New Cambridge rail station to be 'transformative'
The station won't open until at least next year
Better travel connections and economic growth are being promised when the new Cambridge South rail station opens.
But the station - located next to the Cambridge Biomedical Campus - will not be opening until at least 2026.
A £194 million re-signalling project - which will see upgrades to signalling equipment - is expected to not be complete before the end of this year.
While changes to the East Coast Main Line timetable have also contributed to the delay.
"The benefit of that timetable (change) is that it will enable more trains to run between London King's Cross and Cambridge," Stephen Deaville, senior communications manager at Network Rail Anglia, said.
"Those two projects need to be delivered in order to facilitate a full capacity opening of Cambridge South station, and that's why it's been moved into early 2026."
The new East Coast Main Line timetable is due to be ready later this year.
What is Cambridge South?
The new station - backed by £200m of Government funding - was meant to open this year and is expected to welcome up to 1.8m passengers a year.
Network Rail believes Cambridge South will have capacity to support future East West Rail services, in a bid to unlock £103 billion towards the Cambridge and Oxford rail corridor.
It will have four platforms, as well as ticket vending machines, lifts, accessible toilets, retail space and access for pedestrians and cyclists from both sides of the railway.
It also aims to provide a biodiversity net gain of 10%, including solar photovoltaic panels to generate electricity at the station.
'Transformative' change
Mr Deaville said the changes that will come from the station will be "transformative".
"It's primarily built to serve the biomedical campus, providing additional connectivity and options to travel to the campus," he added.
"In terms of day-to-day life for the next year, it's business as usual, but once that station is open, it will open up a whole range of transport options for people travelling to the biomedical campus.
"It will hope to grow the economy, opening up an array of employment opportunities, helping the biomedical campus to grow and bringing in investment into the local economy."