkway edge of town station although alot of work will be needed to recommission all the crossings including the notorious one on the A47,

[@caramelldansen2204]

I just read about the Soham rail disaster this week past! Great to see another station, here's hoping to see more!

[@PeterGaunt]

I can remember the Beeching Report when I was in my early teens and my grandad getting irate that the 'Cheshire Lines' were going to be closed down - how was he supposed to go see his friends? So much has been lost forever but it's good to see new stations being opened.

[@johnniec9097]

Geoff thanks for the post ! My mum has lived in Soham for the past 35 years. It’s been talked about the opening for as many years ! Cheers 👍👏

[@PokhrajRoy.]

10:39 The fact that a camera was placed in a bin bag. Genius cinematography 😆

[@EternallyDisappointed]

That footbridge and footpath with those security fences looks depressing as hell! And not the sort of place you'd want to walk after dark. Surely there was a better design possible...

[@kinghani]

props to geoff for filming and editing this in one day

[@88kristina]

He did it with the NLE and said "he'll never do it again", just wait for Crossrail...

[@sparbundet4318]

6:18 “What am I going to do the next hour?” *shows bin bag in the breeze*

[@cepg309]

Great to meet you today Geoff! Excellent coverage of this new station, was a pleasure to talk with you briefly.

[@geofftech2]

Thanks, you too! it was a mad full on day, wasn't it?

[@cepg309]

@@geofftech2 Indeed, Full on, but really positive. As you've heard, plenty of people in the region have long wanted a station to return, so this was a great day.

[@baystated]

This was a nice event that the rail network and community put together. Thanks for taking us there Geoff!

[@rachelwalker7091]

What a splendid video and how delightfully British the opening event was. Very satisfying. Thanks Geoff you made my day.

[@johnstephens649]

Love the guys from the train company putting up posters about engineering works… on the morning the station opens!

[@DavidWilliams-km5xu]

Well done Soham! Nice to see a station reopen after many years.

[@danh.4995]

It is so good to finally see you in Bury St. Edmunds! I lived there for a stretch and as my first exposure to English life it holds a special place in my heart. Cannot wait to go back!

[@jtbwilliams]

Quality Bin Bag in the Wind shot 👍

[@vigilantcosmicpenguin8721]

"The bin bag, my friend, is blowing in the wind..."

[@johnstilljohn3181]

Brilliant stuff - this has been far too long in coming. Good to see the plaque revealed, too... Let's hope the service pattern meets local needs...

[@marchampson006]

How wonderful to see Jeremy Sallis(Jezza) out to cover it on BBC Radio Cambridgeshire Midmorning show 1000-1400. Marc In Bletchley

[@transitcaptain]

I’m really glad you got to do this Geoff

[@richardbrooks50]

I went past Soham yesterday and there were loads of passengers awaiting the new service.Great to see after so long

[@MrGreatplum]

Brilliantly done, Geoff - very impressive to edit this in a day. Also noticed that at 10:38, you must have thrown your coffee cup in the bin, retrieved it, put your camera in the bin, and then thrown the cup back in 😀

[@a5209283]

When I heard the high pitch noise of the train at the end, I thought it was class 142 flange squeal. Oh I miss the pacers. Just set in my old ways. Haha.

[@Nimmo1492]

I love how excited the general public get when a new station opens. When Horden opened last year, I went to visit and saw loads of people there, just wanting to check out the new station.

[@UTubeThePatient]

Loving teh precision of 715m to the next signal! Also victorian newly-opened stations would have had a brass band. Well done Soham.

[@andrewwebb3431]

Oh I really do hope they reopen the Newmarket loop, it'd be great for Soham to get a Cambridge service. There's a public footpath running alongside where the loop used to be and the banking is all still there (bar a gap where a farmer dug through to make a roadway) so it would be dead easy to reinstate it. Go on Network Rail, you know you want to!

[@cepg309]

Money and funding! its the same reason there isn't two tracks back in Soham right now. We are working with other Rail Users groups to keep pushing the business case to reopen Chippenham Triangle and redouble from Soham to Ely. Apart from anything else, we need the capacity for freight!

