Network Rail has submitted a planning application to construct a new railway station in the south of Cambridge, serving the city’s southern fringe and the nearby biomedical campus.
A Transport and Works Act Order (TWAO) application has been submitted, seeking planning permission to build the new station and associated infrastructure, following two rounds of consultation in 2020 to select an appropriate location.
The new station would connect the Cambridge Biomedical Campus with a number of potential key destinations, including central London, London Stanstead Airport, Ely, Birmingham and Europe, via London St Pancras.
It would also connect a growing area of high-quality employment into the regional rail network, which should help ease congestion in the local area and support the continued development of environmentally sustainable transport options in Cambridge.
Submission of the TWAO application for the Cambridge South station is seen by Network Rail as a major step forward in delivering the project.
Under the newly-submitted TWAO, Network Rail have outlined plans for a new two-storey, four platform station which would include:
- a ticket office
- ticket vending machines (TVMs)
- lifts providing step free access to all platforms
- accessible toilets, baby change facilities, waiting area and space for retail/catering
- access for pedestrians and cyclists from both sides of the railway with capacity for a 1000 cycle parking spaces
- modification to roads and crossings to facilitate access to the station
Included in the application as well are provisions to modify and enhance the supporting rail infrastructure, including:
- remodelling of the existing track layout
- installing two additional track loops to accommodate a four-platform station
- enhancements to Shepreth branch junction
- modification to the railway on the southern approach to Cambridge station
- provision for overhead line electrification infrastructure and a substation
- modification of existing signalling equipment
- closure of two private level crossing and provision of alternative access
Ellie Burrows, Network Rail’s Route Director for Anglia, said: ‘This application marks a major milestone in the development of a new station for the southern fringe of Cambridge and takes us a step toward realising the benefits that this station will bring for the biomedical campus and wider community.
“I am really proud of the team for the hard work they have done working in collaboration with our partners to reach this stage of the development for Cambridge South.’
Dr Nik Johnson, Mayor of the Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Combined Authority, added: “I know from experience how important it is to improve transport links to hospitals and healthcare, while the economic future of the UK depends on the success of the industries Cambridge South Station will help to support with its better connections.
“I want the Combined Authority to carry on championing not only this important project, but also the wider transport improvements that will be needed to get the full value out of it, and to support well-planned development of the Biomedical Campus and the Greater Cambridge economy so they can bring new jobs and new skills for local people.”
