Fulbourn villagers oppose rail depot plans
A campaign has been initiated against the potential train care centre's impact on village life
Residents of Fulbourn are raising concerns over a proposed train cleaning depot that they fear will drastically alter the local landscape and disrupt village life.
East West Rail has earmarked a site near Fulbourn as the most probable location for the depot, as revealed in their consultation, which is open until 9th June.
The prospect of the depot has been met with opposition from local residents, including Sergio Alapont, a software engineer living in the nearby Farehurst Park estate.
He highlighted that the location is typically peaceful, offering serenity to its inhabitants, but now faces substantial changes.
“I definitely would have reconsidered this location – one of the key things about this development is it’s kind of in the middle of nowhere," Alapont said.
Inhabitants fear the impact on local habitats and wildlife, including deer, and are particularly concerned about the depot’s lighting and train traffic.
“They claim the actual traffic of the trains will be early in the morning and late at night because that will be when the trains leave and come back to the depot," Alapont added.
James Colyer has spearheaded the Save Fulbourn campaign alongside a group of residents.
Their petition has already attracted over a thousand signatures, calling for reconsideration of the depot location.
Colyer, who is affiliated with the Fulbourn Parish Council, noted the village's unsuitability for such a development, stating, “Once it’s there it will completely destroy and change the face of Fulbourn – the disruption to residents’ daily lives will forever change because of this.”
Concerns about light and noise pollution are at the forefront, given the depot's proposed round-the-clock operations.
Meanwhile, East West Rail maintains that Fulbourn remains a possible location for the depot, with Natalie Wheble, External Affairs Director at East West Railway Company, expressing: “East West Rail has identified Fulbourn as a potential location for the Cambridge Eastern Train Care Centre (TCC) following a detailed assessment of possible sites across the route.”
Nonetheless, Wheble indicated that the company is still reviewing whether alternative locations could fulfil operational needs, and are consulting on the plans with no decisions made.