[@frglee]

Not just to Cambridge, it must also be a tad irritating for Soham locals that there is no direct service to the nearest town of any size (Newmarket) although the train passes close by it. I guess there is a bus service to both places from Soham, though.

[@Benyboy001]

Yes indeed this would be a massive benefit to the local area. Would be great too if the track could be redoubled from Coldhams Lane Junction in Cambridge to Chippenham Junction (or at least additional passing loops installed). The hourly services get too crowded at times especially when the races are on at Newmarket.

[@stevieinselby]

@@frglee A bus every hour to Newmarket and Cambridge (and Ely in the other direction), Monday to Saturday daytime only. No buses at all to the station, and while it isn't a _big_ town, some of the residential areas are a good 20 or even 30 minute walk away, so not as joined up as Okehampton.

[@theBusManiac]

Thanks

[@dansoper]

Wonderful to be able to end the day watching this, having started the day myself being on the first train.

[@SebastianPeitsch]

Amazing video Geoff. This was so much fun to watch. What a lovely station and it's so great that the trains a bi-mode

[@brianbell4937]

Another very good video Geoff. I know Soham fairly well from using the bus routes, but I always think it would add a lot to such videos (same goes for the least used ones etc) if you popped into the town, when you have time, and showed the viewers what the station is serving, and also how convenient the station is for thr town.

[@mystscot9814]

I suspect the surrounding fields will become property developments in the future.

[@keith800]

Yes properly so the new station must enhance the value of land and entice people to move out to the leafy countryside .

[@Ztbmrc1]

Wow a new railway station with a grand opening! (But an old worn out W sign... they could have cleaned it or replace it with new one...) Cool that Mr Burles gave you an interview. Tnx for sharing.

[@altvctr]

Amazed to see so many people come to the opening of the station. Wholesome vid!

[@HenrysAdventures]

Great to see Soham back on the railway map! I can see that bridge bring popular with railway enthusiasts!

[@justanotherviewer4821]

Always good to see new train stations opening (Can this one platform, no building, track already there station really cost £20m?!) - or closed stations reopening - but this is solely to make Soham a Cambridge commuter town... the footbridge is to connect it to housing they will build a little further into the field. I would have thought it would have cost around a quarter of that. Must be nice profit margins!

[@grassytramtracks]

There's no direct service to Cambridge

[@12crepello]

So the old Soham was a railway station, but the new Soham is a train station!!🤔

[@H3ADSH0T_GAMING]

I was glad to be apart of the construction:)

[@moxon2313]

Another Great Video Geoff Marshall! I am really looking forward in visiting this 'Newly' Opened Station in Cambridgeshire - Especially since my family now live in Sheringham in North Norfolk.

[@TheMrTomkennedy]

Great video, as usual, Geoff! Disappointed, though, that you didn't start with 'I came to Bury St. Edmunds, not to praise him.' :))

[@locohauledforum]

Wow, they have been talking about this for years, amazing it has finally happened. Drifting of into the wild world of my imagination, it would have been nice to have 47577 and 47579 - the original locomotives to carry the names of the driver and fireman from the Soham disaster - there, both still (just) exist.

[@vigilantcosmicpenguin8721]

I'm always amazed at how many details know about specific railways.

[@megalodon5185]

47578 was there yesterday on the 14/12/21 along with a pair of 37s.

[@maecarpenter69]

Congratulations on getting the editing done in time and releasing it today!

[@gillchatfield3231]

I expect Soham Comrades Band played lots of seasonal music. Brilliant that you chose a clip of 'Joy to the World' for atmosphere, Geoff. I look forward to playing 'Name that Tune' in future station-opening videos. Hope there will be lots of joy in Soham and Cambridgeshire.

[@tomasdionnet812]

A station opened like 12 thousand kilometers from my house, and somehow im excited

[@davefrench3608]

Wonderful to see this famous station reopened. The best was the rededication of the memorial to the brave railmen who saved the town that war time night.

[@keith800]

I hope the memorial is in a prominent position it is something not only as part of local history but to the train crew and others who were involved.

[@HenrysAdventures]

I visited for myself yesterday. I noticed the footbridge has some movable panels ready for lifts to be installed should a second platform be added along with doubling the line to Ely.

