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Cambridge North railway station

Coordinates: 52°13′24″N 0°9′28″E / 52.22333°N 0.15778°E / 52.22333; 0.15778
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Cambridge North
General information
LocationCity of Cambridge
Managed byGreat Northern
Platforms3 (proposed)
Cambridge North railway station
Chesterton sidings in August 2013
LocationCambridgeshire
ProposerCambridgeshire County Council
StatusUnder Construction
Cost estimate£26 million[1]
Start date2014
Completion dateDecember 2016

Cambridge North railway Station originally planned to be called Cambridge Science Park railway station (or Chesterton railway station) is a proposed railway station that will be located in the Cambridge suburb of Chesterton, close to Cambridge Science Park. The official proposal from Cambridgeshire County Council, which has the backing of the rail industry, is to locate the station at Chesterton Sidings on the Fen Line, which runs from Cambridge to King's Lynn. The station will connect to the Cambridgeshire Guided Busway and provide an interchange with Park & Ride and local Stagecoach bus services. The station was approved in December 2013. Construction commenced in July 2014 and the station is due to be operational by December 2016.

Proposal

The new station would complement the existing Cambridge station off Hills Road to the south of the city by serving locations to the north east of Cambridge, being within walking distance of Cambridge Science Park. The station would provide an interchange with Park & Ride and local Stagecoach bus services. Construction costs have been estimated at £21–£24 million,[2] and a preliminary business case indicates a benefit-cost ratio of 9.6:1.[citation needed][when?]

The name of the station is currently under discussion; both "Cambridge Science Park" and "Chesterton" have been used at various states of development, and a public consultation has proposed alternatives such as "Chesterton Interchange", "Cambridge Fen", or "Cambridge North".[3] The possibility of naming it after a person has also been raised, with local politicians suggesting it be named for Stephen Hawking.[4]

In March 2015 Cambridgeshire County Council recommended the station should be called Cambridge North instead of Cambridge Science Park. [5]

The station is due to be connected to the Cambridgeshire Guided Busway[1] providing access from Huntingdon, St Ives (including the Park & Ride site) and the proposed new town, Northstowe and nearby park and ride site.[6] It will have space for 1000 bicycles and 450 cars.[7]

The station has been designed by WS Atkins plc. The cladding of the building will feature a pierced design derived from Conway's Game of Life, a cellular automaton devised by John Horton Conway while he was a lecturer in mathematics at the University of Cambridge.[8]

Proposed service pattern

In February 2012, Cambridgeshire County Council envisaged that the following services would serve the station in a standard off-peak hour:

5tph to Cambridge, with 2tph continuing to London King's Cross; 1tph continuing to London Liverpool Street and 1tph continuing to Stansted Airport. 4tph to Ely, with 1tph continuing to King's Lynn, 1tph continuing to Birmingham New Street and 1tph continuing to Norwich.

History

More than £20 million of the cost would have been provided from the Regional Funding Allocation.

In March 2010 the government announced that it was abolishing the Transport Innovation Fund (TIF), and according to officers of the county council the station was "at risk".[This quote needs a citation] Politicians went further, with Conservative election[clarification needed] literature in April 2010 saying that the station would not happen.[citation needed] At this time, campaign group CAST.IRON claimed that such a station would be much cheaper, perhaps as little as £3 million if it could be constructed at the same time as the island platforms at Cambridge station in 2011, included its proposal as part of its submission to the DfT's Greater Anglia rail franchise consultation.[9] Cambridgeshire County Council is hoping that infrastructure owner Network Rail will fund at least part of the station's construction.[2]

Cambridge MP Julian Huppert gave his support to the project along with the leader of Cambridge City Council, Sian Reid in February 2011.[2]

In September 2011, Theresa Villiers, the Minister of State for Transport visited Cambridge, and discussed the proposed station with county council members, saying that the government was interested in further development of the council's proposal.[10] Official government approval was given in February 2012, with work due to begin in 2014.[1] Other details, including a proposed service pattern, were published by Cambridgeshire County Council when announcing approval of the proposal.[11]

The Cambridge Cycling Campaign published their proposals for integration of the new station with cycling and pedestrian facilities in November 2012.[12]

The railway station was given full approval in December 2013.[7] Construction began in July 2014.[13] The station was due to be completed by December 2015,[8] but the completion date was subsequently pushed back by six months to May 2016[7] before being updated to December 2016[14].

References

  1. ^ a b c "Cambridge's new railway station 'to open in 2015'". Cambridge News. 21 February 2012. Retrieved 21 February 2012.
  2. ^ a b c "MP backs £21m rail project for Chesterton". Cambridge News. Cambridge. 22 February 2011. p. 2, right-most column. Retrieved 21 January 2014.
  3. ^ Cambridge Northern Fringe East area action plan: Issues and options consultation (8 December 2014)
  4. ^ Could new rail station for Cambridge be named after Prof Stephen Hawking?, Cambridge News, 7 November 2014
  5. ^ http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/New-train-station-north-Cambridge-called/story-26156964-detail/story.html
  6. ^ "New train station at Chesterton". Unclog Cambridge. Retrieved 12 January 2010.
  7. ^ a b c "Cambridge Science Park train station opening date pushed back to 2016", Cambridge News, Saturday 8 March 2014, accessed 2014-03-08
  8. ^ a b "Cambridge Science Park station to incorporate Game of Life". Railway Gazette. 13 January 2014. Retrieved 25 May 2014.
  9. ^ "CAST.IRON Greater Anglia submission to DfT consultation".
  10. ^ McGurran, Deborah (10 September 2011). "Rail minister sends positive signals on East rail plans". BBC News. Retrieved 16 October 2011.
  11. ^ "On track to move Science Park Station from concept to reality". Cambridgshire County Council. 21 February 2012. Retrieved 24 February 2012.
  12. ^ "Science Park Station 7 Improvements needed". Cambridge Cycling Campaign. Retrieved 8 November 2012.
  13. ^ "PICTURES: First step towards opening of Cambridge's second railway station as work starts on guided busway extension". Cambridge News. 23 July 2014. Retrieved 15 September 2014.
  14. ^ "Cambridge Science Park station delayed again". Cambridge News. 15 February 2015. Retrieved 1 April 2015.

52°13′24″N 0°9′28″E / 52.22333°N 0.15778°E / 52.22333; 0.15778

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