£40m rail upgrades for new city station completed

A £40m project to upgrade the railway infrastructure around a city's new station has been completed.

The South Rail Systems Alliance (SRSA) needed to upgrade sections of the West Anglia main line, as part of the building project for Cambridge South station.

SRSA won the contract for the works in September 2023, which included remodelling a branch junction at Shepreth.

Keith Sullivan, a programme manager for Network Rail, said it was a "major milestone" towards completing the station, which is expected to open early next year.

He said: "This brand new station [is] for the south of Cambridge, the neighbouring biomedical campus and Trumpington communities."

Cambridge South will be the city's third railway station and is aimed at boosting links to the growing science and healthcare sector in the area around Addenbrooke's Hospital.

SRSA is made up of Network Rail, railway infrastructure company Colas Rail UK, and the infrastructure consulting firm AECOM.

SRSA said 3.5 miles (5.7km) of track between Shepreth and Cambridge was renewed and some of it was realigned to accommodate the new four-platform station.

Eight new switches allowing trains to go from one track to another were also installed and overhead electrical lines were upgraded.

The next step is to carry out signalling upgrades, which are expected to be completed by the end of the year, while contractors carry on fitting out the new station.

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