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Latest news: - Network Rail's plans for Bicester to Bedford are fully approved

On 29 January 2020 the government officially approved Network Rail's (NR) plans for the Bicester to Bedford section of EWR. This is the long-awaited result of the public inquiry and subsequent Inspector's Report that started almost a year earlier.

The Transport & Works Act Order (TWAO) issued by the government approves the project almost completely in accordance with NR's application. In other words, NR has got everything it asked for. It means that most of the objections were overruled. Here are the issues that raised most of the objections with the outcome now confirmed as follows:

• The land-take for Ecological Compensation Sites, rather than housing development, are still in the plans
• There will be no special protection for barn owls and some mortality is expected
• No further measures are needed to conserve bats, but new data from surveys will be used by NR in the detailed design of the project
• However, NR is required to design the project to increase the number of species of wild plants, birds and animals by 10% (no time limit)
• The noise barriers and sound proofing proposed by NR is adequate for the houses near to the railway
• The routes for construction traffic, including temporary road closures / diversions are approved without any change
• The level crossing at London Road, Bicester will remain, but NR will make changes to signalling to reduce the barrier-down periods
• The Pony Level Crossing, on the boundary of the Parishes of Walton and Bow Brickhill, will be retained and improved access ramps will be provided
• The pedestrian crossing for Lidlington school will be closed and users will have to share the road level crossing with traffic (in fact, they will probably just drive to the school as the crossing is hazardous)
• The pedestrian crossing at Woburn school will be closed and no bridge is added to the project, but NR may propose a separate project for a new pedestrian bridge
• The line will not be electrified and platforms will be limited to 6 carriages, but clearances are adequate for it to be electrified at a later date.

The main, specific planning conditions are:

• Telecomms masts must be no higher than 20 metres
• Seven locations are to be landscaped with trees, plants and other features, according to designs to be approved by the local planning authorities
• Archaeological surveys need to be carried out and any discoveries properly recorded and conserved
• Ecological Management Plans, Codes of Construction Practice, Construction Traffic Management Plans and Surface Water Drainage Assessment have to be written by NR and approved by the local authorities; and updated through the project stages

During the 12 months since its application, NR have been making what progress they can without a TWAO. But now they can complete the detailed engineering and hire construction companies.

Latest news: East West Railway Company announces its decision on the route from Bedford to Cambridge

On Thursday 30 January 2020 it was announced by the East West Railway Company that the railway between Bedford and Oxford would, if its preferred route is given permission to proceed, would be on a new alignment via St Neots and Cambourne, calling at the new Cambridge South station (due to open between 2025 and 2027) and Cambridge station. This is 'Route E', which was backed by 80% of responses to the public consultation in 2019. South Cambridgeshire councillors campaigned hard for it as well.

The (preferred) route has been announced (see map), not an alignment. One should not forget that there is still much detailed design work ahead before this project obtains a Development Consent Order. There will doubtless be plenty of opportunity for comment on details as they emerge for consultation. But for now, we welcome this as a major step towards realising our vision.

For Railfuture's view, please read an article on the Railfuture website.

Older news: Network Rail (NR) submitted a Transport & Works Act (TWA) Application on Friday 27 July 2018 to allow it to undertake construction to reopen the western section betweeen Bicester and Bletchley (and other works on the line towards Bedford). This triggered a statutory objection period (ended 7 September 2018) in which people could object and, more importantly for supporters, to write in support of the scheme. The email address for any enquiries or updates to submissions is transportandworksact at dft.gsi.gov.uk.

Naturally Railfuture submitted a response to the Department for Transport in full support of the scheme. It can be read HERE. This was followed on 18 October 2018 by Railfuture's Statement of Case (HERE) to support its evidence at the public inquiry, which ran from Wednesday 6th February to Tuesday 30th April 2019 at the MK Community Foundation Conference & Training Facilities, Margaret Powell House, 433C Midsummer Boulevard, Milton Keynes MK9 3BN.

A dedicated website has been published for the Public Inquiry at http://bicester-bedford.persona-pi.com.

During the consultation period, Councillor Mark Shaw, Chairman of the East West Rail Consortium of councils, which has campaigned for the reopening of the Varsity Line since 1995, said: "I'd really encourage people to give their views directly to the Department for Transport and leave them in no doubt about the public's appetite for getting trains on tracks as soon as possible.". Railfuture echoes this, and urges as many supportive responses as possible.

The documents are available at https://www.networkrail.co.uk/our-railway-upgrade-plan/key-projects/east-west-rail/western-section/ and a CD of the documents can be ordered from NR for £5.

The consortium has some easy-to-read pages about the TWA application at https://www.eastwestrail.org.uk/transport-and-works-act-order-twao/.

Railfuture has been told that the final number of letters of support for the project was 411. The total number of 'objections' (typically concerning one small aspect of the route [90 about a crossing at Woburn Sands and some others about crossings, such as Lidlington, footpaths and potential noise] rather than the scheme itself) was 234. Apparently this is the highest ratio in favour of a TWA Order project in Network Rail's experience and it has expressed thanks for those who had mobilised this level of support. Crucially there were no 'significant' objections from any local authorities.

