This is the text of a letter sent to me as a Stakeholder.
Construction of the station is progressing well, with key milestones achieved over Christmas and further significant work planned for 2025. However, we now expect to bring the station into passenger use in early 2026. The revised entry into service date is being driven by the station’s dependency on two major projects; the Cambridge Re-signalling project and East Coast Main Line timetable changes.
While these projects are outside of the station project’s control, they are essential to ensuring a reliable train service can operate.
We understand the importance of this station for the local community and the biomedical campus, and we are working hard to ensure train services can start operating as soon as possible.
Construction Progress
Since beginning construction in early 2023, we have made excellent progress with our contractors and industry partners. Key achievements include the construction of the main station building and upgrading the railway systems necessary to accommodate the new station.
While the work has required planned closures of the West Anglia Main Line during key weekends and bank holidays in 2024, these disruptions were necessary to deliver critical upgrades. We appreciate your patience during this period, and we are confident the improvements will provide long-term benefits for Cambridgeshire’s rail network.
Recent Milestones: Christmas 2024
During the 12-day closure of the West Anglia Main line over Christmas, several critical upgrades were successfully delivered:
Cambridge South Station: The track junctions were reconfigured into their final alignments, connecting the final two tracks which will serve the station’s four platforms.
The station contractor, Murphy, completed surfacing of the island platform, installed the secondary footbridge and continued fit-out work of the station’s interior which will continue over the coming months.
Shepreth Branch Junction: Contractors from the South Rail Systems Alliance (SRSA) completely rebuilt this junction, enabling an increase in train speeds from 30 mph to 50 mph, a key upgrade that will help deliver smoother, faster journeys for passengers once Stage 2 of the Cambridge Re-signalling project is complete.
Cambridge Re-signalling Project: Alstom engineers successfully delivered the first commissioning stage of the Cambridge Re-signalling project, a multi-million-pound investment to renew and upgrade how the railway is signalled around wider Cambridgeshire. As part of this work, a 40-year-old signalling control panel for Cambridge North and Ely was replaced with brand new digital workstations, new signals were brought into operation, and preparations were completed for Stage 2 commissioning.
Cambridge South station – completion
With the critical rail system milestones successfully delivered over Christmas 2024, our focus is now on completing the station, with two key areas of work outstanding:
Rail Systems: Remaining upgrades, excluding signalling, are scheduled for completion by SRSA this spring.
Station Construction: The main station building is on track for completion by Murphy in summer 2025. This includes internal station fit out, mechanical and electrical systems
installation, construction of the approach roads, and restoration and landscaping areas of Hobsons Park used for the construction.
Bringing the station into service for passengers
As I am sure you can appreciate, new stations are not stand-alone projects. They need to be integrated into the complex rail network systems and opening dates are often driven by factors outside of the station project’s control. In Cambridge South’s case, opening is dependent on two linked projects:
Cambridge Re-signalling Project (Stage 2): This critical phase will unlock the operational flexibility for the full-service provision agreed with our train operator partners. The dates for the Stage 2 commissioning are expected to be confirmed soon, but we anticipate this will take place around Christmas 2025.
East Coast Main Line Timetable Changes: As you may know, Great Northern and Thameslink services from London Kings Cross and St Pancras travel on the East Coast Main Line on their way to Cambridge. A new timetable is scheduled to be introduced in December 2025 which will be essential to allow the operation of services at Cambridge South station.
These two projects have had a significant influence on our plans to bring Cambridge South into service. If both milestones are successfully delivered as planned in December 2025, we will be able to open the new station in early 2026.
While later than originally planned, the integrated infrastructure and timetable
enhancements will ensure Cambridge South is fully equipped to meet the needs of the biomedical campus, the local community, and the wider region for years to come.
I hope that you found this update helpful.
Further information can be found on Network Rail’s website here:
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