Consultation On The Cambridge Autonomous Metro
Issue 900 of Rail Magazine has an article called Have Your Say On Plans For Cambridge Metro Network.
These are the introductory paragraphs.
The Cambridge and Peterborough Combined Authority has launched a public consultation into outline plans for the Cambridge Autonomous Metro (CAM)
Under current proposals the CAM network would comprise a tunnelled section beneath Cambridge city centre, and four regional routes, radiating out towards St. Neots, Alconbury, Mildenhall and Haverhill.
This is a map clipped from the proposals.
Note.
Sections shown in green are tunnelled.
Sections shown in blue are on the surface.
Some sections would appear to reuse parts of the Cambridgeshire Guided Busway.
These are a few of my thoughts.
Rolling Stock
This picture from the consultation, shows possible rolling stock.
It could be a version of Van Hool’s ExquiCity BRT tram-bus, which is used is Belfast, Geneva, Metz and Parma – To name just four!
A hydrogen-powered version has also recently been introduced in Pau in France.
Could this be the version, that will be preferred for Cambridge?
- It would be carbon and pollution free.
- It could use exclusively green hydrogen, created from renewable electricity. Pau uses a hydrogen-generation system from ITM Power.
- Would hydrogen-power encourage passengers to use the system?
- It might borrow ideas from the Glider system in Belfast, which is diesel-electric powered.
- Each Belfast Glider vehicle can hold 105 passengers.
A hydrogen-powered system would surely be ideal for working in the tunnels under Cambridge.
Tunnels
This article on the BBC is entitled Cambridge Metro: Engineer Says Underground Will Work.
In the article, Professor John Miles of Cambridge University says.
Britain was a world leader in boring small tunnels
It will be tight in the cramped city, but it should be possible.
Conclusion
Oxford will want one!
The Anonymous Widower 
Either they should build big enough to allow some amount of cross running with Varsity Line (Tram-trains) or go small to reduce tunneling cost (Glasgow metro sized small, for future joint train purchasing, or use smaller “Morgantown” type autonomous pods across the network).
Comment by MilesT | March 10, 2020 |
[…] have also been rumours, that the station could be connected to the Cambridge Autonomous Metro, which would be developed from the Cambridgeshire Guided Busway and the […]
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[…] Cambridge also has ambitions to extend the Cambridgeshire Guided Busway to Hauxton and create the Cambridge Autonomous Metro, which I wrote about in Consultation On The Cambridge Autonomous Metro. […]
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