Cambridge South new station construction progress.

[neill]

@neill Is the clock on your drone about 10 minutes fast? That would make everything match up, and makes the GN service in the photo 2C43.

I believe it's set by GPS, but an experiment is probably in order. The filename on the 2 car DMU photo agrees with the meta data suggesting it was taken 2024-09-01 15:13:10 (BST).

Here is a zoom of the original. I assumed it was a network rail test train, but google doesn't seem to have any thing that looks like a likely candidate.



This is southbound taken at approx 15:07:34, so I think this is 2C43. The 1 car DMU comes through 2min 2second after this so must be 2Q10. I have video of the DMU heading towards Liverpool St at the junction.

The 2 car DMU comes through 2 minutes (give or take 10 seconds) later:

 

[swt_passenger]

I believe it's set by GPS, but an experiment is probably in order. The filename on the 2 car DMU photo agrees with the meta data suggesting it was taken 2024-09-01 15:13:10 (BST).

Here is a zoom of the original. I assumed it was a network rail test train, but google doesn't seem to have any thing that looks like a likely candidate.



This is southbound taken at approx 15:07:34, so I think this is 2C43. The 1 car DMU comes through 2min 2second after this so must be 2Q10. I have video of the DMU heading towards Liverpool St at the junction.

The 2 car DMU comes through 2 minutes (give or take 10 seconds) later:
View attachment 164794

Wiki lists 4 x 153 in the infrastructure monitoring fleet, 153311, 153376, 153379, 153385. There’s photos of them in both a new light blue and original dark blue liveries, it seems to be in a state of change. I think the stuff fitted to the front door confirms they’re some sort of visual monitoring unit?

 

[Nicholas Lewis]

I had the drone out yesterday. Here are some photos of the station and junction. You can see the new track layout and roofing quite clearly.

Impressive progress this team are setting the benchmark for other station builders to follow

 

[Class 170101]

Some Class 153s are part of a trial discussed in Rail last year or the year before maybe the ones in the picture are these?

 

[neill]

Some photos from yesterday. Lots of work ongoing on the roof, and continued work on the foundations for the island and P1 canopies. Looks like some sort of insulation (or foundation for green roof?) is about to be installed. I'm curious if the P1/P2 entry points are in their final location - looks like the signal and location box that were just installed will need to be moved if that's the case.

It looks like there might be a possession next weekend: https://www.greateranglia.co.uk/travel-information/service-alterations/cambridge-north-audley-end-4. I think what the description is trying to get at is that the down line is closed but the up remains open. Maybe we will see the down line routed through P1/P2 then. Or it could just be for Resignalling in Cambridge.

 

[jammmmmsssssss]

Some photos from yesterday. Lots of work ongoing on the roof, and continued work on the foundations for the island and P1 canopies. Looks like some sort of insulation (or foundation for green roof?) is about to be installed. I'm curious if the P1/P2 entry points are in their final location - looks like the signal and location box that were just installed will need to be moved if that's the case.

It looks like there might be a possession next weekend: https://www.greateranglia.co.uk/travel-information/service-alterations/cambridge-north-audley-end-4. I think what the description is trying to get at is that the down line is closed but the up remains open. Maybe we will see the down line routed through P1/P2 then. Or it could just be for Resignalling in Cambridge.

Both lines will be closed. The buses go from Cambridge North for access reasons, that's why it says to double back

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 8 Sep 2024 ==

I think the signal is getting moved (I think it said on the presentation a while ago)

 

[neill]

Thanks - that makes more sense! I was wondering where all the trains were going to go....

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 8 Sep 2024 ==

And here is the video from last weekend.

 

[michaelspencer]

Apologies but not very good at posting links but this is from the local paper which has a short video from inside the station

https://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/cambridge-news/look-around-183million-cambridge-south-29884674

Cambridge South station has begun to take shape after the steel building structures were completed this summer. The station, estimated to cost around £183.6million, is on track to open in late 2025.

