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Cambridge South new station construction progress.

dk1

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Not much (if any room) for through services using Platforms 1,4, 7 and 8. Notice the Norwich - Stansted service has more services on a Saturday / Sunday than a weekday.
It wasn't possible to marry up timetables North & South of Cambridge to allow through running SX at peak times. Maybe more from Dec 2020 or May 2021.
 
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gingerheid

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Not much (if any room) for through services using Platforms 1,4, 7 and 8. Notice the Norwich - Stansted service has more services on a Saturday / Sunday than a weekday.

There's also an irritating peak time gap in the Liverpool Street - Cambridge North services.
 

bspahh

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https://www.networkrail.co.uk/cambridge-south-station says there will be consultation "on proposals for a new railway station and associated infrastructure in the south of Cambridge" from January 20th to March 2nd online or at these events:

Code:
   Monday 20 January  4.00pm-8.00pm The University Centre (Hicks Room) Granta Place, Cambridge, CB2 1RU
  Tuesday 21 January  5.00pm-9.00pm Long Road Sixth Form College Long Road, Cambridge, CB2 8PX
Wednesday 22 January  9.00am-1.00pm Royal Papworth Hospital Papworth Road, Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge, CB2 0AY
 Thursday 23 January  4.00pm-8.00pm Netherhall School Queen Edith’s Way, Cambridge, CB1 8NN
   Friday 24 January 10.00am-2.00pm Trumpington Pavilion King George V Playing Field, Paget Road, Trumpington, CB2 9JF
 Saturday 25 January 10.00am-2.00pm Shelford Rugby Club The Davey Field, Cambridge Road, Great Shelford, CB22 5JU
  Tuesday 28 January  3:30pm-7:30pm Little Shelford Memorial Hall The Long House, 11 Church Street, Little Shelford, CB22 5HG
Wednesday 29 January  4.00pm-8.00pm Grantchester Village Hall Vicarage Drive, Grantchester, Cambridge, CB3 9NG
 Thursday 30 January  1.00pm-5.00pm Stapleford Jubilee Pavilion Stapleford Recreation Ground, Off Haverhill Road, Stapleford, CB22 5BX
 
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mr_jrt

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Seems a bit like a box ticking exercise to me - there's very little difference between the three options...
 

camflyer

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The consultation is now live online:

https://consultations.networkrail.co.uk/communications/cambridge-south/

Three possible location options (North, Central, South) in between Addenbrooke's Road bridge and the Guided Busway bridge.

I don't have a strong preference over the exact location since they are so close to each other but I suspect AstraZeneca will have a lot of say in the matter as the station will be right next door to them and could use some of their land. The long building plot on the eastern side of the tracks is where they are planning the next phases of their once the main R&D building is (eventually finished). The AZ masterplan can be seen in this presentation: https://www.cambridge.gov.uk/media/6803/southern-fringe-community-forum-2018-10-presentation-3.pdf

Whichever is chosen a lot of thought will need to be put towards wayfinding and transport through the campus. It would be quite a long walk from the station to Outpatients and other departments on the other side of the site.
 

MikeWM

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Whichever is chosen a lot of thought will need to be put towards wayfinding and transport through the campus. It would be quite a long walk from the station to Outpatients and other departments on the other side of the site.

Indeed so - all other things being equal, it seems the north location would make the most sense, as it is the closest to the geographical centre of the site, though I agree there isn't much in it. This is also the closest choice to the Treatment Centre, and pretty much everything in the main hospital (outpatients, wards, the Rosie, etc.) can all be reached from there without having to go back outside, so that seems to make sense too. Although still a rather long walk to get all the way to outpatients from there...

No doubt we're in for another batch of weekend closures of both London lines if/when this goes ahead :(
 

Class 170101

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Does not seem to make clear if four lines will extend to Shepreth Branch Jn and Cambridge (Central) Station unless anyone could see differently.
 

wagnaga

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It seems strange to me that Cambridge North has good parking arrangements (at least at present given usage) but compared to Cambridge South isn't served as well.

