Cambridge North station is one of the infrastructure projects initiated by the Coalition Government to stimulate the economy. It is to be constructed at the Chesterton sidings on the Fen Line from Cambridge to Kings Lynn near the Cambridge Science Park, but the project has been subjected to several delays. Early warnings appeared in April 2010 when Conservative election literature meekly remarked that the station would never be built. This negative political stance might explain the subsequent handling of planning by the Conservative controlled Cambridge County Council (CCC).
The project was supported early on in 2011 by the then Liberal Democrat Cambridge MP Dr Julian Huppert. With the Liberal Democrat Norman Baker as Under Secretary for Transport the necessary political backing was then in place. In September 2011, Theresa Villiers as Minister of State for Transport visited Cambridge and announced to CCC the government’s wish that the project should proceed as a county council project with a target completion date of 2015.
It was however not until the end of 2013 that planning permission was granted but then, with Network Rail becoming involved, CCC required the planning process to be repeated all over again. As a result the December 2015 opening date was pushed back to 2016 and now stands at 2017.
This is a £50 million project funded by the Department for Transport and is being jointly developed by CCC and Network Rail. The station is designed to have three platforms and is intended to serve both the Science Park and Chesterton, with a link and interchange to the Guided Busway and Stagecoach Buses. There will be parking for 1,000 bicycles and 450 cars with 10% of the station’s power requirements being supplied by PV panels.
It is reported that work has already started on the track, points, overhead line cabling and power supplies.