Issues with Live Track Diagrams following Cambridge re-signalling

[Intercity_225]

Hello! The live track diagram maps for the area around Cambridge seems to be having issues with showing the points and signals.

Live map of Letchworth to Kings Lynn

See trains move in real-time on our live map of Letchworth to Kings Lynn

www.opentraintimes.com

Signal Maps

View live signal maps for train lines across the UK

signalmaps.co.uk

Does anyone know why?

 

[Tom]

It was resignalled over Christmas and it's likely those websites haven't caught up with the new signalling arrangements yet.

(Not that it's very easy when Network Rail don't give out the relevant necessary files to make it easy to all and sundry for various reasons.)

 

[Magdalia]

Cambridge area resignalling is going on as I write, there were many Tango Men at work around the south end of Cambridge station earlier today.

The lines are closed until 5 January see here:

Christmas engineering work across London and Cambridgeshire will help deliver more benefits for passengers

Passengers using rail services across London and Cambridgeshire are being reminded to check before travelling this Christmas for planned engineering work taking place which may affect rail journeys.

www.networkrailmediacentre.co.uk

Cambridge area engineering work - Thursday 25 December to Sunday 4 January 2026

From Christmas Day, major engineering work is taking place on the railway in the Cambridge area for up to 11 days. This is to deliver the second stage of the signalling renewal programme of the Cambridge area.

The Cambridge Re-signalling project has been installing new equipment across the area to modernise the signalling system. Following the successful delivery of the first stage of this complex work last Christmas, signalling engineers for Alstom will introduce a new control system to operate the signals for the section of railway between Cambridge North and Audley End. A new digital workstation at the Cambridge signalling centre will replace the 40-year-old signalling panel allowing signallers to oversee the operation of the network more efficiently. This work is also vital to allow the new station at Cambridge South to open in 2026.

As far as I can tell the Open Train Times Map is still showing the old track and signals as applied up to 24 December.

Signal Maps has the track changes, including the loop lines for the 4 platform layout at Cambridge South, but I can't see that it has the new signals yet. That's not surprising, the new signals haven't been commissioned yet.

 

[Freightmaster]

Hello! The live track diagram maps for the area around Cambridge seems to be having issues with showing the points and signals

Does anyone know why?

As Magdalia explained, the new signalling between Cambridge and Shepreth Branch Junction will
not be operational for another nine days, so there is no/incomplete data coming through the data
feeds at the moment.

I have exactly the same issue with my own map of the Cambridge area, which I will be updating
on the evening of Sunday January 4th and checking/tweaking as trains start running from 4am
on Monday the 5th, but as Tom points out, Network Rail have recently clamped down heavily on
people publishing 'sensitive' data to do with signal aspects, so they will initially not be available
unless/until people can work them out by trial and error!


MARK

 

[Magdalia]

I cycled along the path next to the busway again this morning. The Tango Men have been busy. Between Hills Road and Long Road bridges all of the signals are now installed and lit.

A key development is that there are now two signal berths on the down roads approaching Cambridge. The old CA147 and CA149 are replaced by CA853 and CA855, a bit nearer to Hills Road, but there are also CA849 and CA851 about halfway along what I still call the down goods loop, near to Clare College Sports Ground. The up road also has two signals between Hills Road and Long Road, each with a banner repeater, but I couldn't see the numbers for those.

Today the Tango Men were doing the signals at the end of platforms 2 and 3 at Cambridge station.

 

[Obar123]

Same happened with the maps last year when the Ely panel was changed over. It took a couple of days for the maps to show the correct data.

 

[Freightmaster]

Same happened with the maps last year when the Ely panel was changed over. It took a couple of days for the maps to show the correct data.

Tell me about it!

The good news is that after spending all day working on it, I've managed to get the signal aspects
for the entire Cambridge North to Kings Lynn section working again on the Railcam and Freightmaster
maps (both websites share the same raw data).

As mentioned above, I'm planning to do the same for the signals in the Cambridge/Cambridge South/
Shepreth Branch Junction areas next Monday, which will probably require a significant amount of work
to decode...



MARK

 

[Magdalia]

Today I have cycled along the DNA path next to the line between the Biomedical Campus and Shelford.