Cambridge South is suggested to have minimal to no normal parking but will end up being better served for trains south - especially as it should suffer less with trains turning back short.

The lack of parking will reduce its ability to reduce usage of Cambridge though I imagine some people will avoid it and continue to use Cambridge to ensure they get a seat.
 

jopsuk

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Cambridge South will be convenient for the large housing developments near the hospital site, access by walking & cycling (and the busway). Give the (quite new) Addenbrookes Road regularly has queues back to Shelfrod Road or even the M11, adding a car park at South would be extreme folly.

The big hope is that South will be used for inward commuting
 

camflyer

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It seems strange to me that Cambridge North has good parking arrangements (at least at present given usage) but compared to Cambridge South isn't served as well.

Cambridge South is suggested to have minimal to no normal parking but will end up being better served for trains south - especially as it should suffer less with trains turning back short.

The lack of parking will reduce its ability to reduce usage of Cambridge though I imagine some people will avoid it and continue to use Cambridge to ensure they get a seat.

The lack of parking at Cambridge South makes perfect sense. The last thing Addenbrookes/CBC needs is a few thousand more car movements each day. For people commuting to London from the south of the city extended parking facilities at Whittlesford or Foxton would be better.

The main purpose of a Cambridge South station is to serve a growing employment area not to reduce the number of passengers using Cambridge [Central]
 

TheDavibob

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Does not seem to make clear if four lines will extend to Shepreth Branch Jn and Cambridge (Central) Station unless anyone could see differently.

I couldn't see anything explicit either, but did note all three options involve works to Long Road Bridge, which is (I think) the main obstacle to four tracking into Cambridge (and I imagine will necessity a complete rebuild).
 

InOban

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It's a while since I have frequented the area, but wouldn't it be sensible to keep the two routes separate until Cambridge, where I assume some trains still terminate, and merging the remaining services after there?
 

edwin_m

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It's a while since I have frequented the area, but wouldn't it be sensible to keep the two routes separate until Cambridge, where I assume some trains still terminate, and merging the remaining services after there?
I think a grade separation somewhere between South and Shepreth Branch Junction is feasible but sorting out the flows north of Cambridge would have to be done on the flat as it's too built-up for a flyover or diveunder. Or four tracks would have to extend quite a long way into open country.
 

sharpener

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Does not seem to make clear if four lines will extend to Shepreth Branch Jn and Cambridge (Central) Station unless anyone could see differently.

I asked a Network Rail representative at the consultation session today, and he said firmly that there would at best be passive provision for this (or anything else that would facilitate joining up EWR in due course). I also thought the three options looked very similar and the presentation material did not make it at all clear what the various pros and cons were - mostly to do with the road/busway connectivity.
 

MarkyT

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After this opens and assuming it is indeed named Cambridge South, do we think the current Cambridge station will be renamed Cambridge Central?
To me, the lack of a suffix already implies it's the main or central station, so there's no need to change the name IMHO. It's not very 'central' anyway if that means as close as possible to the historic core, although it is fairly near the centre of the built-up conurbation nonetheless.
 
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There is not much in any of these choices but the northern one connects better. The Addenbrookes curtesy bus should pick up from the new station to cover outpatients etc.
But will driverless pods be used? They use the bus parkway as a testing track from Addenbrookes to Trumpington park and ride I believe so it make sense to do this for connections around the rest of the site.
 

eastdyke

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Regardless of option chosen, I totally understand why no Station Car parks will be built to try to avoid 'outgoing' commuter road traffic generation.
Nonetheless there are car parks on the overall site, how will their use be discouraged for rail use?
And how will 'the station run' (ala school run) be managed to prevent drop offs for commuters who see this as a time saver over other alternatives.
A stinging very local congestion charge perhaps? Cambridge - its about time!!!
 

