Cambridge South new station opening

[neill]

Some local's noticed that Hobson's Park has lost its apostrophe on the internal signage

Oh no. (Edited above).

 

[rmHawk765]

I can’t say I’m a fan of the flag being plastered all over everything

It really isn't - most of the branding is the plain red and white colour scheme. Which, to be fair, I think does work really nicely with a unique and well-designed station like this, as it puts the focus on the architecture while still doing its job with zero issues.

 

[Clarence Yard]

I'm sure the late Colin Rosenstiel, a long-serving Liberal/Lib Dem councillor in Cambridge and a great railway enthusiast would have been pleased to see this development.
Incidentally, some of us can remember when the bus to the city centre waiting outside the station was an Eastern Counties half-cab Bristol... Route 101 I seem to recall.

Now there was a character. Colin was a very dedicated councillor and I remember one regional Lib Dem conference when (appearing as a fellow LD councillor - for Watford, not the Anglia new services man!) I gave him the quiet tip that Norwich-Cambridge was now a strong possibility, he nearly spilled his drink all over me!

Colin was very supportive with rail developments all over East Anglia and (perhaps) he will be looking down from somewhere on Cambridge South with quiet satisfaction.

 

[Magdalia]

AFAIR having island platforms would have required the outer tracks to spread wider apart and this would have involved more land take.

This is correct. Minimising land take was critical on both the Biomedical Campus and Hobson's Park sides.

Except the lovely four tracking and pairing will not be complete until they have replaced Long Road bridge.

Four tracks Shepreth Branch Jn-Cambridge (and replacing Long Road bridge) were part of the original Cambridge South proposals but were descoped to get the project over the line financially.

None of this solves the problem that traffic from KGX/STP into P7/P8 at CBG has to cross everything that uses P1...P4 somewhere.

There was a significant change here as part of the Cambridge South project.

Off peak this is no longer an issue. A key but little noticed feature of the Cambridge South project was a small modification to the track layout at Hills Road, so that down trains can arrive in platform 7 without conflicting with up trains departing from platform 8. Down trains use platforms 1 or 4, up trains mainly use platform 8, plus some in platform 7. The Thameslink Brighton trains use platform 7, in much the same way that Thameslink uses platform 2 at Luton or the St Albans turnback siding.

The current East West Rail proposals add a new platform 9 on what is now the up side (but may eventually be the Audley End side).

The peaks are a bit different, especially in the evening, when down terminating trains have to conflict with most up trains to get into the carriage sidings. To assist here, there was another change at the north end to reduce conflicting movements, implemented as part of the work done last Christmas. It is now possible for up trains to cross onto the down line at Coldham Lane, and run "bang road" into the north end bays, avoiding conflicts with empty trains from platforms 1 or 7 going to the carriage sidings. I wasn't aware of this until I did it on a train arriving from Ipswich recently.

 

[Netwrox]

Yes - I found that at least on platforms 2 and 3 the screens were showing the next but one train to arrive, not the next one.

Yeah, I noticed this. 15:27 to Brighton showing on platform 2 when the next one was 15:22 to Liverpool Street. Wanted to make sure the 15:22 was stopping at Shelford, so a bit annoying the detail wasn't available on the screen.

 

[jon0844]

Indeed, but I dread to think of what full-GBR branding would consist of - union jacks all over the canopy?

Just look at those 'Patriot Britain' social media accounts run out of India, Russia, Nigeria etc. That will give a hint of what stations could look like, and might even get to look like if Reform took power*.

* Alternatively, Reform will turn stations into coal powered power stations and rip up the tracks and put down tarmac.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 29 Jun 2026 ==

I had a good look around this afternoon. It's very impressive on the inside! The staff were kindly allowing visitors through the gateline to have a wander around. Plenty of families, railfans and 'influencers' about.

Here is a selection of photos showing GBR branding, posters, and the station signage. Some locals noticed that Hobson's Park has lost its apostrophe on the internal signage but it's there on the totems outside.

Thicker arrows, thin lines between different sections on a wayfinding sign.. they're finally starting to look like they've got someone who knows what they're doing.

