Cambridge’s new train station will source 10% of its electricity from a 49kW solar array when it opens in May.
The £50 million Cambridge North station, which is being funded by the Department for Transport, will alleviate pressure on the existing city-centre station. Located in the suburb of Chesterton, within walking distance to Cambridge Science Park, the station is expected to handle 3,000 passenger journeys a day.
The 196 panel system is being installed on the pitched roof of the station’s cycle shelter.
Cambridge North will add additional transport links to London, Birmingham and Stansted Airport, with three platforms and parking for 450 cars and 1,000 bicycles. The station is part of a major Network Rail upgrade plan and is now 80% complete after progress over the Christmas period.
Helen Warnock, Network Rail’s area director for west Anglia, said: “We used the Christmas period to link the new tracks and signalling equipment to the existing infrastructure, which could only take place while the railway was closed. With only a few more months to go until opening, work is well under way to build a station that will provide an extra link to the north of the city and support the growth of the local economy as part of our Railway Upgrade Plan.”