Cambridge South Station

A new station, Cambridge South, is being constructed on the existing railway line where it runs along the western edge of the Biomedical Campus, just to the south of the guided busway bridge over the railway.

The notion of a station to serve the Biomedical Campus has been around for some years.  Finally a public inquiry in 2022 concluded that the benefits of improved access to the campus and the reduction in local road traffic outweighed the encroachment into Hobson’s Park, and the construction began at the start of 2023, with the opening expected in early 2026.  The service pattern is not yet finalised but it is clear that the station will be served by trains to and from both King’s Cross and the Liverpool Street lines, and in the future by East West Rail if that project comes into fruition.

There are links to the public inquiry inspector’s report and the Secretary of State for Transport’s decision letter below.

The station is not in Great Shelford parish, but will affect us in four main ways:

• Residents who work at or visit the Biomedical Campus, and others, particularly those who live in the northern part of our parish, may find the new station useful for their work or leisure journeys.  Passengers boarding at Shelford will be able to change at Cambridge South for stations on the King’s Cross line without needing to travel into Cambridge and double back.
• The work includes re-modelling of the junction known as Shepreth Branch Junction, where the King’s Cross and Liverpool St lines diverge. This junction is within our parish, close to the Abberley Wood residential area.  In essence the work entails a minor realignment of the junction to enable an increase in the line speed, and moving the point of divergence some 250 metres northwards.  There will be modifications to the footbridge to accommodate this, and the farm crossing at the junction will close permanently, access for the farmer being provided from Addenbrooke’s Road.
• We can expect some construction traffic in the parish, particularly for the work at Shepreth Branch Junction detailed above.  Great Shelford Parish Council’s Travel and Transport Infrastructure Working Group has been in dialogue with Network Rail since February 2021 and will continue to work to minimise the impact on residents.
• The new station is expected to have a footfall of at least one million passengers a year from its inception.  Currently those people must be arriving at the campus by some other means, including private cars, so we may see some reduction in local road traffic although this may be offset by the overall growth of the Campus.

Network Rail (Cambridge South Station) – latest news and updates

Network Rail – Twitter (X)

Network Rail Eastern – Instagram

Visuals of how Cambridge South could look

Network Rail (Cambridge South Infrastructure Enhancements) Order inspector’s report (publishing.service.gov.uk)

Network Rail (Cambridge South Infrastructure Enhancements) Order decision (publishing.service.gov.uk)

A presentation on Cambridge South Station was given by the project engineer, Philip Holbourn, to the Thames Valley section of the Permanent Way Institution on 5 June –  New station at Cambridge South – Project case study – Phil Holbourn (youtube.com)