Overall, I think the station looks great!

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 29 Jun 2026 ==

I should add RTT showed all the platform numbers in black of the services I witnessed this with, so they were eventually departing from booked platforms.

Order seemed to be:

- Train initially shown leaving from wrong platform
- A few minutes prior, corrects itself
- This is then announced as a platform alteration at the same time as the screens change yet again back to the originally shown wrong one.

The platform layout is what it is but this resulted in me going to the wrong platform, seeing the screens had gone blank and the train was now going from the "right" platform, then getting halfway up the stairs for a second time then having to run back when I realised I was in fact in the right place without needing to change yet again.

Without being at the station I can't see how it shows information or changes, or indeed what the original booked platforms are, but I can see right now that 2C services are on the outer platforms and 1T are on the inner/fast lines.

The routes seem to be set some considerable time in advance, so it should be possible to announce platform changes a long time in advance in both directions - rather than when a train passes signals 835 or 842.

Clearly at times due to various reasons, the signaller may route trains differently although I would think it not wise to swap just for operational convenience (such as a following train being cancelled, so the 2Cxx is just kept on the fast) as it obviously causes issues for people now needing to change platform - especially those with mobility issues, and - yes - those who have headphones on or aren't near the displays.

An example might be on an exceptionally hot day where it is decided to lock certain points, but then it should be easy to alter all the booked platforms and effectively lock out the unused platforms.

It's early days, obviously, but I do hope all of this was considered as people will soon start moaning if they miss trains - and it won't be good to have everyone staying upstairs and rushing down when the platform changes.

Edit: Actually, right now (1443) there's 1T34 on the fast and 2H32 waiting outside. Because of 1T34 the route for the rear train can't be set. So in this case, you wouldn't know where it is going to go until the front train has gone and the next signal clears (it is booked for platform 3 and did stop there). Yeah, this could be a problem at busy times or during disruption.

 

[RUK]

I do like the phone charging point, which is thoughtful to include, though it looks like there’s only one plug for 2 shelves (I guess the intention must be for just 1 phone on 1 shelf a time, at different heights, or someone having a charger with them which has multiple ports on it, and sharing it with someone else).

Did the contractor going bust mean that any of the design of the station had to be changed?

 

[neill]

I do like the phone charging point, though it looks like there’s only one plug for 2 shelves (I guess the intention must be for just 1 phone on 1 shelf a time, at different heights, or someone having a charger with them which has multiple ports on it, and sharing it with someone else).

Photo for reference of the charger. My assumption is that a double socket became a single socket with key switch somewhere in the design process.

 

[Magdalia]

The Cambridge University website has this on the new station:

Cambridge South train station opens

Making everyday life, travel and work easier while unlocking new opportunities for innovation and growth

www.cam.ac.uk

The opening of Cambridge South train station marks a major milestone for the Cambridge Biomedical Campus and the University of Cambridge. It places the University teaching hospitals and research institutes on every route between Cambridge and London and provides direct connections to over 60 destinations across the UK.

The new station will make it easier to attract and retain talent from across the UK and internationally. By enhancing connectivity, it will also make it easier for people from across the region to commute to Cambridge, enabling more people to take advantage of high quality jobs in the city.

Speeding up travel times to the Biomedical Campus makes it easier for visitors to travel to academic departments and industry partners, enhancing collaboration and reinforcing the region’s position as a leading centre for research, innovation and enterprise.

 

[Bikeman78]

This feels like one of those 'Railforums problems'. Yes, it's a bit of an issue, but not massive truth be told. The same issue arises at numerous stations all over the railway network for the same reason.

Unless there is a points or train failure, I don't see the point in doing a late notice platform swap at Cambridge South. I've witnessed it at Gatwick on the fast line platforms several times. It's not good. I've also witnessed the Redhill platform 0 scenario. Not good at all.

 

[jon0844]

Unless there is a points or train failure, I don't see the point in doing a late notice platform swap at Cambridge South. I've witnessed it at Gatwick on the fast line platforms several times. It's not good. I've also witnessed the Redhill platform 0 scenario. Not good at all.