Once complete, Cambridge South will be a two-storey, four-platform station with a ticket office, lifts to all platforms, and parking spaces for 1,000 bicycles. Work on the station began in January 2023 after plans were approved by the Department for Transport (DfT) in December 2022.

Cambridgeshire rail passengers have been told to check their travel plans this autumn due to scheduled engineering works. Most weekends from mid September to the end of November will see changes to services as a result of construction work on Cambridge South.

Mayor Dr Nik Johnson said: "Cambridge South will be a real boost to the city and region from day one of opening and it was exciting to see the project now really taking shape. A growing economy needs investment in infrastructure, which is why the Combined Authority and local partners worked tirelessly to accelerate the delivery of Cambridge South."

Natalie Allen, Network Rail Principal Programme Sponsor, said: "It's an exciting time for the railway in Cambridgeshire as we continue to build the fantastic new station to serve the growing business and medical research communities."

 

[Nodding Cat Ch]

Neill... Nice! thanks

I wonder what will happen to the area, beside the railway line and new station. The area where the construction crew park and further up live, in temporary accommodation. Will it return to Clay Farm Park, or be built on?
A cycle track on the Trumpington side would be handy.

 

[swt_passenger]

Neill... Nice! thanks

I wonder what will happen to the area, beside the railway line and new station. The area where the construction crew park and further up live, in temporary accommodation. Will it return to Clay Farm Park, or be built on?
A cycle track on the Trumpington side would be handy.

Planning drawings showed it all reinstated as park land west of the line, although they call it Hobsons Park; and they also show a cycle route on the south side of the busway. (Clay Farm is shown as the name of the allotments.)

I’ll attach a screen grab photo:

The TWA planning direction drawings are available on the NR website here:

https://sacuksprodnrdigital0001.blob.core.windows.net/twao-cambridge-south-infrastructure-enhancements/Cambridge South infrastructure enhancements twao/NR01 to NR15/NR13 Deemed Planning Drawings.pdf

 

[ac6000cw]

Wiki lists 4 x 153 in the infrastructure monitoring fleet, 153311, 153376, 153379, 153385. There’s photos of them in both a new light blue and original dark blue liveries, it seems to be in a state of change. I think the stuff fitted to the front door confirms they’re some sort of visual monitoring unit?

They are - I've seen them around at Cambridge and Ely. As well as the cameras and lighting on them (which are also fitted underneath the vehicle as well as at the ends), the other 'spotting' features are the blanked-off window (on one side) and ventilation grills (on the other side) roughly in the middle of the unit. AFAIK they are officially 'Visual Inspection Units', which seem to run around both singly and in pairs.

 

[Nodding Cat Ch]

Thanks.
Noticed the 'secondary footbridge' at the end of the station, they've not started on that yet.

 

[jammmmmsssssss]

Thanks.
Noticed the 'secondary footbridge' at the end of the station, they've not started on that yet.

View attachment 165298

It's not going all the way to the eastern platform anymore

 

[Magdalia]

I wonder what will happen to the area, beside the railway line and new station. The area where the construction crew park and further up live, in temporary accommodation. Will it return to Clay Farm Park, or be built on?

Planning drawings showed it all reinstated as park land west of the line, although they call it Hobsons Park

The correct name of the park is Hobson's Park. Clay Farm is the housing development that the busway passes through on its way to Trumpington.

The Cambridge South project has received a lot of praise. That should include what has been done on the environment and biodiversity.

The final plans have significantly reduced the permanent land take from the park, compared with the original proposals. The drone shots show how the temporary land take used by the construction contractor has carefully minimised damage particularly to the young trees that were only planted about 10 years ago, when the park was established in parallel with the Clay Farm development.

Two other aspects where the way the work is being done has been influenced by the consultation process is that access to the park from the Addenbrookes Bridge has been retained (earlier proposals had blocked this off during the construction), and, on the other side of the railway line, the diversion of the Darwin Path cycle track was made shorter, eliminating the needs for a temporary bridge over the Nine Wells stream, which is one of our chalk streams.

