TRANSPORT IN THE WHADDON AREA
Updated Tuesday 30 January 2024
The range of public transport available in Whaddon, as with many small rural English communities, is limited, but the options have improved, as there is now a regular bus service to Royston. Meldreth and Royston railway stations are not far away with good regular services in the Cambridge and London directions, and there are also community transport initiatives, and some local taxi companies.
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Monday to Saturday service
Whaddon got a twice-daily Monday to Saturday bus service in April 2010. This was a direct result of pressure from the Parish Council and our County Councillor, and now the 17 bus now diverts into the village, turning round and picking up at the top of Bridge Street.
Link to PDF timetable on A2B web site.
Other services are available in neighbouring villages.
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Wednesday only service to Royston
Whaddon bus shelter - Church St. 09.40
Whaddon Meldreth Road 09.43
Royston to Whaddon Return, dep. 13.00This service replaces the later morning service on Wednesdays.
Rail services on our line were overahuled when the full Thameslink service was brought online in 2018. Since that was completed, even more trains are running on the line, and it is possible to travel through London to Gatwick Airport and Brighton. When Crossrail is completed it will also be possible to change to that line at Farringdon, opening the possibility of taking the train from there to Heathrow Airport.
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Meldreth (distance 2.5 miles/ 3.75 km) has half-hourly (hourly at weekends) stopping services to Cambridge and London King's Cross.
Services are provided by Thameslink/Great Northern.
See also
For users of Meldreth, Shepreth and Foxton stations, a Rail User Group was formed in early 2010
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Royston (distance 4 miles / 6 km) has an excellent regular fast and stopping service to Cambridge, London King's Cross and St Pancras, and Brighton, augmented in the peaks.
Services are provided by Thameslink/Great Northern.
See also
Royston & District Community Transport
Address: Royston Hospital, London Road, Royston, Hertfordshire, SG8 9EN
Contact Number: 01763 245228 - 24hour (office open 9am-3pm)
Web site: http://www.roytrans.co.uk/
Cost: 50p a mile, with a minimum charge £4.50. Minibus and wheelchair access journeys are also available, but will incur an extra charge (please phone)
Area Covered: Royston and surrounding area including villages in South Cambridgeshire. Membership is open to anyone who cannot use public transport for reasons of age, impaired mobility or lack of public transport through rural isolation.
Taxis
Taxis are usually available at Royston station, but at all times it is advisable to arrange one in advance.
The most commonly encountered taxi service in the Royston area is
Butler Meltax 01763 244444 or 01763 212223
Various directories give a number of other companies, e.g.
Getting into Cambridge
Cambridge is the nearest city to Whaddon. It is possible to get buses and trains to Cambridge from neighbouring villages, but not from Whaddon. Driving into Cambridge is the favoured option for most people in the village, but parking in the city is not easy. There is a developed Park and Ride system in operation: see https://cambridgeparkandride.info/
For getting to Addenbrookes Hospital, where there is never enough parking, there are special bus services which tie into the Park and Ride system; this link also summarises other ways to get to the hospital:
http://www.cuh.org.uk/finding-us/public-transport/park-ride
Commuting into Cambridge
Getting into Cambridge to work has been getting harder and hard as long as anyone can remember. So many of those driving are alone in a car. The Camshare scheme has been set up with many of the city's major employers to try and find a way of reducing traffic by car-sharing.