Cambridge South new station construction progress.

[Magdalia]

I've only recently come to Cambridge for the first time in a long time, and I was, quite frankly, astounded at the busway. Pedestrians and cyclists in such close proximity with a large kerb sticking up but otherwise no separation. No fence or even safety space. It just looked so unsafe I was amazed it ever got built like that in the first place.

When the busway was first proposed it did not have any adjacent cycleways/walkways, only an unsurfaced track for maintenance vehicles. The cycleways were added to the specification because cyclists were using the maintenance tracks, even during construction, and those with very good balance were also cycling on the concrete tracks.

Both fatalities have occurred on a section of the cycleway that also has a fence on the other side to the busway, and gets very busy at peak times. There is no room to provide greater separation between the busway and the cycleway.

I think it is pertinent that this section is open for pedestrians and cyclists but closed to buses, and not the other way round.

 

[MikeWM]

The shuttle buses don't call at the bus "station" and it is a very long walk from there to the Royal Papworth.

Very convenient for the eye unit day surgery centre though, where I've had the delightful experience of quite a number of operations in the last 15 years.

Also very convenient for outpatients clinics *if* the door on that side of the hospital on the lowest level is open, though it increasingly seemed to become staff-only for entering as the years progressed. Still a decent shortcut for exit though.

Earlier today I was reminiscing that when we moved to our present house 15 years ago there were 6 #8 buses an hour to Addenbrookes, now there are 3 #7 buses if you are lucky and you have to change in the City Centre.

Many areas of Cambridge have lost what were rather good cross-city journeys over the past 10 years or so. The changes to the Park&Ride services - now all terminating in the centre - and the rerouting of the #1 and #2 buses away from Bridge Street, have cut many direct opportunities.

The Science Park to Addenbrookes used to have direct 6 P&R an hour, 6 #2 services and 4 guided bus services - now it merely has 3#2 services and 3 guided buses.

 

[Magdalia]

The Science Park to Addenbrookes used to have direct 6 P&R an hour, 6 #2 services and 4 guided bus services - now it merely has 3#2 services

That's it, apart from the peak hour services on route C.

Route A now goes via Histon Road and joins/leaves the northern end of the busway at Orchard Park.

 

[Mag_seven]

Just a reminder that the thread is for discussion of Cambridge South Station

thanks

 

[neill]

Couple of photos from yesterday. These are taken from the guided busway bridge looking south.

Looks like clearance, earthworks, etc continue…

 

[neill]

Big expansion of the site this week. The fenced off area now covers about half of the country park. Looks like the earthworks are getting more extensive and quite a bit of soil has been relocated to level the ground.

 

[Magdalia]

The fenced off area now covers about half of the country park.

That's an exaggeration! Although the strip of land that is fenced off is now quite wide, it is nowhere near half of the park. I'd guess somewhere in the 10-20% range.

 

[neill]

That's an exaggeration! Although the strip of land that is fenced off is now quite wide, it is nowhere near half of the park. I'd guess somewhere in the 10-20% range.

Yes, that’s fair - it will depend on what is park vs allotments, recreation areas, etc but it is less than a third at the moment.

Photos from today at the Busway bridge, looking south.

Evidence of some work on the track/OHLE but I am not sure if that is associated with the station, regular renewals, or the signalling project.

And some photos from the Addenbrookes road bridge looking north…

 

[Magdalia]

it will depend on what is park vs allotments, recreation areas, etc but it is less than a third at the moment.

Having recently looked at the site from the busway bridge end I can now see why you estimated a much bigger percentage.

And some photos from the Addenbrookes road bridge looking north…

My perspective is usually from this end.

One of your pictures shows a black cylindrical object in the foreground at bottom right of picture. I noticed (I think) 2 of these had recently been fixed to the bridge parapet. Does anyone know what they are?

 

[jfowkes]

One of your pictures shows a black cylindrical object in the foreground at bottom right of picture. I noticed (I think) 2 of these had recently been fixed to the bridge parapet. Does anyone know what they are?

I suspect they're reflector prisms for surveying. Looks like the Leica GPR121 from a quick Google. But I'm not a surveyor or anything like that, so could be wrong.

 

[neill]

One of your pictures shows a black cylindrical object in the foreground at bottom right of picture. I noticed (I think) 2 of these had recently been fixed to the bridge parapet. Does anyone know what they are?

I noticed those as well. My assumption is that they are reflectors attached at a known point for measuring locations on site with a theodolite or similar. Or for checking that the bridge isn’t moving….

