These routes therefore all cut across South Cambridgeshire and will involve major constructions to elevate the railway line. EWR insist on a route that enters Cambridge from the south to join the King’s Cross line and a new Cambridge South Station. All of these ignore the possibility of a northern approach into Cambridge using Cambridge North Station. The East West Rail Company (‘EWR’) has outlined five possible routes for the new railway line between Bedford and Cambridge. We will also use this opportunity to press the case for electric rather than the planned diesel trains. Among other things we will be asking EWR for their assessments of noise levels and impacts on roads, landscape, heritage and wildlife and their mitigation proposals. If you support the “two emerging preferences”, please take this opportunity to do so, or pass your concerns about the southern alignment to the Parish Council who are preparing their response. There would have to be a road bridge between Toft and Comberton, as level crossings are no longer an option for new lines. The “emerging preferences” would be 2.4 km (1.6 miles) from Kingston at their closest points and the track would almost certainly be in a cutting as it descends from 72 m at Childerley Gate to 19 m at the Bourn Brook.
What we seem to have now is a compromise that provides Cambourne with a station to the north and EWR with a direct connection to Cambridge South station. Kingston Parish Council and many residents have previously written in support of the northern route and also supported the Wildlife Trust in their efforts to prevent a railway beside the Bourn Brook.
EWR rejected the latter option as too expensive and incompatible with the eventual goal of creating a freight line from Harwich and Felixstowe. Various pressure groups, supported by our MP, have campaigned for an entire northern route connecting with the Cambridge North station. Having the station to the north is supported by Cambourne Town Council. The comparative environmental impacts of the alignments in relation to noise, landscape, heritage etc are set out on the document and the sensitivity of Kingston and its surrounding landscape is recognised. Small-scale plans are shown in the consultation documents and we have attached an enlarged sketch of the alignments, as they relate to Kingston. These have a station just north of Cambourne and the track takes a northerly route to the A428 to Childerley Gate, before turning south to pass between Toft and Comberton, skirting Little Eversden and on to near Harlton and Haslingfield. However, from our point of view, the promising news is that the other two possible track alignments are away from Kingston and are described by EWR as “emerging preferences”. Three have a station south of Cambourne and would take a southern route along the valley of the Bourn Brook between Kingston and Toft, within 350 m of our church. In summary, there are five possible track alignments in our section of the route corridor between Cambourne and Cambridge.
#EAST WEST RAIL ROUTE FULL#
The consultation pack will be sent by EWR to each household in the next few days, giving full details of the latest proposals and information on how you can respond. The latest stage of the public consultation process began on 31 March and the public can submit responses until 9 June.
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