Cambridge South station

We’re building a new railway station for Cambridge to support the vitally important biomedical campus and serve a growing community of science and health care specialists, employees and hospital visitors.  

Background

Cambridge is one of the UK’s most successful and fastest growing cities. The Cambridge Biomedical Campus is an internationally significant health and life sciences cluster and is expected to accommodate 27,000 jobs by 2031. 

The Cambridge Local Plan 2018 identifies the Cambridge Biomedical Campus and the Cambridge Southern Fringe as an area of major change in Cambridge. 

It is envisaged that by 2031 new housing developments across the Cambridge Southern Fringe comprising an estimated 4000 new homes will have been built. 

Benefits

The new station will:

• Deliver better transport options and connectivity for 1.8 million passengers, patients, visitors and employees when travelling to and from the Cambridge Biomedical Campus (CBC), a growing community of science and health care specialists at Europe’s largest medical research facility.
• Grow and level up the economy and open up an array of employment opportunities, boosting the local economy for the nearby communities of Trumpington, Cambridge and the wider region.
• Have built in-capacity to support future East West rail services, aiming to unlock £103 billion of economic growth for the Cambridge and Oxford rail corridor.
• Reduce environmental impacts by supporting Cambridge’s local sustainable transport strategy, helping to provide an alternative, greener option to access the biomedical campus by rail, reducing carbon emissions from car use while helping to ease existing levels of congestion in the city of Cambridge.
• Deliver a 10 per cent net gain in biodiversity in partnership with Cambridge County Council, to offset the construction of the new station, and include a green rain-water catchment system roof with solar photovoltaic panels to generate electricity for the station.
• Increase our global impact by connecting Europe’s largest centre of medical research with the nearby Stansted Airport, St Pancras Int via Thameslink, and Birmingham International airport, encouraging growth of the CBC and help secure the UK’s ambition to become the centre of medical excellence.

The station will be managed and served by Greater Anglia, with other existing train operators expected to call at the new station (subject to agreement on future service provision and timetabling).

Planning for station opening

Cambridge South station is expected to be substantially complete by the end of summer 2025 and open for public use in early 2026. It will provide vital connectivity to the biomedical campus and the wider region, enhancing travel options for both local residents and visitors.

The later opening of the new station will take place in early 2026 to allow the delivery of two external key projects including the stage two commissioning of the Cambridge Re-signalling project and introduction of the East Coast Main Line timetable changes which will unlock additional Great Northern services between Kings Cross and Cambridge.

The station will be managed and served by Greater Anglia, with other existing train operators expected to call at the new station (subject to agreement on future service provision and timetabling).

Our Plans

Along with contractors Murphys, the South Rail Systems Alliance (SRSA) and Alstom, we are delivering a new four-platform station adjacent to the globally significant biomedical campus and upgrading the associated infrastructure between Cambridge station and Shepreth branch junction, which will include:

• ticket vending machines 
• lifts providing step free access to all platforms 
• accessible toilets, baby change facilities, waiting area and space for retail/catering 
• access for pedestrians and cyclists from both sides of the railway with capacity for a 1000 cycle parking spaces 
• modification to roads and crossings to facilitate access to the station 

We will also modify and enhance the rail infrastructure to support the new station which will include: 

• remodelling of the existing track layout 
• installing two additional track loops to accommodate a four-platform station 
• enhancements to Shepreth branch junction 
• modification to the railway on the southern approach to Cambridge station 
• provision for overhead line electrification infrastructure and a substation  
• modification of existing signalling equipment 
• closure of two private level crossing and provision of alternative access 

Cambridge South timelapse

Latest News 

January 2025

Network Rail’s engineers, together with contractors, Murphy and the South Rail Systems Alliance (SRSA), successfully reopened the railway around Cambridge on Monday 6 January 2025 marking the completion of critical engineering work over a twelve-day closure of the mainline over Christmas.

Contractors from the South Rail Systems Alliance (SRSA) completely rebuilt Shepreth branch junction as part of the wider station project. The remodelling of this junction will deliver better passenger journeys in future, increasing the line speed from 50mph (from 30mph) through the junction as part of a future commissioning stage of the Cambridge Resignalling programme.

At the station itself, track connections at either end of the station were reconfigured into their final alignments, connecting the final two tracks which will serve the four-platform station. Murphys completed work to surface the island platform and installed the secondary footbridge at the southern end of the platform while continuing to fit-out the inside of the station buildings which will continue into the new year.

December 2023

Network Rail has entered into an agreement with Cambridgeshire County Council to restore habitats disrupted during the construction of the new station in Hobsons Park and deliver the targeted local biodiversity net gain of 10%. For more information read our press release.

23 October 2023

We have awarded the main contract to J Murphy & Sons Ltd to build and complete Cambridge South. For more information read our press release.

19 September 2023

South Rail Systems Alliance (SRSA) awarded £40 million contract to deliver the rail systems for Cambridge South station including upgrades to Shepreth branch junction. 

5 June 2023

Government announces commitment to deliver a new train station in south Cambridge by 2025. Read more on the gov.uk website.

December 2022

A Transport and Works Act Order to construct a new station to serve the Cambridge Biomedical Campus was approved by the Secretary of State for Transport, to improve connectivity in Cambridgeshire and beyond. 

Transport and Works Act Order

Approval to authorise the construction and operation of a new Cambridge South Station and related track works, including improvements at Shepreth Branch Junction and a new connection between existing lines at Hills Road have been authorised by the Secretary of State for Transport. The TWAO application documents submitted to the Department for Transport in 2021 can be found below for reference.

Contact Us

If you have any enquiries or questions about the proposals for Cambridge South Station, please contact the 24/7 helpline team on 0345 711 4141 or visit our Contact Us webpage.

You can also follow us on Twitter @NetworkRailANG using the hashtag #CambridgeSouth