[@ITFNBiteBayKon]

I'M THERE NOW!!! I recognise it from the bin on the wall haha. Only here due to bus replacement, bur either way this is awesome!

[@ITFNBiteBayKon]

Just passed through again, on the train this time, on the way home. Interesting to note to path to nowhere still goes nowhere!

[@kiles99]

Good vid Geoff, and always pleasing to see a new / reopened station. What a waste of a footbridge though - would have been interesting to put it at Pilning and give them a 2 hourly service to Bristol / Cardiff to see the potential there.

[@jamesneilsongrahamloveinth1301]

Presumably the footbridge forms part of a right-of-way . . .

[@jasonruggles2579]

Great video Geoff. Please keep up the good work. Made my day.

[@richardmabe9475]

Great video. There will be new stations on East West Rail line that will be going through Cambridge to Oxford into Milton Keynes and Aylesbury. In fact me and a mate went to the abandoned Verney Junction where the Met Underground line terminated and took pictures just few months before re-building the line. You can see it around Bletchley upto Aylesbury with signs about the new line. I think some of the new line is running now around Oxford.

[@topmark99]

I love the pomp and circumstance we give to a new station in this country. So British! Look forward to the next one.

[@transportexpert4057]

I love these vids I watched these since I was 3

[@ericrabinowitz6390]

1) FYI: 100.584 M = 5 Chains (330') 2) What fun to find this video on it's day of publication! 3) So a net gain of 7 stations since All The Stations in 2017, have any closed since then (IBM?)? :)

[@DC4260Productions]

Incidentally my parents told me they also went to Bury St. Edmunds in 1998. I dare say the trains they rode on wouldn't have been anywhere near as nice as the Class 755. As for Soham, it's always great to see train services or railway stations being revived in this day and age. I only remember the name Soham because of a train fire / explosion that happened there in 1944.

[@rubinaakther9188]

This so exciting and it's nice being back after a few months.

[@martinbalmforth2665]

The new DEMUs are great for me being in a wheelchair, as I recently had to use them to Peterborough from Ipswich, no ramp needed unlike the LNER Azuma cracking trains. This stock runs on the knitting between Ipswich and Stiwnarket, then on diesel to Peterborough

[@eastpavilion-er6081]

I live in Cambridge and I just came back home from visiting Soham station. There were plenty of railfans of all ages, which is great!

[@Simon-ho9db]

Good to see you on my local patch. I travel from Ely a lot as my son is mad on trains. An hourly service would be great. At the moment if you miss your Ely to Ipswich train it's quicker to go via Cambridge than to wait for the next direct one.

[@PokhrajRoy.]

I feel like the opening of the entire (kind of) #CrossLizPurpLine is going to be the major event on this channel. I’ve been waiting for quite some time and I’m not English 😂

[@tamerkamal9340]

My home town, noticed Sohan on the peterbourpugh service today glad to finally see gou at bury!

[@huliganalter6095]

2:30 I saw these trains at my home station (Durmersheim) in Germany, ready for the ride to Great Britain 😍😍

[@citled]

Footbridge is also there for future proofing. The station has been designed and built to allow future addition of another platform linked by the footbridge.

[@lohphat]

“I’m loathe to tread…” is the most English thing I’ve heard this month.

[@sanchoodell6789]

They should memorialise that bin. "The first piece of litter to be placed in this very bin was place here by Geoff Marshall in December 2021"

[@markusstudeli2997]

I understand the significance of opening a new train "station" after a time of shrinkage, but being Swiss it amuses me how such a sparcely equipped mere train stop can be labeled "station". The platform is extremely narrow with no roof, it's got a tiniy shelter, it doesn't seem to offer bike parkings, a coffee or food vending machine, let alone toilets!

[@DWtrainsNZ]

10:27 that was smooooooth Geoff. Nice one 😄

[@stuarthall6631]

I find it strange that the double track starts just beyond the station. One would think that the station would be on double track (even if single platformed) to allow for running past?

[@sillypuppy5940]

I heard that the footbridge is there just in case another platform gets built. I'll believe it when it happens.

[@jimmysavile69]

Space I think

[@frglee]

Yep, I thought that. It means when services run badly, you can get stuck before the platform waiting for the train from the other direction to come through.