There is compensation land to make up for the permanent loss of land for the station. The field just south of Addenbrookes Bridge, also bordered by the railway, the Nine Wells stream, and the south end of the Clay Farm development, will become part of Hobson's Park.

 

[Trainbike46]

The Cambridge South project has received a lot of praise. That should include what has been done on the environment and biodiversity.

The final plans have significantly reduced the permanent land take from the park, compared with the original proposals. The drone shots show how the temporary land take used by the construction contractor has carefully minimised damage particularly to the young trees that were only planted about 10 years ago, when the park was established in parallel with the Clay Farm development.

Two other aspects where the way the work is being done has been influenced by the consultation process is that access to the park from the Addenbrookes Bridge has been retained (earlier proposals had blocked this off during the construction), and, on the other side of the railway line, the diversion of the Darwin Path cycle track was made shorter, eliminating the needs for a temporary bridge over the Nine Wells stream, which is one of our chalk streams.

There is compensation land to make up for the permanent loss of land for the station. The field just south of Addenbrookes Bridge, also bordered by the railway, the Nine Wells stream, and the south end of the Clay Farm development, will become part of Hobson's Park.

That's all lovely to hear! I'm curious to see the station when it opens.

 

[kevin_roche]

Apologies but not very good at posting links but this is from the local paper which has a short video from inside the station

https://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/cambridge-news/look-around-183million-cambridge-south-29884674

Has anyone else got the video to work? I have tried two different browsers, and neither would show the video.

Does anyone know why the easternmost platform is the only one with a roof?

 

[neill]

Does anyone know why the easternmost platform is the only one with a roof?

The roof here covers the cycle storage area so is larger. The other platforms will have glass canopies with solar panels. You can see the foundations for these in my drone videos.

 

[a good off]

My elderly parents are looking forward to being able to use the train to get to their appointments in Addenbrookes.

 

[camflyer]

My elderly parents are looking forward to being able to use the train to get to their appointments in Addenbrookes.

The main challenge will be local wayfinding. Many of the hospital departments, including outpatients, are a long walk from the new station and through a complex site with lots of buildings.

 

[a good off]

Surely there’ll be a frequent shuttle bus to and from?

 

[WesternBiker]

Surely there’ll be a frequent shuttle bus to and from?

One would hope so. The current patient courtesy bus which shuttles around the site in a loop runs every 30 minutes, which is pretty useless to be honest. There are of course other buses going around the campus, which I hope will call at or near the new station - the U (Universal) service is every 15 minutes for most of the day during weekdays. But I hope they have factored in that not every user will be fully mobile and able to walk the 10 or so minutes to the main hospital.

 

[Magdalia]

The main challenge will be local wayfinding. Many of the hospital departments, including outpatients, are a long walk from the new station and through a complex site with lots of buildings.

I do quite a lot of walking in and around the biomedical campus. I estimate that it would take me at least 15 minutes to walk from the new station to Addenbrookes outpatients. And you're right that there is no obvious well signposted route.

Surely there’ll be a frequent shuttle bus to and from?

But I hope they have factored in that not every user will be fully mobile and able to walk the 10 or so minutes to the main hospital.

Who do you expect to provide that? Who is going to pay for it?

It takes a long time for a bus to do a full circuit of the biomedical campus. The route has lots of twists and turns, and key congestion points around the car parks and the entrance to Accident and Emergency. The U allows 12 minutes from the first stop on the way in to the last stop on the way out, and that's not a full circuit (see below).

the U (Universal) service is every 15 minutes for most of the day during weekdays.

As currently operated, the U will be fine for a journey from the new station to Addenbrookes outpatients, but no use for going the other way. The last stop on the U, before it leaves the biomedical campus, is currently in Puddicombe Way, near Long Road College.

On the other hand, Stagecoach route A stops in front of Papworth Hospital, near the new station, both on the way in and on the way out.

