Brand new £10million UK train station to open on ex-RAF base next to nuclear bunker under plans
PLANS to build a new railway station and more than 1,000 homes on the site of an apocalyptic bunker have been unveiled.
The proposals include building a range of affordable housing, shops, a secondary school, health centre and train station on the site of a former RAF base.
Part of a large housing development at Alconbury Weald in Huntingdonshire, the new community will sit on top of a sprawling nuclear bunker, built in 1988.
RAF Alconbury was an active airbase from 1938 up to 1995, surviving attacks from Luftwaffe during World War Two.
The construction of the bunker began in the 1980s with the site “designed to withstand a direct nuclear attack”.
Sitting on a bed of gravel, the bunker is made of steel and reinforced concrete – costing £50 million to construct.
One purpose of the site was to secretly analyse data collected by spy planes during the Cold War.
Blast-proof guillotine doors divide a number of corridors inside, and further underground is a power plant and communications hub with an entire wall filled with buttons and dials.
Already 6,000 new build homes now surround the former military base and bunker after a major development which saw the first residents set up home in 2020.
The developer, Urban&Civic, now plan to expand the Cambridgeshire by building more houses and new railway station, which has been backed by Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.
Mike Jenner, Development Manager from Urban&Civic, said: “Phase 4 has an important role to play in the delivery of Alconbury Weald, connecting green spaces and key infrastructure.
“The design of Phase 4 ensures walking, cycling and public transport links connect to the wider site seamlessly, and supports the aspirations of our local transport partners to progress a rail station, which will benefit many.”
In homage to the area’s history dedicated green space has been named Runway Park, which the proposed plans include adding “pockets of play space near a water body” to.