One would hope there are just some issues with the booked platforms and what the signaller is working to (which is presumably automatic route setting). Hopefully just early teething issues.

Changing the platforms should be kept to a minimum. If there's disruption, screens could trigger messages to 'wait in hall' (so-to-speak) or advise of late alterations. Trains doing additional calls can sometimes be a problem, especially if a platform isn't allocated, but it seems that most trains will call there anyway.

 

[RUK]

The Cambridge University website has this on the new station:

Interesting to see the first person quoted refer to the first existing station as Cambridge Central. Reading the interviews and watching the video version, it struck me that it’s true in terms of convenience - I've moved away from Cambridge now, but I used to work in a lab which was based in the University’s Department of Medicine, which is in the main Addenbrooke’s building (the lab moved into the HLRI, right opposite where Cambridge South now is, right before I left), and for my research job, I’d sometimes have to go down to hospitals in London to collect patient blood samples and bring them up to Cambridge where we have the facilities to process them, because we found that even supposedly specialist medical sample couriers would mess the samples up, perhaps inadvertently, either through lack of training, or just from the vibration of the motorcycles that they used - the blood samples we needed needed not to be shaken, because that activates the platelets inside it, even if there’s an anti-coagulant in there to stop the blood from actually clotting, so it basically messes the signalling between the cells up, in terms of the white blood cells that we wanted from the blood. Or sometimes we found that since the blood samples had to be ready for the courier to pick up, which couldn’t be missed, it was taken hours before the pickup, which isn’t good for the sample. So it was better to send me who knows how to handle the samples properly down to London to bring them back up to Cambridge myself, before I processed them in Cambridge, or sometimes I took them from one London hospital which didn’t have the facilities, to another London hospital with labs which had the equipment I needed to process them, plus I can go early and wait there until the sample is taken to make sure it’s as fresh as possible when setting off, unlike a courier, who won’t wait. (I used to get funny looks from people on the Piccadilly line when I was gingerly holding a biohazard-labelled box in my hands throughout the journey from Russell Square for Great Ormond Street down to South Kensington for the NHLI, to dampen the vibrations, rather than just leaving it in my lap - people would ask about it, and would be surprised that I was carrying patient blood samples, but the Tube was quicker than waiting for taxis for me, since the blood collection time could be delayed, due to the patients, or due to other hospital circumstances).

That would have been much easier and quicker with Cambridge South, rather than me taking a taxi from Cambridge station back down to Addenbrooke’s, and the quicker you can start processing the blood after it’s been taken, the better. A shorter journey’s easier for me, as well - I used to live in Trumpington. Once, by chance, I had to show a courier around the Addenbrooke’s site in the early hours of the morning, when there wasn’t anyone to let them in, and he had some blood samples in a plastic bag with handles, which he was swinging as he walked, which might seem innocuous, if you don’t know/haven’t been told otherwise, but though they weren’t samples for me, I was screaming on the inside, and had to suggest to him that it wasn’t a good idea. But it made me realise that even supposedly specialist medical couriers must not be properly trained on all of the samples which they’re handling at all. I suppose it’ll make getting up to the Science Park from the Biomedical Campus easier as well, now that there’s Cambridge North as well, though I haven’t been up there.

 

[Elecman]

Photo for reference of the charger. My assumption is that a double socket became a single socket with key switch somewhere in the design process.

That looks more like a cleaners socket with a key operated on/off switch

 

[sharpener]

On a quick sample of a few up departures P1 and P2 do seem to be separated by destination.

And at least BBC Look East just now are not claiming there are trains to Manchester as they did yesterday!

I was impressed by the landscaping and particularly the almost mature ?oak trees on the approach, they must have been expensive. I hope someone is tasked with watering them over the summer...

Well done @mr_moo and the team.

 

[contrex]

Colin was very supportive with rail developments all over East Anglia and (perhaps) he will be looking down from somewhere on Cambridge South with quiet satisfaction.

He was a stalwart of the uk.railway Usenet group (which is still going strong).

 

[Mechy]

One would hope there are just some issues with the booked platforms and what the signaller is working to (which is presumably automatic route setting). Hopefully just early teething issues.

