Work has begun on a new four-platform train station in Cambridge, UK, backed by £200m of funding from the UK Government. 

The new station at Cambridge Biomedical Campus, part of the proposed East-West rail route, has been designed to be fully accessible and will better connect the leading medical research and health science centre to the wider rail network in the UK. 

Rail Minister Huw Merriman said: “This brand-new station will not only benefit local passengers but deliver a major boost to the entire city, improving connectivity to a world-leading academic hub while unlocking local business and growth opportunities across the region.” 

Alongside supporting the long-term goal of improving access to the science centre and nearby local businesses, work to construct the station is also expected to directly create 300 new jobs in the Cambridge area. 

The Cambridge South station is expected to see 1.8 million passengers every year and is scheduled for completion by 2025. 

Kristin-Anne Rutter, executive director at Cambridge Biomedical Campus Limited, said she was delighted at the news of the building of the Cambridge South station, which will support the organisation’s sustainable campus goals. 

Rutter said: “This is a campus dedicated to improving human health, so anything that has the potential to cut air pollution and take pressure off our local roads is also very welcome. 

“Coupled with the recent approval of the East-West Rail route directly linking Oxford with the Cambridge Biomedical Campus, we believe we can create a successful yet sustainable health and life sciences cluster that can both grow the economy and save lives.” 

The East-West rail route is an ongoing project that will connect Oxford to Cambridge and many areas in between, including Milton Keynes, Bedford and Cambourne. 

Work on the route began in 2018 when the Department for Transport created the East West Railway Company to move forward with the route based on plans developed by the DfT, Network Rail and the East West Rail Alliance. 

The second phase of the project was approved by then Transport Secretary Grant Shapps in February 2020, with Network Rail's consultation on the Cambridge South station beginning shortly after ahead of the Transport and Works Act order for the station's construction being issued in December 2022.