A NEW train station, which could �provide St Ives commuters with an alternative route into London, should be open in 2015.

Cambridgeshire County Council has been given Government approval for a �station at Chesterton to be called �Cambridge Science Park.

St Ives will be linked to the station via the guided bus, which will be extended, and a stop created at the station, which will include services into London on the Cambridge-King’s Lynn line.

Buses from St Ives will take about 25 minutes to get to the new station where there will be a choice of three trains an hour to either King’s Cross or Liverpool Street – journeys expected to be 11 minutes shorter than commuters using the station at Huntingdon.

CCC, as previously reported in The Hunts Post, is likely to foot the �26million cost of building the station, but it expects to regain the investment via the franchise running the services.

A county council spokesman said: “As part of the station plans we will extend the busway to the Cambridge Science Park rail station, either extending the busway or just having a dedicated road just for buses.

“It will mean quicker journeys from St Ives to London as the buses will go straight to the station and cut out the traffic through town.”

Rail Minister Theresa Villiers said: “We welcome councils looking at innovative ways of bringing transport improvements to their local area and look forward to working with Cambridgeshire County Council on moving this project forward.”

A spokesman for CAST:IRON added: “We are happy with any expansion to the railway network, but it is somewhat disingenuous to call this station “Cambridge Science Park”.

“Its prior name of Chesterton Parkway was more honest about its location and likely use, it is too far from Milton Road to easily serve the houses and commuters in the north of Cambridge.

“It remains to be seen how well bus services will serve the new station as its location is not (and cannot be) convenient for the route of any through bus services, guided or otherwise.

“Had the railway to St. Ives been reinstated, there would have been a direct service to London from all stations on the route to St. Ives without requiring a shift from bus to rail or vice versa. The cross-Cambridge transit time would have been a fraction of the current guided bus service.”