Cambridge South station opened to the public on 28 June, the occasion having been delayed since the New Year, due to one of the suppliers for the project going into administration late last year. The station is the first to be completed in the new Great British Railways branding.
The station is located on the West Anglia Mainline about 1.5 miles south of Cambridge station and perhaps a little over half a mile north of Shepreth Branch Junction. The station is adjacent to the western edge of the Cambridge Biomedical Campus housing several research organisations as well as Addenbrookes and Papworth hospitals and other similar facilities. The station has four platforms all capable of accommodating 12-car trains. The station has been constructed with the ability to handle additional traffic from East West Rail when that comes to fruition.
A new hub
The station is managed by Greater Anglia and served by Greater Anglia trains between a range of destinations from London Liverpool Street to Norwich as well as Great Northern services between Kings Lynn and London Kings Cross, Thameslink services between Cambridge and Brighton, and Cross-Country trains between Stansted Airport and Birmingham. These provide up to 20 train services during the busiest hours of the day.
It is also intended to be used by East West Rail services once the route east of Bedford is agreed and built. Thus, it is expected to become a significant hub to access the biomedical facilities. Around 1.8 million people currently visit the campus per year, typically 40,000 per day. The location of the station at the edge of the campus and the range of journey opportunities suggests a significant potential market to justify the £250 million spent on construction and associated improvements to the railway in the local area.
Expanding and upgrading
Before construction the railway consisted of two tracks, up and down. This has been expanded to four lines which have some bi-directional signalling and, to limit extended journey times, particularly for Great Northern and Thameslink trains, included remodelling and lifting the speed restriction at Shepreth Branch Junction a short distance to the south.
The Cambridge signalbox area is in the process of being upgraded under the Cambridge Resignal, Relock and Recontrol (C3R) project. The second stage of this programme took place over the Christmas 2025 period and covered the area around Cambridge station and south from there. As the railway infrastructure works for Cambridge South had been completed by then, the signalling alterations associated with the new station and Shepreth Branch junction were commissioned as part of the signalling works, avoiding further disruption.
The station was originally mooted in the 1990s but no progress was made until 2017 when plans for a new station first received government backing and £5 million was allocated to develop the project. The Transport and Works Order was finally approved in December 2022 with construction beginning in early 2023. Construction had significant scale because of the need to widen the formation to handle four tracks and the platforms and the work necessary to improved Shepreth Branch Junction and lift the speed limit from 40mph to 50mph.
The station is fully accessible with six lifts which between them give access from roadside to all platforms. There are also ticket vending machines but no ticket office, as has been the trend with recent station openings. Other facilities include accessible toilets and baby changing areas.
Access to the station is available from both the Hobsons Park, west side, and the Biomedical Campus, east side, of the station. There is also space for retail and catering facilities to be provided with a mobile coffee facility already present. There is a 1,000-space cycle park but no public car park as most journeys are expected to start or finish locally by foot or cycling.
There is a car pick up and set down facility which includes 15 spaces, some of which can be used by blue badge holders, taxis, and so on. Bus services also operate through the campus area with stops near the main station entrance.
In addition, several other initiatives were implemented as part of construction to ensure the station had excellent green credentials. These included supporting an extension to Hobsons Park to generate a biodiversity net gain and careful control of construction emissions by Murphy the main contractor. The station also has a partial green roof and solar panels to generate some of its electricity need.
Sustainable growth
It is hoped the station will contribute to the Cambridge sustainable transport strategy by reducing car use by providing a frequent service between the city and the Biomedical Campus. The station is referred to as a “destination station” as many journeys using the station will be associated with the adjacent biomedical campus. Cambridge South welcomed over 110,000 passengers in its first operational month suggesting it will quickly achieve the anticipated annual rate in excess of 1.8 million.
The Cambridge Biomedical Campus is currently believed to contribute £4.7 billion to the national economy. The station is expected to boost this by offering easy access for both staff and visitors thus making further investment in the area an attractive proposition and thereby boosting the total economic value.
Cambridge South is now the third station serving the Cambridge city area with Cambridge station opening with the railway in 1845 and Cambridge North opening in 2017. There are tentative plans to build a further station near Cherry Hinton if the current proposals for East West Rail come to fruition.
Image credit: Network Rail