edwin_m

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Regardless of option chosen, I totally understand why no Station Car parks will be built to try to avoid 'outgoing' commuter road traffic generation.
Nonetheless there are car parks on the overall site, how will their use be discouraged for rail use?
And how will 'the station run' (ala school run) be managed to prevent drop offs for commuters who see this as a time saver over other alternatives.
A stinging very local congestion charge perhaps? Cambridge - its about time!!!
An illustration of the problems caused by free parking, specifically as proposed during the election campaign for hospitals. Fortunately the government promise appears to be that only those in the greatest need get free parking, and presumably this would be tied to having a need to visit the hospital so few commuters would be able to take advantage of it. There is still the risk though that the normal parking fee is greater than the cost of parking at stations nearby.
 

Esker-pades

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To me, the lack of a suffix already implies it's the main or central station, so there's no need to change the name IMHO. It's not very 'central' anyway if that means as close as possible to the historic core, although it is fairly near the centre of the built-up conurbation nonetheless.
Bring back the 'General' suffix!
 

Ianno87

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Regardless of option chosen, I totally understand why no Station Car parks will be built to try to avoid 'outgoing' commuter road traffic generation.
Nonetheless there are car parks on the overall site, how will their use be discouraged for rail use?

Check out the current charges for those car parks. That's disincentive enough....
 

Ianno87

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£33.60 for 14 days? Surely not that cheap, what am I missing?

The daily rate (£20.10 for over 8 hours, £16.something for 6-8 hours) is pretty steep.

(Though yes the weekly rate is pretty competitive with Cambridge main station car park)
 

eastdyke

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The daily rate (£20.10 for over 8 hours, £16.something for 6-8 hours) is pretty steep.
(Though yes the weekly rate is pretty competitive with Cambridge main station car park)
£33.60 for 2 weeks parking would very surely need to change considerably. And of cousre to the detriment of those who take advantage now, albeit that existing users would have a new option of a train in!
 

edwin_m

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£33.60 for 2 weeks parking would very surely need to change considerably. And of cousre to the detriment of those who take advantage now, albeit that existing users would have a new option of a train in!
There are various discounts already offered for patients so they have the procedures in place to do that. I think they'd have to extend that so the only people entitled to the £33.60 rate would be visitors to long-stay patients. That's a bit more difficult but not impossible.
 

sharpener

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I couldn't see anything explicit either, but did note all three options involve works to Long Road Bridge, which is (I think) the main obstacle to four tracking into Cambridge (and I imagine will necessity a complete rebuild).
Maybe someone can tell us what these "works" are going to be?

It looks as though Long Road bridge was originally designed with four tracks in mind and the abutments do seem to be far enough apart. Between them are steel beams which are supported by steel columns at 1/4 and 3/4 of the overall span, with the existing tracks down the middle half. The two side spans look as though they could take the two additional tracks; that on the W side is currently used as road access to a small railway compound by the NW corner of the bridge but it would not be difficult to create a new access to this through the belt of trees on that side.

Whether there is room to get the station access road(s) under the Addenbrooke's Road bridge is a different matter, one would hope it was included in the design brief.
 

camflyer

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Maybe someone can tell us what these "works" are going to be?

It looks as though Long Road bridge was originally designed with four tracks in mind and the abutments do seem to be far enough apart. Between them are steel beams which are supported by steel columns at 1/4 and 3/4 of the overall span, with the existing tracks down the middle half. The two side spans look as though they could take the two additional tracks; that on the W side is currently used as road access to a small railway compound by the NW corner of the bridge but it would not be difficult to create a new access to this through the belt of trees on that side.

Whether there is room to get the station access road(s) under the Addenbrooke's Road bridge is a different matter, one would hope it was included in the design brief.

Looks to be enough under the bridge from this angle: https://goo.gl/maps/Xx9K1obUiGEVDwgMA
 

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