Source: Gamlingay Parish Council Facebook page -
https://www.facebook.com/568981216499391/posts/1863152423748924/
Train line near Gamlingay anyone?
Invitation from Hatley Parish Council. Gamlingay Parish Council representaives will be attending.
Hatley Parish Council has invited the Chairman of the CamBedRailRoad, Sebastian Kindersley, to give a presentation to the Council and residents of Hatley regarding the proposed East West railway line which will link Oxford to Cambridge. As you may be aware the preferred route is via Bedford, which will see a corridor linking Bedford to Cambridge via Sandy. This preferred route will see the four track train line running close to or through our parishes. Therefore the aim of the presentation is to provide a greater understanding of the impact of this route on our parishes and to consider possible alternative routes which offer greater sustainability.
The presentation will take place during the Extraordinary Meeting of Hatley Parish Council on Tuesday 14th August at 7.30 pm in Hatley Village Hall. We would like to extend an invitation to your Parish Councillors and any of your residents, landowners in particular, that you feel may be significantly impacted by the proposed railway line. Please can you confirm, where possible, who will be attending from your Parish so that we can manage numbers. This is a public meeting but spaces will be limited.
More on this....
Are you aware that the Parish you live in is threatened by one of the four current options for the East West Rail link?
East West Rail? What’s that?
In 1967 British Rail closed the Varsity Line which ran trains between Cambridge and Oxford. Ever since local communities have wanted it to be re-opened and this is now a Government ambition because it is relying on the so-called “Knowledge Arc” between Cambridge and Oxford to drive forward UK plc with the knowledge-based economy.
…and?
And the reason why this has come up is that there is a missing link in the EW line – the bit that links Bedford to Cambridge. The Government has tasked various bodies over the years to examine this and come up with a plan.
A plan? Sounds good….
Yes and no. The most recent plan accepts that there are two corridors that could provide the missing link across the countryside. The M corridor runs Bedford – Hitchin – Royston - Cambridge (North South approx.) and the C corridor runs East-West from Sandy to Cambridge (approx.). The latest report says the C corridor is most suitable and sets out 4 potential lines within that area.
Not great if you live in the C corridor then?
The four options in the C corridor have a preferred line – called C2.2 – running through Wrestlingworth, Tadlow, the Mordens, Abington Piggotts, Shingay-cum-Wendy, Bassingbourn, Whaddon and joining the Royston line at Shepreth. The other three options run through or nearby Gamlingay, the Gransdens, the Hatleys etc.
Eeeek. Assume I’m a NIMBY and don’t want this – what do I do?
Most residents are completely unaware of the C corridor and the proposal to run a national high speed trainline through the open countryside – and many are unaware of the property blight this is already causing. Not unreasonably those who are aware are somewhat concerned and some of them have formed a group which has looked into this issue in some depth.
A group?
CBRR is made up of local residents and stands for CambBedRailRoad.
Roads? Where did that come in? This is about railways isn’t it?
While the missing link in local infrastructure exists on the railway it also exists on the road network. Government wants an Expressway (=Motorway or at the very least a dual carriageway) running between Cambridge and Oxford. Most of it already exists but the missing link – again – is between Black Cat on the A1 and the Caxton Gibbet roundabout – approximately the same place where the missing link for the railway is.
But the A428 is much further north than the C corridor?
Yes it is. CBRR believes that we should be using intelligence and joined up thinking to produce an intelligent and joined up piece of national infrastructure which doesn’t damage the area and which has far more benefit than anything in the C corridor. To that end CBRR has plotted an alternative rail route, which links with the proposed dualling of the A428.
Tell me more…I’m listening…
The C corridor preferred route links nothing to nothing but does open up the possibility of a new station (and therefore a new town) at Bassingbourn Barracks. It also duplicates the Train track between Royston and Cambridge – but would require expensive and time-consuming dualling of the railway line from south of Cambridge into the main station there.
OK – so it’s bad, I get it. What’s your bright idea then?
CBRR argues that a better way is to build a new line from Bedford along the A428 corridor to Cambridge North station. This corridor is where most of the current and proposed development is going and would have several substantial advantages.
So – walk me through it…
Leaving the first North/South mainline at Bedford a new station would be built at Bedford South for the new town of Wixams. Moving north east the line would then meet another N/S main line at St Neots – again with a new station at Wintringham Park (a proposed new development set to nearly double the size of St Neots). Moving along the corridor there would then be another new station at Cambourne to serve Cambourne and the new village at Bourn Airfield (plus Papworth) before heading northwards to skirt around Northstowe (another station at another New Town) and Waterbeach (again, a new town) before joining the third N/S line and dropping into Cambridge North.
