The South Rail Systems Alliance (SRSA) has achieved a significant milestone in the construction of the new Cambridge South station, completing a crucial phase of track and overhead line upgrades.
Working over an eight-day possession, the team delivered a complex programme of improvements, including realigning 1.5 kilometres of track for the new loop line and renewing overhead wires. Alongside those improvements, the team also commissioned nearly 3 kilometres of the new PL track and overhead line equipment.
This successful completion of the "Any Line Open 1 (ALO1)" programme marks a major step forward for the project, paving the way for the next stage of station construction.
“The SRSA team truly went above and beyond," said SRSA director Said Lahssioui. "Their dedication and commitment were instrumental in achieving this key milestone for Cambridge South station." The project sponsor for Network Rail Anglia route, Sanjay Patel, echoed Lahssioui's praise. “This was an important milestone in the programme for the new Cambridge South station and SRSA have done a great job delivering the necessary track and over-head line improvements to allow us to progress to the next stage of work”, he said.
The new Cambridge South station, expected to open in 2025, will provide a vital transport link to the city's biomedical campus and offer improved connections to Stansted Airport and the Eurostar. It will also form a key component of the regenerated Cambridge Southern fringe, which has plans for 4,000 new homes to be built between now and 2031. Once the station is complete, it could also serve the East West Rail connection which is currently being built between Cambridge and Oxford.
The project is being delivered by a collaborative team comprising SRSA (Colas Rail Ltd., Network Rail, and AECOM), alongside Network Rail, Alstom, and Murphys.
Photo Credit: Kate Smith
