Work on Cambridge South, a brand new station that will serve Cambridge Biomedical Campus and the surrounding area and forms part of the proposed East West Rail line has started.
The 4-platform, accessible station will be fully funded by the Government, forming part of its ambition for the UK to be a global science superpower by 2030.
The station is expected to serve £1.8 million passengers each year and will be situated at the heart of the biomedical campus which is the largest centre of medical research and health science in Europe.
Rail minister Huw Merriman said: “This brand-new station will not only benefit local passengers but deliver a major boost to the entire city, improving connectivity to a world-leading academic hub while unlocking local business and growth opportunities across the region.
This is just another step in our efforts to create a thriving, well-connected, passenger-focused rail network to support communities for generations to come.”
It is expected that work on the new station which has been earmarked by the government to cost £200 million will be completed by 2025. It is also expected that the construction phase of the new station will create up to 300 jobs.
The announcement on the construction of the new station comes after the announcement last week of the preferred route for the final leg of the East West Rail project which would pass through Cambridge South.
It is hoped, that the new line which would connect Oxford to Cambridge could ignite growth in the area and boost economic activity.
Katie Frost, Network Rail’s route director for Anglia, said:
It’s an exciting time for the railway in Cambridgeshire with a green light to deliver a new station that will serve the vitally important and growing biomedical campus.
Rail continues to be an environmentally sustainable form of transport and I know the minister’s announcement will be welcomed by the customers and communities we serve across Cambridgeshire and beyond.”
