Cambridge Connect and Railfuture East Anglia have collaborated closely over 2020 / 2021 to make a radical update to the original Cambridge Light Rail proposals, first advanced in 2016. We have worked with a range of partners to develop this new vision, including Amey, Ankura, CMS, UK Tram and individuals who were responsible for delivery of the Docklands Light Railway and major extensions to Manchester Metrolink, as well as local residents with detailed knowledge of Cambridge and its surrounding region. Our focus has been on cost-effectiveness, practical deliverability, and reduction of risk. …
Main Content
Let’s move ahead
Let’s get connected…
Cambridge is at a pivotal moment in its history.
Cambridge is witnessing phenomenal and unprecedented economic expansion and population growth. Between 2011 to 2031 the population of the greater Cambridge region will increase by ~120 000 people, the equivalent of the population of Cambridge city again over a period of 15 years.
As a result, Cambridge is facing some of its greatest challenges. There are pressing needs for more housing and effective transport links. Safeguards for the unique and outstanding heritage, environment and quality of life in Cambridge from these pressures have never been more needed. Given the scale of this challenge, it is vital that solutions developed today are fit for purpose when they are operational. Short-term projects – much as they are needed – should not compromise, or close off, options that we can reasonably foresee to be needed in the future.
Barriers to connectivity detract from our quality of life, stifle opportunities, impede economic growth, harm the environment, and cause unnecessary waste. These barriers will increase without major commitments to, and investment in, solutions that are right for the scale of the problem. Piece-meal, local solutions will at best fail to meet needs, and at worst cause irreparable damage to the values of Cambridge. We believe a step-change in thinking is needed to meet the unprecedented scale of the challenge Cambridge is facing.
Cambridge Connect has collaborated with a wide range of organisations, companies and individuals - including Railfuture, UK Tram, Amey, Ankura, CMS, and experts involved in CrossRail, Manchester Metrolink and the Docklands Light Railway, to create a detailed proposal for Cambridge Light Rail.
In 2020/21 we have undertaken a major revision of our proposals, with a keen focus on practical deliverability and reduction of costs. To achieve this, we looked at every aspect of the scheme to identify opportunities for efficiencies. Improvements have been made, and inevitably some compromises. The latest model presented would comprise two light rail lines (the Isaac Newton Line and Darwin Line) serving Cambridge and the surrounding region, extend 40 km in length, include a short tunnel in the historic city core, and would be delivered in two main phases over ten years. The overall cost of £1.4 bn, which includes the tunnel and underground stations, would be spread over the delivery phases, making this latest scheme eminently affordable. We believe the latest plans for the Cambridgeshire Autonomous Metro (CAM) were over-ambitious, with ~150 km of network and ~12 km of complex tunnelling, with a price tag of ~£2-3 bn or more. We also believe that CAM, proposing a form of electric bus, was focused on the wrong technology for a modern metro. We are doubtful whether finance could be raised for such a scheme, and therefore propose a more pragmatic, deliverable, alternative based on the proven and highly advanced technology of light rail.
Light Rail is a practical and important potential solution, and is adopted in hundreds of cities world-wide. While more expensive than buses in the near term, it would be an integrated and enduring solution. Light Rail offers the speed, capacity, frequency, reliability, convenience and accessibility to bring about the major improvements needed in the connectivity and efficiency of the Cambridge transport network. Light Rail is also highly scalable, to take account of future demand. It is the technology most likely to enable substantial change in people’s journey decisions, needed to create a more sustainable City.
In 2018 the Cambridge Mass Transit study concluded that light rail was the best available technical solution and that the network model put forward by Cambridge Connect was the best practical solution. However, the study concluded that light rail was too costly, and put forward a 'hybrid' solution using a rubber-tyred articulated bus instead of light rail. This was called the "CAM" or "Cambridgeshire Autonomous Metro". It was argued that this could be cheaper, since it wouldn't need rails. The publication of the Strategic Outline Business Case showed, however, that the cost of CAM could in fact approach that of light rail. Given the highly risky, bespoke and uncertain nature of CAM, it is quite likely costs would exceed light rail. Many may not be aware that the proponent of CAM, consultant Steer, put forward an almost identical proposal some 20 years earlier - this failed to gain traction, and instead Cambridge got guided busways.
