Published on: Wednesday, 16 September 2020
Last updated: Wednesday, 16 September 2020
A platform at Cambridge station is set to be made longer by 40 metres to allow Greater Anglia’s new long Bombardier commuter trains to call there.
The new trains will be longer than ever before, boasting more than 1,000 seats - this means that platform 4 at Cambridge station needs to be made longer to enable the trains to stop there safely.
The £4 million project, which is due to start in December and finish in May 2021, will see new equipment including public address speakers, CCTV cameras and lighting also installed.
The platform at Cambridge, which was the busiest station on the Greater Anglia network outside of London with 12 million customers a year before the Covid-19 pandemic, will remain open during the works.
Greater Anglia’s Franchise and Programme director, Ian McConnell, said: “This key work will enable our new Bombardier commuter trains to run on our route between London Liverpool Street and King’s Lynn, giving commuters all the mod-cons they’d expect from a train in the 21st century.”
Engineering firm Dyer and Butler has been awarded the contract to undertake the work and will work closely with the train company’s new trains project team throughout.
Paul Fennessy, Dyer & Butler Operations Manager, commented: “We are delighted to deliver these works at Cambridge Station on behalf of Network Rail. This project will provide improved accessibility and additional capacity for passengers visiting the station and supports Greater Anglia’s continued programme of investment in the railway in East Anglia.”
The new Bombardier commuter trains are all longer than the trains they are replacing, with more seats, air conditioning, fast free Wi-Fi, improved passenger information screens, better accessibility features and bicycle spaces on each train.
The trains will have underfloor heating – a first for UK trains – which will work with an overhead heating and ventilation system to improve passenger comfort and increase foot room for passengers sitting in window seats.
The trains are significantly lighter than previous trains and feature regenerative braking which delivers energy back into the electrical supply network, rather than wasting the energy, through heat, as is the case with conventional systems.
The first of the new Bombardier trains is due to enter passenger service on the Greater Anglia network later this year, with the roll-out expected to reach the West Anglia line in the second half of 2021.