The points at the south end of the new station I think are now fully installed, though it is difficult to tell because they are partially under Addenbrookes Road bridge. There was some drainage work going on on the down side.

On the down road there is still a signal between Shelford station and Granhams Road crossing, but I think it has been moved a bit northwards, and is now near where Chaston Road turns into the DNA path. About 10 yards further north and I could have told you its number! There are then signals near to the old junction, just north of the blue footbridge, CA831 on the line from Foxton and CA833 on the line from Shelford. CA831 has a banner repeater on the curve, CA833 also has a right feather to permit down direction running on the up road between Shepreth Branch Junction and Cambridge South, but only from Shelford not Foxton. The next down facing signals are near the bridge over the Nine Wells Stream, CA835 on the down line and CA837 on the up line. CA835 has a left feather and CA837 has a right feather for going into the back platforms at Cambridge South.

On the up road the junction signal, with a right feather for Foxton, is now CA830, and there is an adjacent up facing signal on the down road which is CA832. This will permit up direction running on the down road between Cambridge South and Shepreth Branch Junction, but only to Foxton not Shelford. The Shelford line has another up signal which is almost under the blue footbridge. This has a blank black plate with CA102 written on it possibly with chalk! This appears to be in sequence with the existing up line signal between Granhams Road and Shelford station, and this is possibly still CA100 as before.

The bidirectional running between Shepreth Branch Junction and Cambridge South I think means that all 4 platforms will need signals at both ends, though I can't find good sightlines to confirm this.

I also think this means that Shelford-Cambridge now has 7 signal berths in each direction instead of 5.

 

[Class 170101]

The bidirectional running between Shepreth Branch Junction and Cambridge South I think means that all 4 platforms will need signals at both ends, though I can't find good sightlines to confirm this.

Two will be fixed reds at the north end of the Up Lines as Bi-Directional running ends at Cambridge South.

 

[Magdalia]

BBC has a report on the resignalling here.

Railway signal system for Cambridge gets upgrade after 40 years

It is part of a £200m project to renew the signalling system, adding Cambridge South station.

www.bbc.co.uk

A signalling system has undergone a major upgrade after 40 years to incorporate additions to a city's railway network.

The system, at the signal box located at Cambridge station, was replaced as part of the city's Re-signalling, Relock & Recontrol (C3R) programme.

It was the second phase of a £200m project to renew the county's signalling system, adding Cambridge South station, which Network Rail said would improve efficiency and reliability for passengers and freight users.

On the up road the junction signal, with a right feather for Foxton, is now CA830, and there is an adjacent up facing signal on the down road which is CA832. This will permit up direction running on the down road between Cambridge South and Shepreth Branch Junction, but only to Foxton not Shelford. The Shelford line has another up signal which is almost under the blue footbridge. This has a blank black plate with CA102 written on it possibly with chalk! This appears to be in sequence with the existing up line signal between Granhams Road and Shelford station, and this is possibly still CA100 as before.

The bidirectional running between Shepreth Branch Junction and Cambridge South I think means that all 4 platforms will need signals at both ends, though I can't find good sightlines to confirm this.

I found a sight line to identify the signal numbers at the south end of platforms 1 and 2 at Cambridge South, these are CA834 and CA836.

The signal under the blue footbridge now has a proper CA102 black plate.

 

[CarrotPie]

Network Rail have recently clamped down heavily on people publishing 'sensitive' data to do with signal aspects

Eh? How? Why? If the data is still available but only through trial and error then it doesn't sound like they've done a very good job of "clamping down" on it...

 

[Freightmaster]

Eh? How? Why? If the data is still available but only through trial and error then it doesn't sound like they've done a very good job of "clamping down" on it...

The actual 'real time' signalling data coming through the feeds is not being restricted or redacted in any way.

The only thing that Network Rail are unhappy with, for reasons that nobody can get them to justify,
is people publishing instructions for the interpretation of the data (i.e. which 'bits' apply to specific signals,
track circuits or level crossings).

It's extremely bizarre that Network Rail go to the trouble of making all this so called "open data" available
to developers, but then threaten those same developers with dire consequences when they try to use it!



MARK