Additional work to accommodate Double Deck vehicles under Hills Road on the Guided Busway

Dear Mr Hollinghurst

Re: Environmental Information Request ref 1519

Thank you for your email of 21 November 2011 in which you requested
information about additional work required on the railway signalling to
accommodate double deckers in the Hills Road area.

Your request will be dealt with in line with the Environmental
Information Regulations 2004. In accordance with the Regulations, the
Council aims to respond to all requests within 20 working days, in this
instance, by 19 December 2011.

If we require further information, clarification or a fee in order to
fulfil your request we will contact you again. Please quote the
reference number above in all future correspondence concerning this
request.

Yours sincerely,

Jo Withey
Information Governance Officer

RES1405
Shire Hall
Castle Hill
Cambridge
CB3 0AP

01223 729164

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Thank you for your request.

You asked the following:

In a recent newspaper report, Bob Menzies head of delivery for the
Guided Busway said that to accommodate double deck rather than single
deck buses under the Hills Road bridge "work would also have been needed
on railway signalling". Please could you provide a copy of the document
or report which describes this additional work on the railway
signalling.

The Cambridge Evening News shortened the statement issued by the
Council. The full statement was as follows:

Running single decker buses on the southern has always been part of the
Busway scheme and was set out clearly in the public consultation in 2003
and in the proposals subsequently presented to the Public Inquiry, when
there was the opportunity to raise comments about the scheme. The
southern section of the Busway has a number of bridges and the cost of
raising these to accommodate double deckers would have been very
significant and extremely disruptive. By limiting the southern section
to single decker buses, only minor repair work was necessary to Long
Road, Shelford Road and Hauxton Road Bridges. There is a high pressure
gas main under the Busway under the latter two bridges, just moving this
to lower the track would cost many millions of pounds assuming a route
could be agreed for it through the streets of Trumpington. At Hills Road
the new underpass is already lower than the adjacent railway tracks,
going any lower would require a major retaining structure to support the
railway line. The Busway also passes over all the signalling cables to
the railway signal box and a major water main before dropping under
Hills Road. Again these would need to be diverted to lower the Busway.
Therefore the additional works and massive costs could not be justified.
The Busway passes between the railway signal box and the railway. The
railway signal box is the brown building between Hills Road and the
busway in the attached photograph. All of the railway signalling cables
therefore pass under the busway to reach the railway. As the Busway was
built at ground level in a location previously occupied by railway
tracks it was possible to pass over the cables with minimal
interference. As no additional work was needed there is no report.
I hope this is helpful.
Bob Menzies
Head of Delivery Cambridgeshire Guided Busway

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The information in this email is confidential and may be legally privileged. It is intended solely for the addressee. If you receive this email by mistake please notify the sender and delete it immediately. Opinions expressed are those of the individual and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Cambridgeshire County Council. All sent and received email from Cambridgeshire County Council is automatically scanned for the presence of computer viruses and security issues.

Visit www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk