Work begins on Cambridge’s new rail station

Rail passengers are set to benefit from a new station in Cambridge, offering quick, easy and accessible links to its world-leading biomedical campus, thanks to government support announced by Rail Minister Huw Merriman today (5 June 2023).

Spades are in the ground to deliver a new, 4-platform, fully accessible station at Cambridge Biomedical Campus in the south of the city by 2025, offering easier access to Europe’s largest centre of medical research and health science.

With around £200 million government funding earmarked for the build, the new station will bring together world-leading academics and back the government’s ambition for the UK to become a science superpower by 2030. It will also support rapid growth in the area, which is expected to welcome 27,000 jobs and 4,000 new homes by 2031.

Rail Minister Huw Merriman said:

This brand-new station will not only benefit local passengers but deliver a major boost to the entire city, improving connectivity to a world-leading academic hub while unlocking local business and growth opportunities across the region.

This is just another step in our efforts to create a thriving, well-connected, passenger-focused rail network to support communities for generations to come.

During construction, 300 new jobs will be created in the local area, and once delivered, the station will act as a key transport link between the biomedical campus and international gateways, such as Stanstead Airport and the Eurostar, boosting the travel network right across the region.

Expecting to welcome 1.8 million passengers a year, the station also forms part of the proposed route of the future East-West Rail line, which would connect Oxford and Cambridge and unlock up to £103 billion of economic growth.

Katie Frost, Network Rail’s route director for Anglia, said:

It’s an exciting time for the railway in Cambridgeshire with a green light to deliver a new station that will serve the vitally important and growing biomedical campus.

Rail continues to be an environmentally sustainable form of transport and I know the minister’s announcement will be welcomed by the customers and communities we serve across Cambridgeshire and beyond.

Kristin-Anne Rutter, Executive Director at Cambridge Biomedical Campus Limited, said:

We are delighted that the Cambridge Biomedical Campus is to get its own railway station in less than 2 years’ time. Better public transport links will be critical in fulfilling our vision of a more sustainable campus.

Currently, there are around 5 times as many visits to the site as there are car parking spaces. We have to find ways of making it easier for the thousands of staff, NHS patients and visitors arriving daily to get here without needing to use a car.

This is a campus dedicated to improving human health, so anything that has the potential to cut air pollution and take pressure off our local roads is also very welcome. Coupled with the recent approval of the East-West Rail route directly linking Oxford with the Cambridge Biomedical Campus, we believe we can create a successful yet sustainable health and life sciences cluster that can both grow the economy and save lives.

Sir Mene Pangalos, EVP BioPharmaceuticals R&D at AstraZeneca, said:

We very much welcome the ‘ground breaking’ for the Cambridge South Train Station, which will provide sustainable travel directly to the Cambridge Biomedical Campus.

This will help support the ongoing growth and vibrancy of the site, enabling further collaboration and partnership across academia, biotech and industry, which is key to advancing scientific innovation to transform healthcare and improve outcomes for patients.