Concerns that East West Rail’s approach to freight has the potential to impact the “health, well-being and quality of life” of Cambridge’s population have been raised by city council officers.
The officers explain their concern is due to “traffic, noise, vibration, air quality and emissions, light pollution, community severance, dust, odour, polluting water and/or hazardous waste”.
East West Rail consultation event, Comberton Village Hall. Picture: Keith Heppell
“EWR and the development of the corridor more generally will bring significant change to existing communities,” a report to councillors said.
EWR Co’s proposals include maintaining the current capacity for rail freight but also seek to make appropriate provision for anticipated future growth following a request from the Department for Transport.
“As part of this, the impact of any freight services on local communities will be assessed, managed and mitigated in the same way as passenger services would,” says EWR Co.
Within its proposals, and without additional investment beyond the project, East West Rail would allow for up to two new freight services per day in each direction from Felixstowe via Cambridge through to Oxford and beyond. It would also include up to two new freight services per day in each direction from Southampton via Oxford, Bletchley and onto the West Coast Main Line once the first phase of East West Rail is complete and up to 10 additional freight services per day in each direction between Oxford and Milton Keynes and beyond once East West Rail is fully operational.
The officer comments come in a draft response to the EWR consultation on its latest proposals, which ends on 24 January.
Councillors will discuss the draft at a meeting of Cambridge City Council’s planning and transport committee on Tuesday, 14 January, before deciding whether to include it in the authority’s formal consultation response.
The EWR project proposes to create a new rail link between Oxford and Cambridge, which includes the construction of a new railway between Bedford and Cambridge, including new stations at Tempsford in Bedfordshire and at Cambourne, plus works to upgrade the existing railway between Oxford and Bedford.
The Cambridge route section would be about five miles long and would extend from the Addenbrooke’s Road bridge over the existing West Anglia main line, north of Great Shelford, to the A14 bridge north of Cambridge North station, and to Yarrow Road in Cherry Hinton to the east of Cambridge, on the Newmarket line.
The proposals include the construction of two new tracks adjacent to the existing two-track West Anglia main line from the Addenbroke’s Road bridge joining the existing four tracks at the new Cambridge South station, before continuing into Cambridge station.
The work will require the reconstruction of the existing Long Road overbridge to accommodate the two new additional tracks required on the West Anglia main line. A diversion route would need to be in place for users of Long Road during the construction period.
East West Rail consultation event, Comberton Village Hall. Picture: Keith Heppell
There would also be enhancements at Cambridge station including a new platform, the extension of two existing platforms and new footbridges.
EWR Co is also planning to reconstruct two footbridges at Coldham’s Common and The Tins footpath to allow for electrification of the railway and the addition of a second track, and open space and common land may need to be used at Coldham’s Common, Stourbridge Common, Darien Meadow and Ditton Meadows.
The report continues: “The council is commenting on headline issues of concern at this stage – there is still a considerable amount of technical information that will be required to allow the council to produce the ‘Local Impact Report’ required by the Inspectorate from the council in due course.”
The draft raises concerns regarding potential impacts to Coldham’s Common County Wildlife Site due to the location of a turnback facility in Cherry Hinton, and Long Road County Wildlife Site due to the replacement bridge proposal at Long Road.
“The proposed works will pass adjacent to the Triangle north of Long Road County Wildlife Site, designated for a rare vascular plant Torilis arvensis. “Assessment of potential impact to the County Wildlife Site and its key features will need to be included within and analysis, and suitable mitigation provided,” the report says.
Officers also raise concerns about the location of a proposed construction compound at Coldhams Lane, which, the council says, is on or near “an active landfill site which we understand is licensed by the Environment Agency (EA) – there may be land stability and unintended groundwater contamination issues”.
Officers also warned about potential land take within the city, both during construction and operational phases.
“Further assessment [is] required on the potential noise and vibration impact of these new/additional sources of noise – both temporary (construction) and long-term (operational), including hours of use,” the report says.
It continues: “As identified in previous consultation responses, significant further work is still needed to understand the localised impacts of the scheme, the options for mitigation, their effectiveness and implementation including the sequencing with wider strategic infrastructure and development.
“The council will urge EWR Co to engage effectively with local communities to thoroughly test the options, to understand and explore their detailed concerns, to fully consider the issues being raised.”