At least twice Stagecoach have experimented with buses going from Trumpington round the biomedical campus then back again. Both times they have been dropped very quickly. Maybe it will be third time lucky when the new station opens.

 

[zephyr6]

One would hope so. The current patient courtesy bus which shuttles around the site in a loop runs every 30 minutes, which is pretty useless to be honest. There are of course other buses going around the campus, which I hope will call at or near the new station - the U (Universal) service is every 15 minutes for most of the day during weekdays. But I hope they have factored in that not every user will be fully mobile and able to walk the 10 or so minutes to the main hospital.

There is more than one patients' courtesy bus and there is an on-call service. Number is on the bus stops and at reception.

 

[Trainbike46]

I do quite a lot of walking in and around the biomedical campus. I estimate that it would take me at least 15 minutes to walk from the new station to Addenbrookes outpatients. And you're right that there is no obvious well signposted route.

It's a very large hospital campus, and has only increased in size since the last time I was there. Personally, I'd hope that clear signage gets introduced before the new station opens - and if nothing else, placing a map of the campus near the station entrance, making clear where various things are would be something that I hope happens

 

[WesternBiker]

Who do you expect to provide that? Who is going to pay for it?

At least twice Stagecoach have experimented with buses going from Trumpington round the biomedical campus then back again. Both times they have been dropped very quickly. Maybe it will be third time lucky when the new station opens.

Well, I was assuming the users would be pay for it, as with anything else (recognising that many users will have bus passes).

What I hope would happen is a rejigging of bus routes such that there's a way of getting from the station to the hospital(s) - and back - with a decent enough frequency. One option might (as you mention) be a revived bus from Trumpington to the campus and back again: the traffic from the station might make it viable this time.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 12 Sep 2024 ==

There is more than one patients' courtesy bus and there is an on-call service. Number is on the bus stops and at reception.

Ah - that’s useful to know (I don’t think my in-laws are aware of that). That sounds like an answer to the question.

 

[neill]

There's a possession this weekend and already this morning lots of activity was underway.

At the station building work continued on the roof.


The first rail for the track through P2 has been put in position.


The gate was open to the future location of the forecourt so I took the opportunity for a photo from a new angle.


Round the other side of the station the crane was being used to lift in the canopy supports for the island platform.





Down by the Shepreth junction it looked like work on laying more of the new 3rd track was ongoing. Down by Shepreth station a team was getting ready with some OLE equipment.

I'll try to get out again tomorrow.

 

[Jimcam]

Shepreth station, or Shelford? There's also much activity by the level crossing off the Sawston bypass leading to the former Spicers factory.

 

[neill]

Shepreth station, or Shelford? There's also much activity by the level crossing off the Sawston bypass leading to the former Spicers factory.

Shelford! Sorry, trying too hard not to misname the junction.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 15 Sep 2024 ==

Some drone photos from this morning. You can see the rail for p1 and p2 has now been laid, but doesn't look like they are going to be connected to the line this weekend. The supports for the canopy seem to have been completed as well.

 

[jammmmmsssssss]

Shelford! Sorry, trying too hard not to misname the junction.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 15 Sep 2024 ==

Some drone photos from this morning. You can see the rail for p1 and p2 has now been laid, but doesn't look like they are going to be connected to the line this weekend. The supports for the canopy seem to have been completed as well.

I thought it was going to be connected at Christmas

 

[Steve Harris]

Shelford! Sorry, trying too hard not to misname the junction.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 15 Sep 2024 ==

Some drone photos from this morning. You can see the rail for p1 and p2 has now been laid, but doesn't look like they are going to be connected to the line this weekend. The supports for the canopy seem to have been completed as well.

The correct names are Shepreth Branch Junction and Shelford. Both of which used to have signalbox's (which were abolished/demolished due to the building of Cambridge PSB). Shelford has a station, Shepreth Branch Jnc doesn't (nor did Granhams Road, the signal box which stood between the two).