This Train Terminates At Cambridge

I was on the train to Cambridge from London at around 6:00 PM yesterday. The final destination was Ely, a town about fifteen miles north of Cambridge, and about twenty minutes by train from Cambridge.

As we neared Cambridge the driver addressed the passengers over the public address system, regretfully advising that the train between Cambridge and Ely could not run because of a problem on the line.

A bigger crowd than normal got off the train and headed for the exit. A bigger crowd because some of them wanted to get home to Ely and had to find an alternative way of getting home.

As we exited the station I realised that it was not only some people on the train who wanted to get to Ely.

People who work in Cambridge and live in Ely had come to the station to take their usual train home. Except they couldn’t because the train wasn’t running.

What options did these people have? How would they get home?

Most people who commute from London and live in Cambridge do not take a taxi home from the station. A lot of them cycle home, and for that there is a huge bicycle park in a building by the station.

The leave their bicycles there in the morning and collect them in the evening.

Some people take little fold-up bicycles with them on the train and presumably cycle from the station to work in London.

Working In Cambridge, Living In Ely

But for those who work in Cambridge and live in Ely is it unlikely they will bicycle the fifteen miles home at the end of the day. They will take the train

The upshot of all of this is that there were a lot of people queuing at the taxi rank. Many many more than usual.

Ten or so people is the usual number of people who queue at the taxi rank when a train comes in.

The taxi rank is indicated with a sign on a pole. You can see it in the photo. And even with just a few people waiting the order of queuing is unclear. Which way should the people line up? Who is first?

The taxi drivers have complained to the company that runs the station that they should and must make the taxi rank to make it more user friendly.

The complaints have fallen on deaf ears, we are told repeatedly.

So what happens?

What happens is that the front runners creep forward, walking along the pavement as taxis round the corner and arrive to pick up passengers.

Then with the queue spread out, new arrivals think there is no queue and they walk to stop a taxi pulling around the corner.

It is fraught.

But with no train to Ely and so many people waiting at the infamous taxi rank, how could would they cope? The British are world famous for queuing, but if the queue is unclear, then what? I could see tensions spilling over into confrontations.

And how long would they wait? There are just not that many taxis.

I walked across the road and caught a bus home, noting how much I cared that I got home quickly, with only a little thought for how all the other people would manage to get home, or how late they would get home.