Alconbury Weald - Potential new station

[Bringback309s]

Mayor pushes for new railway station to be built on development

The Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, Paul Bristow, has pushed for a new railway station at Alconbury Weald.

www.huntspost.co.uk

A "transformational" railway station could be built on a housing development after support from t the Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.

Paul Bristow visited Alconbury Weald, which will eventually deliver 6,500 new homes, to campaign for a new railway station on the site.
The Urban&Civic development has been identified as an Opportunity Zone in the Combined Authority's Local Plan - meaning it will bring investment into Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.

I think if he has ideas of spurs etc from the ECML he is in cloud cuckoo land. A simple two platform station could be built and also serve Abbots Ripton, but it would be quite a walk to the centre of Alconbury Weald. We do seem good at building houses a bit too far away from railway lines...

 

[zwk500]

Maybe this is how Huntingdon-Peterborough gets 4-tracked? Build a 2-track loop off the ECML at the A414 M) via Alconbury Weald, then following the A1(M) to Sawtry and Stilton before diving through Yaxley to rejoin near Fletton Jn. (We can dream...)

I agree a separate dedicated spur is a no-go, but that a 2-platform station on the slows might be possible, even if it needs Conington South - Huntingdon Up Slow to make it work.

 

[Farigiraf]

I think if he has ideas of spurs etc from the ECML he is in cloud cuckoo land. A simple two platform station could be built and also serve Abbots Ripton, but it would be quite a walk to the centre of Alconbury Weald. We do seem good at building houses a bit too far away from railway lines...

If a cookie-cutter station on the existing line has a far more likely chance of being built than a station combined a significant alteration of the track layout, then it would be a good candidate for the extension of the guided busway, connecting the village with the railway station and continuing on towards Huntingdon, St Ives and Cambridge. Has the added benefit of being a potential endpoint if the guided busway were to be converted to some form of light rail.

 

[Spekejunction]

The Mayor of Cambridgeshire and other mayors are good at spending other people’s money.
Time for the position of Mayor to go the way of Police Commissioners And remove a layer of local Government.
A new access road off the Huntingdon Bypass is being constructed cutting journey times to Huntingdon Station.

 

[D365]

A new access road off the Huntingdon Bypass is being constructed cutting journey times to Huntingdon Station.

Which access road is this? Are you referring to the A141?

 

[Brubulus]

Either you 4 track Holme Fen, or you build an expensive flying junction. 4 tracking Holme Fen would have wider benefits, and in conjunction with EWR, might be easier than sorting out Ely.

 

[D365]

Either you 4 track Holme Fen, or you build an expensive flying junction. 4 tracking Holme Fen would have wider benefits, and in conjunction with EWR, might be easier than sorting out Ely.

This is a serious tangent here… but could a flying junction and diversion of the slow lines (something akin to Northampton) open up the possibility of paired by use (DS-US-DF-UF) running north of Huntingdon?

By swapping Thameslink/Great Northern to Platforms 4/5, this programme of works would additionally solve the bottleneck of slow line trains crossing tracks on the south approach to Peterborough.

 

[Dr Hoo]

How would Alconbury Weald fit with Tempsford (on East-West Rail)? Can somebody clarify if Tempsford will have platform to interchange with the ECML?

Two additional stations would obviously have material effects on timetabling, journey times to/ from Peterborough in particular and turnaround times at Peterborough.

 

[Magdalia]

Mayor pushes for new railway station to be built on development

The Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, Paul Bristow, has pushed for a new railway station at Alconbury Weald.

www.huntspost.co.uk

A "transformational" railway station could be built on a housing development after support from t the Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.

Paul Bristow visited Alconbury Weald, which will eventually deliver 6,500 new homes, to campaign for a new railway station on the site.
The Urban&Civic development has been identified as an Opportunity Zone in the Combined Authority's Local Plan - meaning it will bring investment into Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.

I think if he has ideas of spurs etc from the ECML he is in cloud cuckoo land. A simple two platform station could be built and also serve Abbots Ripton, but it would be quite a walk to the centre of Alconbury Weald. We do seem good at building houses a bit too far away from railway lines...

