Strengthening connectivity across the East of England with a new railway station

Delivering capacity on a corridor with no room to spare  

How do you successfully deliver a new station on one of the busiest lines in the country?  

The largely double-track main line already carried intensive intercity, commuter and freight services, leaving little tolerance for additional stops without impacting journey times and reliability. To complicate the challenge, early developer-led, budget-driven track and infrastructure layouts met basic operational requirements but introduced new problems. The initial two side loop schemes, which introduced two operational loops on either side of the main line to create four platforms, were technically workable but inefficient in land use and station size. Subsequent cost-reduction proposals failed when tested operationally, requiring the scheme to be rethought. 

Meanwhile, the area’s existing station in Chelmsford, a Victorian two-platform station, the busiest outside of Greater London, faced overcrowding and a lack of access. Chelmsford is also sited entirely on viaducts, so expanding the tracks there would have needed hugely intrusive, disruptive and expensive infrastructure work. 
 

What we did differently 

• Reframed the value case 
  This offered opportunities beyond transport. The team devised a new business case focused on unlocking homes and jobs, uplifting land value and earning wider economic and social benefits. This pivotal move qualified the project for central government support through the Housing Infrastructure Fund (HIF)and solved the key funding gap for the new layout. Secondary benefits were also quantified — relief of pedestrian crowding at Chelmsford, reduced road congestion as people no longer needed to drive to the city center station, and reliability improvements from the chosen track layout. 

• Designed a station the railway could reliably run 
  Through optioneering workshops in 2015, the earlier bay and siding concept, where terminating trains used a dead-end platform and adjacent stabling track, as swapped with an advanced three-platform layout with a central road. The design enabled overtaking and train regulation without degrading main line performance. The design was paired with a timetable pattern that balanced stop frequency with corridor journey time impacts. 

• Modeled demand and revenue with multiple tools for better decision-making 
  The team used a combination of modeling tools — including a Direct Demand Model, an industry-standard U.K. rail demand and revenue forecasting model, and trip-rate analysis — to forecast generated demand, station switching, parking revenue and any revenue impacts arising from additional dwell time, the scheduled pause that allows passenger boarding and alighting. By linking these outputs across the strategic, economic and operational cases, the approach provided a clear, end-to-end evidence base for appraisal and enabled more informed decision-making. 

• Structured delivery for speed and certainty 
  The project team supported Essex County Council’s decision to bring Network Rail in to lead delivery on a time-intensive program. The project initially progressed using the traditional Governance for Railway Investment Projects (GRIP) process which  limited flexibility. Once the Housing Infrastructure Fund (HIF) was awarded, Network Rail applied its flexible Project Acceleration in a Controlled Environment (PACE) approach and the U.K. Department for Transport’s Project SPEED (Swift, Pragmatic and Efficient Enhancement Delivery) principles, allowing design, assurance and approvals to run in parallel, reducing governance overheads and accelerating the station opening. 

• Solved the details that make projects stick 
  From meeting break-even clauses (contractual provisions requiring the project to cover its costs) with robust financial modeling to optimizing the car park size based on comparables, the integrated team kept the scope focused on outcomes, shaving risk without sacrificing user experience. 

How collaboration made the difference

This $235 million (£175 million) landmark project was a true team effort with Network Rail leading delivery and Chelmsford City Council as planning authority. Funding and development required contributions from Homes England’s Housing Infrastructure Fund, South East Local Enterprise Partnership, Countryside (part of Vistry Group) and L&Q. Jacobs has been a rail adviser to Essex County Council since 2015 through Ringway Jacobs. Our team advanced the project from feasibility to option selection, business case, design support and implementation, while facilitating deep stakeholder engagement. 

Political and community champions kept momentum high across the Great Eastern Main Line Task Force, and local politicians aligned attention and accountability with a transparent, data-driven program. 

Key outcomes and broader impacts 

• The station opened two months early and on budget thanks to funding certainty and scope discipline.  

• Reliability was built in from day one. The versatile three-platform and central road layout allows for overtakes and incident recovery on a busy, constrained corridor. It also allows the station to act as a temporary terminus during engineering work, with easy access to the A12 for rail replacement buses. 

• Chelmsford is now less congested. The new parking, bus and bike options at the city edge reduce pressure at Chelmsford’s city center station and on local roads. 

• The station offers customer-first, community-ready features: seamless multimodal integration (extended bus routes, improved walking and cycling links and generous cycle storage) and inclusive design. 

• Growth in North East Chelmsford is safeguarded. The station delivery removes the planning cap, enabling thousands of additional homes, including the Chelmsford Garden Community and supporting employment.