Changing the platforms should be kept to a minimum. If there's disruption, screens could trigger messages to 'wait in hall' (so-to-speak) or advise of late alterations. Trains doing additional calls can sometimes be a problem, especially if a platform isn't allocated, but it seems that most trains will call there anyway.

There is currently no ARS installed at Cambridge PSB. Cambridge South is controlled from one of the new Alstom workstations, but all route setting is done manually. This will however be added in the future.

With regard to the platforming it seems that there is an issue with the public information system. Looking at RTT a vast majority of trains are running as per their booked platform, however the information screens on site seem to be displaying incorrect information. There also seems to be an issue with auto reporting train arrival times, all arrivals are shown as “no report” which indicates there is something wrong with how the train describer berths are fed in to the systems that drive public information.

 

[Royston Vasey]

Interesting to see the first person quoted refer to the first existing station as Cambridge Central.

Firstly I think theyve got a bloody cheek crowing about new railway infrastructure having been obstructive to the Railways for two hundred years. It's their fault Cambridge station is anything but "Cambridge Central". I believe I am right in saying that they havent provided any of the funding for Cambridge South either, not directly at least.

They are currently raising objections to the route of East West Rail on the basis that it may interfere with the Mullard Radio Telescope near Harlton, which they were very keen to build on the site of Lord's Bridge Station on the old Varsity Line.

Secondly, most egregiously, someone at Cambridge University has seen fit to title an article "Cambridge South train station opens"

 

[RUK]

Firstly I think theyve got a bloody cheek crowing about new railway infrastructure having been obstructive to the Railways for two hundred years. It's their fault Cambridge station is anything but "Cambridge Central".

The Colleges, which own land in Cambridge and which objected to the original Cambridge railway station, are independent of the central University, and would have been more powerful back then, I imagine. They were concerned that their students would have easy access to London to visit there for reasons of gambling and procuring prostitutes, which they wanted to prevent. Back then, Downing College, the last of the old Colleges, (shown by its stone construction, in contrast to the brick construction of the newer Colleges), which is the closest College to the railway station in the City centre direction, would have been relatively new, and on the edge of the town centre.

The Biomedical Campus is firstly a NHS site, with 2 NHS trusts and currently 3 hospitals, which will be 5 hospitals in the future. Some of the research institutes are owned by charities. The researchers inside them may happen to be affiliated with the University, though technically the institute itself is not part of the University, such as with the MRC (Medical Research Council) and NIHR (National Institute for Health Research) ones. Some are private companies, such as Abcam, who make antibodies for research, founded by scientists from the University, and the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca. Some buildings are shared - within the HLRI, which is shared between staff from the University and Papworth Hospital, there is a “VAT gate”, because I believe VAT is either charged or not charged depending on whether certain supplies are for the NHS, or for the University.

 

[fat_boy_pete]

Speedy Fat Boy Pete

Long time since I was called speedy!

 

[neill]

Downing College, the last of the old Colleges, (shown by its stone construction, in contrast to the brick construction of the newer Colleges),

I'm not entirely sure that's accurate - at least one older college was extended and refurbished in brick prior to the founding of Downing in 1800. I fear this takes us away from railway matters though .

The Biomedical Campus is firstly a NHS site, with 2 NHS trusts and currently 3 hospitals, which will be 5 hospitals in the future. Some of the research institutes are owned by charities. The researchers inside them may happen to be affiliated with the University, though technically the institute itself is not part of the University, such as with the MRC (Medical Research Council) and NIHR (National Institute for Health Research) ones. Some are private companies, such as Abcam, who make antibodies for research, founded by scientists from the University, and the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca. Some buildings are shared - within the HLRI, which is shared between staff from the University and Papworth Hospital, there is a “VAT gate”, because I believe VAT is either charged or not charged depending on whether certain supplies are for the NHS, or for the University.

The exception being the recent (2019) Anne McLaren Building which I believe is a university building proper and not a NHS, Charity or Commercial facility.

 

[mr_moo]

On a quick sample of a few up departures P1 and P2 do seem to be separated by destination.

And at least BBC Look East just now are not claiming there are trains to Manchester as they did yesterday!

