I presented these questions to the City Deal Board today. Supportive responses help to keep all three projects moving.

1. To complete the overall A10 cycle scheme the Melbourn-Royston segment needs funding. We know that this is a key micro-economic zone with a cluster of very significant employment centres. Strong localized Travel to Work flows have been identified with the help of Johnson Matthey and AstraZeneca. We are encouraged that the Cambs/Pet LEP is working on funding opportunities but this needs your continuing support including being open to part funding on the Cambridgeshire side.
(City Deal agreed to give full support to all efforts to find funding for the Melbourn-Royston path as they are committed to the overall Cambridge-Royston scheme)

2. Second, Foxton Level Crossing is becoming an ever increasing obstruction to mass transit along the A10 corridor including the new cycleway. Network Rail have shelved their feasibility study to close the crossing and build a bypass with bridge or underpass, which would have also created modern transport interchange features for Foxton Station. Sorting out Foxton Level Crossing is on the City Deal list of key components for unlocking sustainable transport potential along the A10 corridor. Can the City Deal take this back to the drawing board and explore new funding arrangements including taking on the road aspects of what is a road/rail project.
(Much discussion about Network Rail’s postponement of the project on the back of the Hendy Review but the need to find some way forward.)

3. Meldreth, Shepreth and Foxton stations are experiencing a 10% increase in footfall every year, and in 2018 train capacity will be quadrupled with the advent of a half-hourly off-peak service and 8-car trains. But there are no plans to upgrade these stations as transport interchanges to meet modern demand. Improving access to these stations is clearly set out in the Cambridge and South Cambs Transport Strategy, but we need the tools to make this happen.

Last spring the Meldreth, Shepreth and Foxton Community Rail Partnership, supported by the County and District Councils, Govia Thameslink and AstraZeneca, commissioned Railfuture to carry out an audit of all three stations. This has now been published and provides a comprehensive overview of needed work to modernize the stations. A next step that could unlock funding for station infrastructure improvement would be Station Travel Planning. I would like to ask City Deal if it could consider supporting this.

The CRP has approached parish councils for a contribution toward its work. Foxton and Meldreth have both committed funding and Melbourn and Shepreth are considering, so we are looking at a collaborative effort overall.
(City Deal agreed to contribute to the funding requirement for Station Travel Planning, but specified that they would not fund infrastructure improvement within curtilage of stations themselves as this is the responsibility of the rail industry.)

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