East West Rail: Updated southern approach into Cambridge with new Cambourne station unveiled

East West Rail has announced it will take the southern route into Cambridge for the central section of the £5bn new line.

The news will come as a blow for campaigners who had called for the East West Rail Company to consider entering the city from the north.

However, there have been changes to reduce the need for and height of proposed embankments and viaducts which had been dubbed the ‘Great Wall’ by campaigners.

Today’s (Friday, May 26) announcement means the line will leave a station at Cambourne and continue south-east, passing to the south of Haslingfield and Harston villages, at which point it would merge with the Shepreth branch line via a grade-separated junction at Hauxton, and then join the West Anglia Mainline.

Between Little Shelford and Hauxton, services would stop at the new Cambridge South station, which is located next to the Cambridge Biomedical Campus, and then proceed north to Cambridge station.

A report published today states: “Our high-level investigations since the 2021 consultation indicate that a northern approach may potentially be cheaper to build and quicker to construct, and have less potential environmental impact, but it wouldn’t be an alternative to a southern approach in terms of economic growth.”

There have been some changes to the route alignment following feedback from the second non-statutory public consultation, which has been analysed alongside environmental and technical studies, say the East West Rail Company.

This includes reducing the need for and height of embankments and viaducts.

“Following consultation feedback, EWR Co has identified potential opportunities to remove or reduce the height of approximately half the embankments or viaducts (by length) compared to what was shown at the consultation,” it said.

Beth West, CEO of the EWR Co, said: “Life sciences have grown around the world at an unprecedented rate over the past two decades, and the Cambridge Biomedical Campus is a driver for economic growth, creating high value jobs and attracting investment.

“It brings together the ‘triple helix’ of the public and private sectors, combined with academia, that characterise the most successful life sciences clusters around the globe. After extensive consideration of the alternative, our conclusion remains that approaching Cambridge from the south is the best solution for the city, the region and – given the global opportunity at the Biomedical Campus – for the whole of the UK too.

“Quick, reliable public transport linking Cambridge with Bedford, Milton Keynes and Oxford continues to have widespread local support and our updated proposals have been shaped by the hundreds of conversations we’ve had with local people, businesses and other stakeholders and the thousands of responses we received to our most recent public consultation. I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who took the time to meet with us and help shape our proposals – and we look forward to seeing you at more community events this summer.”

A series of public drop-in events are being arranged across the route to provide opportunities to meet the EWR Co team and find out more about the updated proposals.

Published alongside the route update report are:

- The consultation feedback report – which outlines the feedback received to the 2021 public consultation, the responses to the matters that were raised and how these have been taken into consideration

- Economic and technical report – which considers the strategic case for investing in EWR and ways of delivering the benefits of EWR at a lower cost to the taxpayer

- Need to sell property scheme – we’ve launched the scheme, which has been developed following consultation feedback to provide support to eligible property owners who have a compelling reason to sell their property but are unable to do so except at a substantially reduced value because of EWR.

Rail minister Huw Merriman said: “The delivery of East West Rail continues to move at pace and today’s announcement demonstrates our commitment to improving travel and supporting economic growth between the historic, thriving cities of Oxford and Cambridge.

“This major railway line is expected to not only boost local economies but also slash journey times and transform rail travel for passengers in and around the region for generations to come.”

Dr Kristin-Anne Rutter, executive director at Cambridge Biomedical Campus Ltd, said: “Cambridge Biomedical Campus Ltd welcomes the Government’s announcement of a route for the East West Rail link. We believe that connecting up two of the world’s leading life science clusters, Cambridge and Oxford, has the potential to provide significant improvements to healthcare and be a key component in delivering the government’s science superpower ambitions. Along with the building of the new Cambridge South station, it will also greatly enhance the sustainability of the Cambridge Biomedical Campus, by encouraging more staff and visitors to arrive by public transport.”

Dr Andy Williams, chair, Oxford-Cambridge Supercluster Board, added: “Connectivity between Oxford, Cambridge and the towns in between is vital to opening up the flow of talented people, innovation and investment needed to secure the UK's position as a global science supercluster.

“This week’s government announcement and the updated East West Rail route will boost business confidence in the region taking us one step further towards transforming the Arc into a global science destination fit to compete with other superclusters like Silicon Valley.”

AstraZeneca, which has built its new R&D site – The Discovery Centre – on Cambridge Biomedical Centre, welcomed progress on connecting Cambridge and Oxford.

Sir Mene Pangalos, EVP biopharmaceuticals R&D at AstraZeneca, said: “Truly great ideas happen when talented people come together and the announcement of today’s East-West Rail route will hard wire a connection between two of the UK’s world leading life science communities at the Cambridge Biomedical Campus, home to AstraZeneca’s global R&D Discovery Centre, and in Oxford where we have many close relationships including with the university.”

Cllr Lucy Nethsingha, the Liberal Democrat leader of Cambridgeshire County Council, said: “It is good to have an announcement on East West Rail today. This is a nationally important piece of infrastructure, and we have been supportive of the principle of the rail link between Oxford and Cambridge for many years. It was good to hear a renewed government commitment to the project earlier in the year, and we are keen to study the detail of these proposals.

“Rail travel is one of the most efficient and greenest transport systems, and increasing the opportunities for rail transport in our area is a key priority and important as part of our commitment to a greener, fairer Cambridgeshire.

“We will look closely at the detail of what has been announced today, we want to understand the exact alignment and what this means for residents and particular areas of the county. We look forward to working with our communities and with the East West Rail Company to understand and refine the proposals and address local concerns. We are also keen to understand whether the calls for the line to be electric from the start have been heard.”