 

[mr_moo]

Hi everyone,

As I've hinted at before, I am involved with this project.
I am itching to share more info but at present I have not been given permission to share much beyond what's plain to see for anyone, so I can't say much for <reasons>. This will change fairly soon (hopefully), and after that I intend to present to you all a fascinating set of info and works photos from the possessions as the station takes shape over the next couple of years. I've got (limited) blessing from the media teams, mostly, just not yet!
Stay tuned, but feel free to ask things in the meantime. If I can't answer I'll let you know.

Evidence of some work on the track/OHLE but I am not sure if that is associated with the station, regular renewals, or the signalling project.

Yep, that's us. The new rails you can see are for a future track renewal. They are delivered by train, so we bring in the train in one possession and drop the rails, ready for future works in a few big chunks, as it's cheaper and easier thay way. Indeed, I struggle to see how you would get a 216m piece of rail delivered by road...

Piles are us too - We've started installing piles for the new track alignments. Lots more to go yet though.
Definately not regular renewals - Pretty much all of the existing OLE stanchions (and track) between the two bridges will dissapear over time and be replaced with our revised layout.

One of your pictures shows a black cylindrical object in the foreground at bottom right of picture. I noticed (I think) 2 of these had recently been fixed to the bridge parapet. Does anyone know what they are?

The black things are indeed survey targets - part of the network of survey control points (points with known co-ordinates) that is being used to set out works on the ground. There's several of them as, when we set out piles, platforms, fences, track etc etc, it's almost all done using co-ordinates, and thus surveyors will use these to get everything into the correct locations as per the designs.

 

[John R]

One thing that strikes me about those photos is how elegant, and even quite difficult to see in some of the pictures, the overhead line equipment is, in contrast to more recent installations around the country.

 

[Magdalia]

One thing that strikes me about those photos is how elegant, and even quite difficult to see in some of the pictures, the overhead line equipment is

It doesn't look so elegant when it falls down though.

 

[mr_moo]

One thing that strikes me about those photos is how elegant, and even quite difficult to see in some of the pictures, the overhead line equipment is, in contrast to more recent installations around the country.

Hehe. I'll tell our overhead line engineer - he'll probably be happy to hear that! It's older stuff indeed - Mk 3. Definately smaller than some of the monster equipment installed on Great Western for example!

It doesn't look so elegant when it falls down though.

 

[neill]

Some photos from yesterday. Work now extends to the east of the line and to the north of the busway bridge on the west side of the line.

 

[swt_passenger]

One thing that strikes me about those photos is how elegant, and even quite difficult to see in some of the pictures, the overhead line equipment is, in contrast to more recent installations around the country.

Following on from this, we can now see the new stuff delivered to site, (as seen in the 5th photo of post #556), is definitely more ‘recent’…

 

[mr_moo]

Hi all,

Good photos @neill

Some interesting points of note for people:

• The purple fence between the railway and the AZ building is being removed. This is because the project takes an area of land formerly belonging to AZ. You'll notice the new temporary fence inside their car park.
• Several piles seem to be quite a distance away from the railway - they are. See photo 2 especially for a good example of this. This shows how far over the railway is going to be moved for the new platform loops. They will be in the cess of the new Down loop.
• The 'recent' stuff on the ground is the new OLE masts and booms/portals etc. You'll see the first of these going up very soon.

 

[neill]

You'll see the first of these going up very soon.

I shall try to take some more photos on Sunday afternoon…

 

[mr_moo]

Well, there is a possession this weekend...
I suspect you'll get some good photos then.

(I can't officially say when anything's happening. Partly, we don't really want to encourage crowds of spectators, partly, if I say "this will be happening at this time/date" and it then doesn't, people could misconstrue things and say we're running late or something went wrong etc, which would all be pure speculation. And work does occasionally get pulled at the last minute sometimes for various reasons and/or things are sometimes delayed or re-planned on site).

 

[Strat-tastic]

Thanks for the info Mr moo. Good to have you on the thread

 

[mr_moo]

Thanks for the info Mr moo. Good to have you on the thread

Thank you. Glad to be of help.

 

[neill]

Lots happening today….

Edit: It was very politely pointed out that uploading lots of images with no description was not the most inclusive approach.

