Heavy rail (for the non-cognoscenti, read ‘train’) connections are vital for business, science, technology, universities, culture and communities. They play an extremely important role linking Cambridge to London and the wider UK, and to airports for international connections.
As such, the heavy rail network is rightly a key influence on the design of the Cambridge Light Rail network, and Cambridge Central Station is placed at the heart of Cambridge Connect’s Isaac Newton Line. Moreover, Phase 3 also includes the Cambridge North station, now operational. The Isaac Newton Line also recognises the proposal for a third heavy rail station at Addenbrookes (‘Cambridge South’), which could provide better connections to London and elsewhere from the hospital and Biomedical Campus. Much of the Isaac Newton Line from the Cambridge Central Station – Trumpington follows the current Guided Busway, which itself utilises the former Cambridge to Bedford rail alignment.
The heavy rail line extending east to Newmarket could serve residents in Cherry Hinton and Fulbourn where businesses such as ARM, Syngenta, Illumina, Scientia and others are located. New heavy rail stations at Cherry Hinton and Fulbourn could be a means to link these sites to superior public transport.
Cambridge Connect supports plans for an East – West rail link to Bedford, Milton Keynes and Oxford, and this has been built into our strategies. A public consultation on the potential corridors for the Central Section from Bedford to Cambridge was carried out by the East-West Rail consortium, closing on 11 March 2019. Cambridge Connect supports Option A because it is complementary to the light rail network we have proposed, including the line we propose to St Neots via Cambourne. We acknowledge that there remain detailed environmental considerations to be considered, although in strategic terms we view Option A as offering the best transport benefits in combination with Cambridge Connect. We think residents along the A428 corridor could be served better by a ‘metro’ extending right into the heart of Cambridge city, including to Eddington and the University West Campus, rather than the options for East-West Rail that go via Cambourne which omit St Neots and only link Cambourne to Cambridge South. These East – West Rail options offer less flexibility and fewer transport benefits to residents in these areas. To learn more, download our full submission (2.4MB).
These are important and welcome developments. Cambridge Connect believes that provision of public transport fit for purpose for Cambridge over a medium term planning horizon deserves careful consideration within the work set out for the National Infrastructure Commission. This is particularly important because the East – West rail link coupled with the planned road Expressway (e.g. dualled A428) will serve to stimulate further the Cambridge economy, making investment in the infrastructure needed for sustainable and effective public transport within Cambridge City of even higher priority. Should this fail to be recognised, there is considerable risk that many potential benefits of the East – West rail link will fall on stony ground as the infrastructure within Cambridge City itself fails to cope.
The proposed East – West Rail line is thus complementary to, and fully compatible with Cambridge Light Rail.
Cambridge Connect supports the excellent work being done by Railfuture East Anglia on heavy rail, and interested readers should get in touch with them for more information about heavy rail developments in the region. Cambridge Connect is a member of Railfuture and is collaborating closely with Railfuture East Anglia on our Light Rail proposals. Railfuture East Anglia supports Cambridge Connect and the call for a full technical and economic feasibility study of Light Rail options for Cambridge.