The Cambridgeshire Autonomous Metro(CAM) was a rapid transit proposal in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It suggested that the project would be delivered between 2023 and 2029. [1] Proposed by Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority mayor James Palmer in 2017, it was scrapped when he lost the 2021 election to Nik Johnson, who cancelled the project.
Cambridge had a tram system, Cambridge Street Tramways, between 1880 and 1914, after which it was replaced by buses. [2]
The mayor of the newly created Combined Authority made the introduction of a light rail scheme, partly running underground, a priority on his election in 2017; [3] however, the proposed system was intended to use rubber-tyred vehicles, not light rail. [4]
The strategic business case for the project was approved in March 2019. [5] It claimed that the project, priced at £4 billion, could lead to the creation of 100,000 jobs and 60,000 new homes. [6] One CAM Ltd was established in September 2020. The company is entirely owned by the Combined Authority and is responsible for developing and delivering the project. Its board is chaired by Robert Mair. [7]
In October 2020, it was announced that three shortlisted companies would each be given £200,000 to develop "creative and feasible" concepts for the system. [8] These were revealed in March 2021, created by Mott MacDonald, Egis Group, and Dromos Technologies. Each concept is said to cost £2 billion to implement. [9]
In March 2021, the Labour candidate in the Combined Authority said it had spent £2.5 million on the project so far. The Labour mayoral candidate Nik Johnson stated that he would scrap the project if he was elected. [10] Upon his successful election to the post he re-confirmed that the project was scrapped. [11]
Cambridge Metro | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The project was envisioned to connect Cambridge North railway station with the city centre, the northern entrance of the science park near Arbury, and the disused railway stations at Haverhill and Linton. The proposed scheme would have run for 88 miles and include 7 miles of tunnels beneath the city. [6] [12] Branches would run from the core to Alconbury, St Neots (potentially interchanging with East West Rail), Trumpington, Haverhill, Mildenhall and Waterbeach. [8]
In May 2020, a report was published which proposed halving costs from £4 billion to £2 billion by using smaller vehicles, allowing for narrower tunnels. [1]
In March 2021 three proposals were received for consideration. [13]
In May 2021 the newly elected mayor said he was focused instead on a "revamped bus network" but would not yet abandon the work done. [14]
In 2024, Cambridge Connect proposed repurposing the proposed metro route as a light railway, known as the Isaac Newton Line. [15] This would connect Haverhill and Linton with the guided busway station at Trumpington, the science park near Cambridge North, Addenbrookes Hospital, and a new station in Cambridge city centre. [16] Cambridge Connect are currently in discussion with the Labour party for a £5 million grant for a feasibility study. [17] [18] If approved, the line is expected to be completed by 2030 on a budget of £700 million. [19] [20]
The Wisbech and March line is a railway line between March and Wisbech in Cambridgeshire, England. A number of proposals are currently being investigated relating to the possible restoration of passenger services along the route.
CapMetro Rail is a hybrid rail system that serves the Greater Austin area in Texas and is owned by CapMetro, Austin's primary public transportation provider. The Red Line is CapMetro's first and currently only rail line, and connects Downtown Austin with Austin's northwestern suburbs. The line operates on 32 miles (51 km) of existing freight tracks, and serves 10 stations. After a series of delays, CapMetro Rail was inaugurated in March 2010. CapMetro added Friday evening and Saturday afternoon and evening regularly scheduled service on March 23, 2012. In 2023, the line had a ridership of 485,400, or about 1,800 per weekday as of the first quarter of 2024.
The Glasgow Airport Rail Link (GARL) is a proposed link between Glasgow City Centre and Glasgow Airport. The original plans for an airport rail link were proposed during the 2000s to directly link Glasgow Central station with Glasgow Airport in Scotland. The link was intended for completion by 2013 and would have had a service of four trains per hour via Paisley Gilmour Street railway station.
The Cambridgeshire Guided Busway is a guided busway that connects Cambridge, Huntingdon and St Ives in Cambridgeshire, England. It is the longest guided busway in the world, surpassing the O-Bahn Busway in Adelaide, South Australia.
Linton railway station was a railway station in Linton, Cambridgeshire on the Stour Valley Railway. It closed in 1967. The station house is H-shaped and made of tan colour brick. It is still standing, as well as the platform and sunken trackbed space at the back of the building.
Chandigarh Metro is an approved rapid transit system to serve the Chandigarh Capital Region, which includes Chandigarh and adjacent areas in Punjab and Haryana states of India. In Phase-1, to be progressively built and operationalised between 2027 and 2034, 3 lines will connect tri-cities of Chandigarh, Mohali in Punjab and Panchkula in Haryana. Phase-2, to be constructed after 2034, will connect Pinjore in Haryana and further expand the network in Mohali with 2 more lines. The project, which was initially scrapped in 2017 due to low financial viability, was approved in March 2023 and received formal clearance in July 2024 from the governments of Punjab and Haryana after a Detailed Project Report (DPR) was created.
Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about 50 miles (80 km) north of London. Its main transport links are the M11 road to London, the A14 east–west road and the West Anglia Main Line railway line to London.
Kozhikode Light Metro is a proposed Light Metro system for the city of Kozhikode (Calicut), in India. In 2010, the State government explored the possibility of implementing a metro rail project for Kozhikode city and its suburbs. The proposal was to have a corridor connecting Meenchanda to the Kozhikode Medical College Hospital through the heart of the city. An inception report was submitted by a Bangalore-based consultant, Wilber Smith, on the detailed feasibility study on the prospect of implementing the Mass Rapid Transport System (MRTS) and Light Rail Transit System (LRTS) in the city. However, the project has been scrapped to be replaced by Kozhikode Monorail project.
Between 2015 and 2023, Auckland, New Zealand's largest city, considered introducing light rail lines to replace some of its most heavily used bus routes. Many of these new light rail lines would have reused the routes of Auckland's former tram system. Light rail systems have been proposed in Auckland throughout the late-20th and early 21st centuries following the closure of the tram system in the 1950s.
The O-Train is a light rail rapid transit system in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, operated by OC Transpo. The system consists of two lines: the electrically-operated Confederation Line, running east to west, and the diesel-operated Trillium Line, running north to south. Both lines are currently being extended as part of the Stage 2 project, with new segments being phased in between 2024 and 2027.
The Surrey Light Rail system was a planned 10.5-kilometre (6.5 mi) network in Surrey, British Columbia containing one light rail line radiating from the Surrey Central SkyTrain station and transit hub. First proposed in 2012 by Surrey mayor Dianne Watts, construction on the project was planned to start in 2019 with an opening date set for 2024. At the inauguration of the new Surrey City Council on November 5, 2018, and after a change of municipal leadership, the newly installed council unanimously voted to "indefinitely suspend" the project in favour of an extension of the SkyTrain Expo Line to Langley Centre.
James Palmer is a former politician who was the first Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough between 2017 and 2021. As a councillor, he was previously leader of East Cambridgeshire District Council between May 2013 and May 2017. He was also a county councillor for the Soham and Fordham Villages electoral division of Cambridgeshire County Council between 2009 and 2017. Palmer was elected as the Conservative candidate on 4 May, 2017, however lost the subsequent 6 May 2021 election to Labour Party candidate Nik Johnson and announced his retirement from politics.
Cambridge South railway station is a railway station that is under construction. Located in southern Cambridge, it is planned to serve the Cambridge Biomedical Campus and the adjacent suburb of Trumpington. The station will be on the Cambridge line and the West Anglia Main Line, and is scheduled to open in 2025.
The North Wales Metro is a rail and bus transport improvement programme in north Wales. Styled as a "Metro", it is conceptually a multi-modal system with a combination of bus, heavy rail, and light rail services. It was initially focused on linking major settlements and employment areas of the north-east of Wales with the North West of England, with its hubs located in Wrexham, Chester and Deeside, although the programme has since expanded, with proposals extending to Anglesey in the north-west of Wales. The existing Borderlands line forms a core rail component of the network, where projects to increase connections, integrated access, and service frequency between Wrexham, Deeside and Liverpool are centred upon. The proposals were put forward in 2016 as is part of Welsh Labour's plan for north Wales. Labour has pledged to open the system by 2035. The proposals were included in the 2018 Wales & Borders franchise contest. It is the second of the three regional metros proposed by the Welsh Government to go ahead, after the South Wales Metro, and before the Swansea Bay and West Wales Metro. The project is described to be in its initial phases.
Brisbane Metro is a planned high-frequency bus rapid transit system that will service Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It will consist of two routes that will run through the Brisbane central business district (CBD) every five minutes during peak times (12bph), transporting up to 1,800 passengers per hour in each direction. Services are expected to commence in 21st October 2024.
Nik Johnson is a British Labour Co-op politician and paediatrician who has served as the mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough since 2021.
Coventry Very Light Rail (CVLR) is a light rail/tram system proposed to operate in Coventry. The system has been promoted as being the first of its kind in the United Kingdom. When finished, it will also be the first tram network to operate in Coventry since the Second World War.
Urban rail transit in Canada encompasses a broad range of rail mass transit systems, including commuter rail, rapid transit, light rail, and streetcar systems.
The 2021 Cambridgeshire and Peterborough mayoral election was held on 6 May 2021 to elect the mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.
The Chisholm Trail is a walking and cycling route in Cambridge, England. It will link Addenbrooke's Hospital and the Biomedical Campus in the south to Cambridge North railway station and the business and science parks. It will also connect with the Guided Busway and the National Cycle Network. Once completed, the trail will provide a 26 kilometre route from Trumpington to St Ives. The route follows current and former rail infrastructure and largely avoids conflicts with car traffic. It includes the new Abbey Chesterton bridge for bicycles and pedestrians across the River Cam, installed in November 2020.
