Wisbech reopening
PASSENGER trains could return to Wisbech by 2028, if a planned £178.3 million reopening scheme is approved by Government.
That figure excludes optimum bias, risk and opportunity. Direct construction costs are predicted to be £94.6m.
The Full Business Case (FBC) for the project was approved by the Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Combined Authority Transport and Infrastructure Committee on July 8. It will now be presented to Government.
“Wisbech has massive potential. Reviving its connection to the rail network can unlock genuine value and opportunity for an area that badly needs it. ‘Levelling-up’ can’t be a reality until communities like Wisbech enjoy the same access to advantage that others enjoy,” said James Palmer, Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.
It’s planned that eventually two trains per hour will run between Wisbech and Cambridge. Serving Cambridge is viewed as critical for unlocking employment opportunities.
A study carried out for the Combined Authority by Mott MacDonald confirmed that the design was for a 60mph singletrack railway with a passing loop at Coldham (where there was once a station). This was based on using two-car Class 170s, although there will be provision for four-car trains. Exact rolling stock will be specified at a later design stage.
The line is 7.7 miles long from March East Junction to the proposed Wisbech station site, although 0.4 miles of the route are used for shunting trains serving Whitemoor Yard (March).
Infrastructure required for the project includes reinstating Platform 3 at March and a revised track layout at the station, along with nine new signals. The preferred option is a bi-directional platform connecting with the existing Up Main around the location of the existing March East Level Crossing. A new footbridge with lifts will also be required for accessibility.
Eight new signals are needed on the Wisbech line, while 22 level crossings should close with five highway diversion schemes included in the plans. One of these would be the A47 Wisbech bypass, which currently passes over the trackbed.
The planned single-platform station in Wisbech would be located immediately south of the
current Nestlé Purina site.
Key to the plans are additional paths through Ely North Junction via the Ely Area Capacity Enhancement scheme and recontrol of March’s infrastructure to Cambridge and approval of tight radius track curvature at March station. If Network Rail was to reject that then March station would require major changes, as would the track layout. This would incur extra project costs.
The Wisbech line opened in 1847 and was closed to passengers in 1968. The doubletrack railway was singled four years later. Freight services continued until around 2000, since when the line has been classified out of use.