Since 2011, the population of Cambridge has increased by almost 20% to around 150,000 people. If population growth continues on the current trajectory, Cambridge will have surpassed 200,000 people by 2040. This will put immense pressure on the city’s infrastructure, not least a transport system barely capable of meeting current needs. Cambridge itself has been relying solely on busses for public transport within the city for almost a century but it is highly unlikely that they will be able to handle such growth. There is a strong consensus among most within Cambridge as demonstrated by numerous consultations that there is a chronic congestion problem; exactly what our public transport system is meant to be reducing. Without an urgent rethink of transport strategy in Cambridge, mobility in and around the city will become increasingly difficult.

Cambridge heavily relies on people commuting from various satellite towns to supplement its growing workforce but, with the exception of a handful of towns with a rail link, they all rely on road transport into the city. Without urgent investment, this will not be sustainable as labour demand grows. This was understood back in 2001 when the guided busway between Cambridge and St Ives was proposed. Having been in operation for over 10 years it has resulted in no major reductions in road traffic between the two destinations. Despite this, there are proposals to build two more. It is clear that more busways will not be the radical solution that Cambridge requires so why so much time is being spent on designing proposals is anyone’s guess.

In 2017, following the election of CPCA mayor James Palmer, the Cambridge Autonomous Metro was proposed. Similar to the busways, it was a system based on technology used in only a few places in the world. Despite this, it was selected as the main transport project for Cambridge and £2.5 million was spent on developing the proposals, estimating the total project cost to be around £4 billion. It soon became apparent that it was not going to work, providing nowhere near sufficient capacity. following the election in 2021 of CPCA mayor Nick Johnson, the scheme was promptly scrapped. This begs the question; Why not select a technology proven to encourage significant modal shift, provide future-proofed capacity and deliver large economic benefits?

In cities across Europe, ranging in size from 100,000 to over 5 million residents, light rail (trams/metros) is the default transport solution. It has the potential to revolutionize a city’s transportation. It can achieve unrivalled reliability and has the capacity to move up to 10,000 people per hour per direction. Light rail systems have proven immensely successful in cities throughout mainland Europe with around 20 cities equitably sized to Cambridge enjoying the benefits of a light rail system In France alone. Even in the United Kingdom there are 7 cities with light rail systems with almost all looking to expand their systems in the future. So what would a light rail system in Cambridge look like?

Cambridge Connect, a local group established to create a system capable of solving the transport challenges faced by Cambridge, created a light rail strategy plan in 2021 to submit to the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority. It proposes two light rail lines that partially make use of existing heavy rail infrastructure. The proposal itself is similar to many of the European systems serving cities of an equitable size. According to Cambridge Connect, it would cost around £1.5 billion, similar to the amount spent on the recent upgrades to the A14 on the outskirts of Cambridge. It would provide a desperately needed link to Cambridge for Haverhill, Linton and Cambourne, making use of a disused railway line to link the former two. A tunnel and two underground stations would be constructed through the centre of Cambridge to avoid the many historic buildings and narrow streets.

Whether or not the scheme would be as effective as Cambridge Connect promises for it to be, something need to be done to address Cambridge’s transportation crisis. Opting for an approach that has a track record of providing excellent mobility to residents within cities the size of Cambridge would probably be a good place to start.