Plans just announced by EWR to build a 24 hour train maintenance depot and train sidings in the village of Fulbourn, as it has not been well advertised and the consultation closes on 9th June.
It will involve a compulsory purchase of Green Belt land and will be constructed adjacent to the Fulbourn chalk springs (the ‘Poor Well’) and streams and adjacent to 3 sites of Special Scientific Interest.
6 trains will be cleaned overnight between 10.30pm-3.30am 7 days a week. Mostly internal cleaning but some external cleaning. There is no plan for where the water will come from for the external cleaning. The area is severely water depleted with the village chalk streams drying up for the last 3 summers.
Each train will have 5 toilets which will be emptied into septic tanks and the effluent collected by sludge trucks once a week. These sludge trucks will come via the Wilbrahams (as will all the construction traffic).
The chalk springs and streams that border the planned Fulbourn site risk being polluted by leaks from the depot. The Environmental Agency has documented many leaks from so-called ‘sealed’ cleaning and toilet management systems.
Fulbourn is also one of the only locations in the UK where swifts (a Red List species) nest) and the village has put huge efforts into putting up boxes and annual monitoring. They are likely to be disrupted by this development as it will be operational 10.30pm- 3.30pm and will have permanent night lighting. The sidings will be raised to the lighting will be very visible for a wide distance.
The site also borders a designated ancient monument and the village sits at the intersection of Fleam Dyke and the Icknield Way meaning there are likely to be other heritage assets as yet undocumented eg When the railway was built in mid-1840s a Roman villa was found but remains unexcavated.
The online website from EWR and the recent consultation indicate that an alternate site outside Foxton was also considered and was acknowledged by EWR to be a less sensitive site from a natural/heritage and social (fewer houses directly affected) perspective. It is also adjacent to a sewage works which would mean no need for storage and transportation of sewage.
The reason this alternative site was turned down was it would be further to roll empty trains to and from Cambridge station.
Once Green Belt and chalk streams are gone, they can never be restored. It’s time to mobilize our networks and fight this!
See more info about EWR’s plans, and respond to the consultation here: https://eastwestrail.co.uk/consultation/consultation2026
Sign the petition and get involved with the local campaign here https://save-fulbourn.netlify.app
Drop an email to earthfirst.uk@proton.me to link up with EF!ers who care deeply about this issue and want to take at a stand against it!!