Monday, February 26, 2024
A massive new train line East West Rail (EWR) is in development for nearly a decade which will connect two of the UK‘s most beautiful cities.
It will provide a vital new link for hundreds of thousands of people.
The East West Rail (EWR) project has been billed as a “nationally significant” line first conceived nearly 30 years ago in 1995.
Since then, construction has progressed in stages, with an initial phase within the first of three completed in 2016 and another expected to be up and running by 2025.
Once the entire route is completed – complete with around 95 miles of track – Britons will be able to take a brand-new dedicated line from Oxford to Cambridge, two of the UK’s most lauded cities.
The EWR project is estimated to cost upwards of approximately £7billion and provide a significant local boom, including a surge in jobs and housebuilding.
Developers are constructing the route in three “connection stages”, the first of which completed the Oxford to Bicester line.
The initial phase of that stage cost roughly £270million, and the second and final will connect Bicester and Milton Keynes for £760million.
While development is ongoing in the second part of that stage, trains aren’t due to start running for more than another year.
The first trains won’t run until 2025, with connection stages two and three following over the coming years.
They will ultimately connect Oxford to Bedford and Oxford to Cambridge, but the entire line won’t open for some time.
Trains aren’t expected to run for another half-a-decade until 2030, but EWR expects the completed line will bring an “infrastructure revolution”.
The benefits – as outlined by the firm – include the potential for massive local investment and “significantly reduced” journey times.
Cambourne to Cambridge will take 15 minutes, 45 minutes shorter than the 60-minute bus trip, and Bedford to Cambridge will take 35 minutes.
Unsurprisingly, locals are fully behind the development plan, with a recent survey of 1,000 people taken by EWR finding that 83 percent believed the project would improve travel links in the area.
Beth West, CEO of East West Rail Company, said: “This survey is a strong testament to the support Bedford residents have for the project and underpins how it will bring game-changing benefits to the local community.”
But the development has seen some opposition, with the plans requiring the demolishment of 60 homes, and campaigners have argued the survey does not reflect the opinion of the majority of hundreds of thousands of locals.
Tags: East West Rail, UK
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