[@misterflibble9799]

I guess that extending the double-tracked section would have cost more money, and moving the station to the existing double-tracked section would take it further from the town centre and put it on "the wrong side of the river". As it is, you can have trains stopping in both directions on a single platform, whereas if you placed the station on the double-tracked section, you'd either have to have two platforms or run some trains wrong-way in order to allow them to stop at a single platform. That's the problem with Pilning station (or, at least, one of the problems) - the removal of the footbridge due to electrification of the London-Cardiff mainline means that only one platform is available, so only eastbound trains stop (two per week).

[@bobsrailrelics]

Filmed and edited in one day! Nice work.

[@geofftech2]

Thanks!

[@davidgibson1978]

Thanks Geoff, great to see Soham station opened.

[@chasc301]

Hope you have the opening of a brand new and never before station in your diary at Exeter Marsh Barton….some months off Geoff but you could combine it with a ride to Dawlish to tour the new sea wall maybe? Thanks for these videos.

[@joacimnilsson6341]

I knew the british love spotting their trains, but the fact that there were already 82 other railway enthusiasts named Simon on youtube before he joined is nothing other than AMAZING!

[@666Tomato666]

I'm pretty sure it's his birth year...

[@alexandershepherd4990]

Or he was born in 1982.....?

[@Lieutenxnt_Dxn]

@@666Tomato666 I’m pretty sure this was a joke lol

[@DavidAndCharlotte]

Not going to lie, it’s really surreal seeing Geoff starting a video at your home railway station…! 😳😂

[@haco6930]

Can't beat bury station! Always weird having to go upstairs to get onto the platform.

[@DavidAndCharlotte]

@@haco6930 Always had such fond memories of that station as being this “route to a 1000 places” out of Bury. That and Thurston, my other local.

[@vigilantcosmicpenguin8721]

Well, considering he's been to every station in the British Isles, the odds of that happening are surprisingly high.

[@LoganSpooner]

The turn around time on this video 🤌🏻

[@michaelgreen1515]

I have been pushing for this for ages it was so obvious and relatively easy!

[@michaelgreen1515]

Oh and Bury could also do with a goods run through line.

[@timjohnson689]

A much needed boost of positive news! Love the bin bag cinematography! And how great for Soham.

[@everlonging3207]

I see how having a disposable cup is a nifty way to remember to check for bins at stations, but I do also wonder why someone who spends so much time in the cold doesn't have a nice freshly brewed flask of coffee

[@lsm88]

Coventry's rebuilt station opens before Xmas

[@BritishTrainsRBX]

Maybe that line has some abandoned allotments

[@vince9196]

Same day film and edit and still same high quality output! Winner!

[@cakemartyr5794]

Great news. Your camera work is really good

[@ianhenderson4560]

What a great video- has put a smile in my face! 😀

[@gerrymckenna4878]

Enjoyed the video. Google street view from June 2011 shows a muddy Station Road . Great timing at 10:34 :).... just a shame the mayor wasn't present at the "first cup in the bin bag" moment.

[@balham5606]

Good that Soham has a railway station 😊

[@MrGeeyess]

Winslow in Bucks on the East West Rail is scheduled to open in 2023. I'm not holding my breath as it was originally said to be opening in 2014 but at last they are beginning to build the platforms but no metals in sight yet..

[@FluxyCool]

At that point where you said you don't know what you are going to do for the next hour would have been an ideal time for a KZbin live stream Q&A..

[@skritchesdeath5752]

I had ticket no.47 from the ticket machine that morning, second public purchase, apparently first commuter. I was super excited and only had one guy in front of me as we waited to be let in at 6.30am I will be commuting from this daily.

[@merlynevans9592]

Great video Geoff, love it.

[@jimmunro4649]

Well done 250 k subs Cheers from NZ

[@jack_sugg10]

This is now my local station! Can't wait to catch a train from it. Also is Soham getting double track and another platform

[@christopherbentley5216]

One day you might be doing a video of Bletchley high level, Winslow and Steeple Claydon. I hope so , I've been waiting since 2017!

[@zeddessell]

5:45 Soham was actually NOT listed for closure in the Beeching report. Neither was Fordham station further up the line, which closed on the same day (13th September 1965).