I was impressed by the landscaping and particularly the almost mature ?oak trees on the approach, they must have been expensive. I hope someone is tasked with watering them over the summer...

Well done @mr_moo and the team.

Thank you.

I'm not entirely sure that's accurate - at least one older college was extended and refurbished in brick prior to the founding of Downing in 1800. I fear this takes us away from railway matters though .

The exception being the recent (2019) Anne McLaren Building which I believe is a university building proper and not a NHS, Charity or Commercial facility.

Indeed - The university was our stakeholder for that building.

 

[neill]

A big thank you is indeed due to the whole team that worked on the station, @mr_moo included. Various friends/neighbours/colleagues who have visited the station or seen the news have been universally positive and/or jealous of our new local facility. Need to keep reminding them it's really for the biomedical campus and not for us locals .

My only minor nit-pick so far is the stairs on the west-side which I managed to stumble on. Where's the bottom step in this flight?

(picture shows a staircase where a expansion joint is located so as to appear like the bottom step)

 

[mr_moo]

ooh, that's a really good point and you are right - that will cause people to stumble. Worth mentioning to station staff and they will log it. If enough people log it they should try to do something about it.
Not sure there's much I can do now.

 

[plugwash]

That looks more like a cleaners socket with a key operated on/off switch

Yeah, for a phone charging point I'd expect a double socket with USB at the very minimum (and more commonly multiple such sockets)

Smells of a miscommunication somewhere about what should be fitted.

 

[59CosG95]

ooh, that's a really good point and you are right - that will cause people to stumble. Worth mentioning to station staff and they will log it. If enough people log it they should try to do something about it.
Not sure there's much I can do now.

I'd argue that the top and bottom nosings on the stairs need a colour change - bright yellow, perhaps?
We certainly had to add those on all the steps on footbridges and the link on the Northumberland Line job.

 

[Magdalia]

The Biomedical Campus is firstly a NHS site

In the sense that the NHS were there first, yes, with Addenbrookes opening in 1962 and the Rosie about 20 years later.

Some of the research institutes are owned by charities. The researchers inside them may happen to be affiliated with the University, though technically the institute itself is not part of the University, such as with the MRC (Medical Research Council) and NIHR (National Institute for Health Research) ones. Some are private companies, such as Abcam, who make antibodies for research, founded by scientists from the University, and the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca. Some buildings are shared - within the HLRI, which is shared between staff from the University and Papworth Hospital,

But the NHS has not driven the development of the Cambridge Biomedical Campus (CBC). That has been a private sector initiative, without which the hospital site would not have evolved into the biomedical campus. From a commercial perspective, the most important thing was bringing AstraZeneca to the CBC: like John Lewis in a shopping centre, AstraZeneca are the "anchor tenant" for the CBC, and AstraZeneca did contribute financially to Cambridge South.

In terms of financial investment in CBC, the involvement of the University and the colleges has not been significant. This is in complete contrast to the Science Park on the other side of the city, which was developed by Trinity College.

The University and the colleges don't have a big financial stake in the future development of CBC either, the phase 3 and phase 4 land is owned by Cambridgeshire County Council. Local government contributed financially to Cambridge South, through the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority and the Greater Cambridge Partnership.

 

[absolutelymilk]

Early days, but any comments on how widely used the station is? Does it seem like there are more people getting off in the morning than getting on?

 

[neill]

I have been past the last couple of days in the morning and there was a healthy stream of people exiting, but I would not call it crowded.

Not huge numbers heading to the station but I expect London commuters would be earlier.

Of course it is a site with 24/7 activity and shift work so the rush hour may be less pronounced than elsewhere.

 

[jon0844]

I popped up to take a look and noticed a lot of people do indeed stand upstairs looking at the screens, although I didn't experience any platform alterations myself.

It's a really, really nice station and the surrounding area is great too. I think a lot of people would love to work or study around there.

 

[saismee]

Does anyone have any pictures or measurements of the gatelines (are there two)? The only pictures I have seen so far only show one gateline with three standard gates and two wide-aisle gates, which seems woefully inadequate.