I see – anything else?
Yes. If a small chord was built across the end of Coldham’s Common trains could then continue to Felixstowe and the East Coast ports. A further chord northwards could take trains onto the King’s Lynn line. The new station at Addenbrookes could be built quicker as access from the north on this new line would mean that the doubling of the track south of Cambridge would not be necessary and – lastly – any light rail commuter option locally could use the same tracks.
That must be good news for all the people who live along the A 428 and in St Neots?
Absolutely. Given the enormous level of development agreed and planned along the A428 the need for a connected rail link is imperative if the roads are not to simply jam up and stop working. CBRR considers upwards of 100,000 more residents in the area (not to mention the traffic from people coming in or going out to work) means rail is the only serious alternative to gridlock.
Well – this all sound marvellous. Is it much more expensive tho?
It is likely to cost more as it is a longer route than C2.2. However the economic value would far outweigh that of C2.2’s because it links current and future centres of population growth, it links three national N/S main corridors and of course, it provides the ‘missing link’. So if you are a nurse at Addenbrookes or a teacher in Bedford but can only afford a starter home in Northstowe this line will give you a decent public transport alternative to your car.
Sign me up!
CBRR has made presentations to over 80 local Councillors, our MP and the Mayor and we are now starting to publicise this issue more widely. While this is a project that is spoken of as many years away in fact the decisions to press ahead with the C corridor are imminent and we are anxious to get the powers that be to consider this plan as a viable alternative option. Likewise the decision on a preferred route for the A428 dualling is expected in the last quarter 2018 and we are anxious that this transport corridor is delivered using joined-up intelligent decisions.
What can I do?
Your Parish or Town Council has been invited to host a presentation either at a Council meeting or a public meeting in association with neighbouring Councils. Please consider coming. If you would like to offer more detailed support please contact
[email protected]. Please also consider writing to your MP to show your support for this.
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Source: Wrestlingworth Parish Council Facebook page -
https://www.facebook.com/133053967226/posts/10155694254277227/
Wrestlingworth Parish Council Facebook page:
If you live between Bedford, Sandy, Biggleswade, St Neots, Royston and Cambridge this is for you.
This evening at Hatley Village Hall we heard a presentation given by Sebastian Kindersley (Cambridgeshire County Councillor) and James Paxman. CamBed RailRoad (CBRR) are a recently formed group who want to urgently rally support for a northern route to be considered as a proposal for the Bedford to Cambridge element of the Oxford to Cambridge rail link. The decision for this will be made by early 2019.
The CamBed RailRoad link would specifically draw together the new communities at Wixams (Bedford) together with the new developments at St Neots, Bourne Airfield, Cambourne, Northstowe. The rail link would be closely aligned to the new road expressway. The expressed wish of CamBed RailRoad is to ensure these new communities have access from home to work, schools, town centres and services. This element of the community infrastructure would ensure sustainability for our wider population during a period of rapid expansion and pressure on our existing roads, towns, railway stations and inevitably parking facilities.
The East West Rail propose a route for the Bedford to Cambridge rail link to be via Sandy affecting the communities adjacent to Potton, Sutton, the Hatleys and Gamlingay. It is not apparent that there are stations proposed on this route with no added value to the community only the disruption by the railway of valuable farmland and further loss to our countryside especially our local ancient woodland habitats.
If you would like more information please contact
[email protected]. A publication by Cambed RailRoad 'integrates rail and road' is available. If you want to know more do contact your Parish Council, District and County Councillors and most importantly please write to your MP. The clock is ticking for a decision to be made on the expressway route by the last quarter of 2018 and for the rail link early in 2019!
CBRR's primary aim is to be able to put forward a northern route to be properly assessed in a cost-benefit analysis against the East West route through our area.
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Other further reading:
https://www.biggleswadetoday.co.uk/...outes-that-could-hit-local-villages-1-8608437
“The C routes deliver nothing but blight along the corridor” as quoted by Cllr Kindersley.
Cllr Kindersley and the local Parish Councils don’t even try to deny this is not about NIMBYism. It will be of no surprise to learn that according to the the council website, Cllr Kindersley lives in one of the potentially affected villages... Who knew?
