Ely

The approach to Ely by train is very attractive. Waterside premises line the River Great Ouse and its marina, with the magnificent cathedral perched behind on its hill to provide the backdrop. Ely station was built by the Eastern Counties Railway in 1845 and modernised by British Rail in the 1990s. Today it remains a busy junction station, serving all points of the compass - west to Peterborough, north to King’s Lynn, east to Ipswich and south to Cambridge and London. All three platforms are bi-directional. Platform one has the main entrance and most passenger facilities, whereas two and three make up an island platform with a goods loop behind that. Regular EMU and DMU services are interrupted periodically by Class 66-hauled container trains passing through in both directions alongside platform two. Much of the freight traffic between east coast ports and the West Midlands can avoid the station altogether by taking the loop line to the north of the town. The nameplate from Brush Type 4 No. 47572 Ely Cathedral is mounted on a wooden plaque overlooking platform one. Formerly No. D1763, 47572 was cut up in 2000.