Design, engineering and consultancy firm Arcadis has announced the completion of Cambridge South Station, which it says is a “landmark net zero carbon railway station”.

The new site will serves the Cambridge Biomedical Campus and the city’s rapidly growing southern fringe. Backed by £250m of government funding, the new station is expected to welcome around 1.8million passengers a year, with up to nine trains an hour connecting passengers to Cambridge city centre and beyond.

Cambridge is one of the UK’s fastest-growing cities, with the Biomedical Campus alone expected to support 27,000 jobs by 2031 and the city’s southern fringe set to see the addition of approximately 4,000 new homes over the same period.

The project included a new four-platform station, with associated buildings, canopies, public realm and more than 3.5 km of track infrastructure adjustments, including junction remodelling.

A total of 5.4 acres of arable land was also purchased to expand Hobson's Park reserve and deliver significant additional environmental benefits. The green roof of the station buildings slows the flow of rainwater during extreme weather events while providing habitat for insects and flowers.

The wildflower meadows created around the station include native broadleaf trees, shrubs, hedgerows and grassland to further support biodiversity, help address climate change impacts and provide a valuable community asset. The scheme’s sustainable drainage solution includes a stormwater basin, which provides habitat for endangered species such as water voles.

Originally appointed by Network Rail and later working collaboratively with Network Rail’s contracting partner J Murphy & Sons, Arcadis delivered multi-disciplinary services for the project, including design and engineering, project and commercial management, town planning, environmental and heritage services.

Mike Gardner, stations design director and UK head of stations at Arcadis, said: “Cambridge South Station is a true exemplar of how infrastructure can be designed to deliver for people, place and planet. By putting sustainability, biodiversity and community integration at the heart of every decision, we’ve created more than just a station – we’ve delivered a gateway that will support Cambridge’s growth, improve quality of life and set a new benchmark for stations in the UK.

“This project is a testament to the power of close collaboration, technical excellence and a shared vision for the future of stations.”