Following funding approval, contractor J Murphy has started site compound and enabling works at the site located next to the Cambridge Biomedical Campus, home to the Royal Papworth Hospital and AstraZeneca headquarters.

A main contractor is set to be selected for the major station job next month.

The project, designed by Dentons and Mott MacDonald, will consist of a two-storey building and ticket office next to four platforms.

The station, which will be Cambridge’s third with its central station and Cambridge North, is expected to be open within two years and will sustain 300 jobs over the course of the build.

As well as acting as a key transport link between the biomedical campus and international gateways, such as Stanstead Airport and the Eurostar, the station will also support rapid growth in the area, which is expected to welcome 27,000 jobs and 4,000 new homes by 2031.

Associated plans to modify and enhance the rail infrastructure to support the new station include:

• remodelling of the existing track layout
• installing two additional track loops to accommodate a four-platform station
• enhancements to Shepreth branch junction
• modification to the railway on the southern approach to Cambridge station
• provision for overhead line electrification infrastructure and a substation
• modification of existing signalling equipment