The attached pictures show the situation on Sunday afternoon as seen from the Guided Busway and Addenbrookes road bridges. Looking south from the Guided busway bridge over the site of the new station there is a lot of plant and workers on the track along with 5 new OHLE masts which are being wired up. To the north there is a large concrete pump with a boom over the track that looks to be pouring the piles for further masts. To the south of the Addenbrookes road bridge the site compound and access track to the west of the railway now reach away to the horizon in the direction of the Shepreth junction and another group of workers in orange can be seen in the distance.

Now as for the detail of what can be seen here, I’m going to have to rely on others as I’m no expert!

Unrelated to the current activity on site, I had a question about the plans that I was hoping someone could shed light on. Looking at page 17 of the planning drawings it looks like there is a taper on the north end of the east side of the central platform island. Why might that be? Provision for four tracking when East-West rail arrives perhaps?

 

[mr_moo]

as for the detail of what can be seen here, I’m going to have to rely on others as I’m no expert!

Thanks @neill.

This is helpful to me too! Whilst I do work on the project, I'm not out every weekend and do not live in Cambridge, so you're actually helping me with my job too by giving me good photos of the site when I'm not there!

I like to hope I am indeed the expert (at least for this project) that you can rely on...

To give you all some context re what you can see in @neills photos:

• Pic 4 - the concrete pump as correctly noted by @neill. In this area we're installating piles by sinking a steel casing down, excavating the centre. We then place some reinforcement into the casing and pour concrete down inside. When it sets we have a very strong base upon which a new OLE mast will later be placed. (Note the steel casing goes to different depths for different piles depending on whether the ground is solid or soft and thus whether it will support itself or collapse between excavation and infill - we have ground investigation that informs this in advance).
• Pics 6 and 7 show an access track heading South. This will go down to Shepreth Branch junction. The site compound serves as the access for all works at the station area and Shepreth Jn (but not Hills road of course).
• Pics 8 and 9 show the new mast close to the guided busway bridge. This is the first clear indication of how much the tracks are moving. This mast is in the wideway just off the North end of the new central island platform. The two tracks serving the Down platforms, (P3 and 4) will eventually be supported by this mast. The registration equipment you can see on the back of it is temporary to support the existing tracks until the new layout is comissioned. The existing OLE masts either side of it on that track are to be removed to make way for the new station, so this is the start of transferring the wires across to new structures. As aforementioned, pretty much everything (track, signals, OLE, cable routes) between the two bridges will be removed and replaced over the course of the project.
• Interestingly the other 4 masts are temporary, to support the existing OLE over the existing tracks, allowing the existing masts to be removed, which in turn allows clears space for the station building to come later.

Unrelated to the current activity on site, I had a question about the plans that I was hoping someone could shed light on. Looking at page 17 of the planning drawings it looks like there is a taper on the north end of the east side of the central platform island. Why might that be? Provision for four tracking when East-West rail arrives perhaps?

Very well spotted. And you are spot on.

 

[Strat-tastic]

I'm still puzzled as to how the junction speed is going to be increased. Is the track going to move? But there are buildings in the way

 

[Magdalia]

I'm still puzzled as to how the junction speed is going to be increased. Is the track going to move? But there are buildings in the way

There are no buildings in the way at Shepreth Branch Junction, though a signalling mast has to be moved, and possibly some alteration to the footbridge.

Pics 6 and 7 show an access track heading South. This will go down to Shepreth Branch junction. The site compound serves as the access for all works at the station area and Shepreth Jn

Is there no longer going to be a construction site compound on the up side of the line near to the Abcam building? And does that mean that the cycleway does not need to be diverted after all?

Pics 8 and 9 show the new mast close to the guided busway bridge.

Picture 8 also shows the removal of the purple fence at the northern edge of the AZ site, making more room for the access to/from the station on the up side.

 

[Strat-tastic]

I'm still puzzled as to how the junction speed is going to be increased. Is the track going to move? But there are buildings in the way

Could someone describe in layman's terms please?

 

[swt_passenger]

Could someone describe in layman's terms please?

I think there was an attempt to explain this in post#402. Also quite a few posts on the next page of the thread. There’s supposed to be 3 tracking over a significant distance, about 800m. So at the very least that allows room for the up and down direction points to be a replaced with much faster sizes.

 

[Steve Harris]

Could someone describe in layman's terms please?

The junction will have longer leads... ie the angle the lines diverge at is less = higher speeds.

No buildings need to be moved as there isn't any. And according to the plans (on this forum) the footbridge doesn't need modification, other than screens being fitted to bring it up to modern standards (ie your unable to touch the Overhead Line).

 

[Strat-tastic]

Right, I think I get it now. Thanks .