We welcome far-sighted approaches to an integrated and sustainable transport strategy for the Cambridge region. However, we do not support the proposed rubber-tyred vehicle, or small buses or, as some have suggested, pods: we support proven, low risk, deliverable solutions for a truly transformative transport system for Cambridge. We believe light rail is currently the only technology that can be practically delivered to meet that standard with modal shift on the required scale.
The newly-elected Mayor of the Combined Authority, Nik Johnson, promised to scrap CAM, and we welcome that decision. However, the CAM, for all its faults, had been built into the regional transport strategy and without CAM there is a major gap in the long-term policy. For example, the GCP was relying on CAM to deliver the integration lacking in their "stand-alone" busway schemes. Without something to replace CAM, and some form of tunnel, the plans for mass transit in the inner city of Cambridge are unworkable. There remains a need for integration across the network, and filling Cambridge with hundreds of buses is not the answer. Our vision is for a city where there is far greater use of public transport, more pedestrianisation, walking and cycling, enabled and enhanced by light rail.
Cambridge Connect provides a new plan for the Cambridge Light Rail network. The first priorities we call the 'Isaac Newton Line' and the 'Darwin Line', referencing the innovative and creative approaches that are a hallmark of Cambridge.
Newsfeed
Phase One: an Open letter to all Cambridgeshire Councillors
On 16 March 2023 we sent an open letter to all Councillors on the Cambridgeshire County Council, South Cambridgeshire District Council and the Cambridge City …Read MoreLocal Transport & Connectivity Plan
Cambridge Connect made a supplementary submission to the Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Combined Authority public consultation on their new Local Transport and Connectivity Plan, the final …Read MoreLight Rail and regional transport strategy
Cambridge Connect and Railfuture East Anglia submitted our proposals for light rail to the Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Combined Authority public consultation on their new Local …Read More
Isaac Newton & Darwin Lines – Phases 1 & 2
The Isaac Newton Line The Isaac Newton Line is a bi-directional Light Rail line extending from Cambourne in the west to Haverhill in the southeast, which would be delivered in three Phases. Phase One would be ~20 km in length, extending from the Girton Interchange to Granta Park via Eddington, the University West Campus, Grange Road, City Centre, Cambridge Central Rail Station, Addenbrookes, Shelford and Sawston. A tunnel within the historic City core would extend 2.6 km from a portal near Cambridge Central Rail Station in the south to a portal in the Grange Road area, with the remainder of …
Read more... about Isaac Newton & Darwin Lines – Phases 1 & 2
Light Rail Accessibility
Greenprint for a sustainable City. The accessibility of Cambridge Light Rail stops to residential / commercial areas in Cambridge is illustrated by the adjacent map. The percentage area of the city that is accessible on foot and by cycle to Light Rail stops is summarised in the table below. The map shows an accessible and attractive public transport alternative that would be transformative for inner city traffic, as more people decide to walk or cycle to their nearest stop and, instead of driving their car, take Cambridge Light Rail to their destination of choice. We believe this is a …
Cambridge Light Rail integrated strategy
Transport solutions need to be multimodal and well-integrated to be most successful (see, for example, the multimodal integrated approach in Nice and in Nottingham). While Cambridge Connect places emphasis on Light Rail as an important element to be considered in the mix, this needs to be connected to different modes of transport that are suited to different needs. It is also important to recognise that private vehicles are likely to remain a dominant choice for many for a long time to come. While this probably won't include space shuttles, other forms of transport that form part of the …
Benefits: speed & time
Cambridge Light Rail would provide people with short journey times on a rapid transit system. Based on an average speed of 33 kph (London Tube, Transport for London) including stops the proposed routes could move people across Cambridge astonishingly quickly. (A faster average speed of 60 kph has been used where the light rail line goes through rural areas). Journey times Cambridge Connect has calculated typical journey times between example stops if all options for the Cambridge Light Rail line were implemented. For example: Cambridge Central Station to Market Square: 4 mins! …
Fun Facts
Minutes
from Cambridge Central Station to Market Square on Cambridge Light Rail underground
Number of vehicles entering/leaving
Cambridge - per day - in 2015
maybe not such fun!
The year the first traffic lights were installed in Cambridge