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.
Our local Bus 17 has some journeys that run to and from the centre of Cambridge via Royston, giving nearly two hours in the city on Mondays to Fridays and over four hours on Saturdays. The key times for Whaddon are:
To Royston and Cambridge
| Mondays to Fridays | Saturdays | |||
| Whaddon, top of Bridge Street | 08:31 | 10:15 | 10:15 | |
| Royston, Tesco | 08:39 | 10:35 | 10:35 | |
| Royston, Bus Station | 08:57 | 10:50 | 10:50 | |
| Cambridge, Drummer Street | 10:02 | 11:55 | 11:55 | |
| From Cambridge via Royston | ||||
| Mondays to Fridays | Saturdays | |||
| Cambridge, Drummer Street | 11:55 | 15:00* | 11:55 | 16:02 |
| Royston, Bus Station | 13:10 | 17:10 | 13:10 | 17:10 |
| Royston, Tesco | 13:21 | 17:21 | 13:21 | 17:21 |
| Whaddon, Bridge Street | 13:33 | 17:28 | 13:33 | 17:28 |
*Take Bus 26 from Cambridge and then change at Royston to Bus 17
Extra journeys also run on Bus 17 to and from Cardiff Place –
• to Cambridge via Royston at 12.15 and to Royston at 14.40 and 16.40
• from Royston at 09.10 and 11.10 and at 14.15 from Cambridge (15.30 from
Royston).
We are very grateful to Lee Ginger for providing this information.
It is possible to travel through London to Gatwick Airport and Brighton from Royston. The completion of Crossrail means it ispossible to change to the Elizabeth sline at Farringdon, opening the possibility of taking the train from there to Heathrow Airport or to Shenfield.
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
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
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 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.
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
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.