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Cambridge North stopboards

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MikeWM

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Does anyone know the reason that in the last week or so 4-car GN trains have changed stopping location - to the middle of platform 2 at Cambridge North rather than the south end? The 3-4 stop board is indeed now at the same place as the 8, and notices have just gone up informing about the change.

I assume the reason is better than ‘we don’t like GN passengers, so we’ll make them walk through the rain on the unsheltered part of the platform to leave the station’, though that *is* a side-effect :-/
 
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bramling

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Does anyone know the reason that in the last week or so 4-car GN trains have changed stopping location - to the middle of platform 2 at Cambridge North rather than the south end? The 3-4 stop board is indeed now at the same place as the 8, and notices have just gone up informing about the change.

I assume the reason is better than ‘we don’t like GN passengers, so we’ll make them walk through the rain on the unsheltered part of the platform to leave the station’, though that *is* a side-effect :-/

To avoid risks occurring from "stop shorts"? The stopping marks at Stevenage have moved recently with 8 and 12 car trains now stopping at the same point, and it's been causing issues as the rear of an 8-car now stops past the stairs, so there ends up being a scrum of people from the rear end of the platform running alongside the train as it arrives.

With modern technology it ought to be possible to design out the "stop short" risk.
 

Hadders

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I noticed the change at Stevenage recently and wondered what was going on.

I thought the idea of the 700s was that regardless of whether an 8 car or 12 car train is in use the disabled area would always be at the same place on the platform. I know there's no level boarding at Stevenage but is this compromised by this change?
 

MikeWM

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To avoid risks occurring from "stop shorts"?

No idea - have there been any at CMB? If there is a really good reason, it would be nice for the notices to have explained why. Or perhaps they should have built longer canopies on the platforms at CMB in the first place......

(maybe they could add wifi to the station at the same time, given they've never got around to doing it so far despite the fact the station page at NR says they have. Or fix the bridge so the rain doesn't come in when it is windy. I like the existence of CMB - it is very helpful for my commute - but for a station that's been open almost three years now, it doesn't feel entirely 'finished'...)
 

Ianno87

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Does anyone know the reason that in the last week or so 4-car GN trains have changed stopping location - to the middle of platform 2 at Cambridge North rather than the south end? The 3-4 stop board is indeed now at the same place as the 8, and notices have just gone up informing about the change.

I assume the reason is better than ‘we don’t like GN passengers, so we’ll make them walk through the rain on the unsheltered part of the platform to leave the station’, though that *is* a side-effect :-/

An attempt to spread passengers more evenly in the train perhaps? Given most (4 car) Lynn services use P1 at Cambridge that heavily front-loads the train. Exacerbated by the being the ideal exit carriage at Ely. So you don't want to do it again at North. Hence stopping a 4 car at the 8 car stop rear-loads it to help balance it out.

Plus the platforms under the canopies at North aren't that wide...you're instead moving passengers onto the much wider part north of the staircase.
 

Ianno87

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No idea - have there been any at CMB? If there is a really good reason, it would be nice for the notices to have explained why. Or perhaps they should have built longer canopies on the platforms at CMB in the first place......

(maybe they could add wifi to the station at the same time, given they've never got around to doing it so far despite the fact the station page at NR says they have. Or fix the bridge so the rain doesn't come in when it is windy. I like the existence of CMB - it is very helpful for my commute - but for a station that's been open almost three years now, it doesn't feel entirely 'finished'...)

In theory, once King's Lynn goes 8-car, 4-cars at North will become relatively rare (in theory). So perhaps 'conditioning' the drivers now, ahead of time.
 

MikeWM

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An attempt to spread passengers more evenly in the train perhaps? Given most (4 car) Lynn services use P1 at Cambridge that heavily front-loads the train. Exacerbated by the being the ideal exit carriage at Ely. So you don't want to do it again at North. Hence stopping a 4 car at the 8 car stop rear-loads it to help balance it out.

Perhaps, though in my experience the busiest northbound trains lose far more passengers at North than they gain, so I don't think it will help much.

Plus the platforms under the canopies at North aren't that wide...you're instead moving passengers onto the much wider part north of the staircase.

...which is fully exposed to the elements, except for one small shelter.

Edit for accuracy : actually two, fair-sized shelters. But still much less convenient in rain/wind/both...
 
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MikeWM

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It turns out the GA trains are still stopping at the south end of the platform, so (as the notices implied) this change is only for GN services. Which seems rather odd (not to mention that platform 2 therefore has *2* 3-4 car stop boards)...

I guess perhaps this is related to the 8 carriage platform lengthenings, but still seems an odd change (not least because the 8 carriage changes weren’t due until the end of the year - though having said that, Waterbeach has looked effectively done for a while now...)
 
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