This is a good summary. Alconbury Weald is where it is because it is an old RAF airfield. The relevant comparison is with Waterbeach, where development is also on an old RAF airfield, and where there will be a new 2 platform station, though without any track alterations. The difficulties with funding the Waterbeach station demonstrate the challenges that face the Alconbury Weald proposal.

As Alconbury Weald expands it will be towards the ECML, the eastern end of the runway was not far from the railway. The removal of the up slow line when the ECML was electrified is what prevents Alconbury Weald from getting a new 2 platform station, though without any track alterations, like at Waterbeach. The saga of reinstating the up slow line between Conington and Huntingdon is well covered elsewhere, here it is only necessary to say that it is expensive because all of Huntingdon-Conington would need to be rewired.

Superficially, diverting Thameslink into Alconbury Weald has its attractions, but the cost would be huge. It would require grade separation, and has the awkward obstacle that Thameslink have their carriage sidings and traincrew depot at Peterborough. And I doubt that the ECML operators would want to pick up the substantial Huntingdon-Peterborough flow.

Four tracks across Holme Fen is not going to happen either, if it was easy or cheap it would have happened decades ago. When getting out the crayons here it is also important to remember that Thameslink's new Spital sidings are on the up side of the line.

How would Alconbury Weald fit with Tempsford (on East-West Rail)? Can somebody clarify if Tempsford will have platform to interchange with the ECML?

Two additional stations would obviously have material effects on timetabling, journey times to/ from Peterborough in particular and turnaround times at Peterborough.

The comparison with East West Rail is important. Places like Alconbury Weald and Waterbeach are small beer compared to Tempsford and Cambourne, both of which could get to populations of more than 50k.

Tempsford will have interchange between ECML and EWR, but it could be a long walk. Station design isn't finalised yet, though the Chancellor's Oxford speech back in January did commit to the ECML platforms opening without having to wait for EWR.

The timetabling point is important too. It isn't just about turnround at Peterborough but also paths through the Thameslink core, Digswell Viaduct and Holme Fen.

 

[whoosh]

This won't happen. Hampton in Peterborough had a station earmarked for building later as the township grew*. That hasn't happened - a similar track layout to Cambridge South would be all that's needed there.

The best that can be hoped for at Alconbury Weald (6,500 homes vs 8000 at Hampton) is a light rail line into Huntingdon via the station there, and maybe past Hinchingbrook Hospital.

Guided bus maybe.

Or perhaps just a bus with slightly better seats and some 'branding'...



*Some friends of Mrs Whoosh and I were told by the estate agent selling them the new house they bought in Hampton in 2010 that not only was an imminent station going to be built, but that there would be direct Eurostars to Paris!!!
The North of London Eurostar dream hadn't yet died in that sales office!

 

[Magdalia]

This won't happen. Hampton in Peterborough had a station earmarked for building later as the township grew*. That hasn't happened - a similar track layout to Cambridge South would be all that's needed there.

Cambridge South has cost more than £200 million. That sort of money works when the station is next to workplaces with more than 20k employees and growing rapidly, with 3 employment generating construction projects on the go now.

Settlements of 6-8k houses are not going to have £200m spent on them, they need something that costs a similar amount to Waterbeach. Alterations to track and signalling take the costs out of reach for 6-8k settlements.

Guided bus maybe.

I doubt it. The Cambourne busway, that is currently going through a Transport and Works Act inquiry, also costs about £200m.

If bus franchising goes ahead that could give Alconbury Weald a decent bus service. One option would be to extend the existing Cambridge-Hinchingbrooke service.

 

[aron2smith]

The Mayor of Cambridgeshire and other mayors are good at spending other people’s money.
Time for the position of Mayor to go the way of Police Commissioners And remove a layer of local Government.
A new access road off the Huntingdon Bypass is being constructed cutting journey times to Huntingdon Station.

So how do cities and regions advocate for themselves then? England is too centralised and I would've thought the mayors existing would be a good thing. They need to be able to raise and keep their own funds for infrastructure though, of which Cambridgeshire is seriously lacking.

One thing against a station in this location is that it appears to be quite a way from where the houses exist and are going up, so would need a bus and cycling infrastructure anyway, too far to reasonably walk.