The TWA application timescales, which may be subject to change, were revealed by Network Rail in spring 2018 as follows:

   TWAO Submission                                         0 days	27/07/2018
   Objections Period                                       42 days	27/07/2018
   Notification of Inquiry                                 1 day	11/09/2018
   All parties submit "statement of case"                  30 days	11/09/2018
   Request for proofs of evidence & statement of matters   10 days	24/10/2018
   Proofs of evidence submission                           40 days	07/11/2018
   Notice of Pre-Inquiry Meeting                                   	20/11/2018
   Pre-Inquiry Meeting                                       		29/11/2018
   Commence Public Inquiry                                   		06/02/2019
   Last day of Public Inquiry                                   	30/04/2019
              

The inspector now has to write up a report for the Secretary of State, who then has six months to decide whether to grant it or not. This could potentially be December 2019 - although Network Rail hopes to receive the Transport and Works Act Order in September 2019 - after which there is a statutory six-week objection period, meaning that construction work requiring the TWA powers will not commence until at least late 2019, although that would not prevent preparation works on operational railway land from being performed earlier.

Network Rail is continuing with design work. The 'GRIP4' process should be complete in March 2019. A 'go/no go' decision on whether it should include the modern ETCS (train control) signalling system is still to be made by Network Rail.

During his annual budget speech on 22 November 2017, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond, confirmed that an estimated £1 billion of additional funding would be available for the delivery of phase 2 of the Western Section, which will link Oxford and Aylesbury to Bedford and Milton Keynes. Obtaining a TWA Order (as mentioned above) is essential to achieving this. An Alliance of Network Rail and key construction companies (Atkins, Laing O'Rourke and VolkerRail) has been formed to perform the work once powers are obtained. The upgrade and reinstated line could open in 2023 although 2024 is more likely.

The East West Rail Company, which the Secretary of State for Transport, Chris Grayling, designated in late 2016 as the body to oversee the opening of a rail route between Bedford and Cambridge, was formally launched by Mr Grayling on 14 December 2017 when he also visited Bletchley Station and Bletchley Viaduct. The company is working towards deciding on the route of the railway, which is likely to go close to Sandy (although Railfuture believes a route further north at St Neots has considerable merit as discussed in its report [see pages 6 and 8] to Cambridegshire County coucillors in 2013). However, it is important that pressure is kept on the government and politicians to ensure that the best possible railway is built and in a reasonable timescale. An opening date around 2027 could be possible if there is the political will.

Railfuture wants to see the new line electrified from day one. There is no cheaper way of doing it than as part of the initial construction. However, because of delayed and over-budget delivery of recent electrification schemes the government is not currently in favour of more electrification. This is something that must change and Railfuture continues to campaign on this, especially to ensure that the skills built up over decades that Britain lost in the early 1990s and had to expensively re-learn recently will not be lost a second time. Railfuture hopes that the completion of electrification of the TransPenine Route Upgrade, which Mr Grayling confirmed in July 2018 will take place, could see the teams transfer onto East West Rail.

The Department for Transport has agreed with Network Rail that the new Cambridge South station (which would serve Addenbrooke's Hospital and the biometric campus) will be opened as a four-platform station with the railway doubled from two to four tracks between Cambridge station and Shrepreth Branch Junction (where the Liverpool Street and King's Cross lines diverge) ultimately allowing capacity for six trains per hour between Bedford and Cambridge.

Railfuture is eager for services to the east of Cambridge to be planned from day one so that there will be direct services through Cambridge to Ipswich and Norwich. The Ox-Cam link will deliver substantial cross-region benefits.

East West Rail Progress

Over the last few years there has been increasingly good news about the East West Rail Link, although the full scheme will not be realised until at least late 2020s. Click [News Archive] to read Oxford-Cambridge news stories from 2010. These include:

• The upgraded link between Oxford station and Oxford Parkway opened to passengers on Sunday 11th December 2016, with an opening ceremony performed by the Secretary of State for Transport, Chris Grayling, on Monday 12th December. The track-work had been completed almost three months earlier, on 21 September 2016, as Network Rail confirmed in a Press Release.
  • First Oxford Parkway to Oxford train service (just 6 minutes versus bus link of 20 minutes) was at 08:44 on Sunday 11 December 2016. The train had started from London Marylebone and Railfuture representatives were on board it.
• Network Rail announced that the East West Rail Central Section will run in a Cambridge - Sandy - Bedford corridor [March 2016]
• Re-built upgraded line is opened providing high-quality service between Oxford Parkway and London Marylebone station [October 2015]
• Options for Bedford-Cambridge 'Central Section' reduced from seven down to two corridors [July 2015]
• Excellent news as study finds Bedford-Cambridge 'Central Section' has "significant economic growth potential [August 2014]

We should not forget the enormous political progress for the East West Rail Link in recent years:

1. National Infrastructure Commission have taken on the burden of proving the case. Railfuture and other campaigners have nothing more to prove
2. East-West rail is no longer just about transport policy. It sits at the heart of the government's economic and housing growth strategies. Big decisions affecting land values will soon be taken that will push this past the point of no return
3. In the past, Railfuture and others have bemoaned the lack of interest in this project by local government, the Department for Transport, Network Rail and the Treasury. The 2017 budget statement was a game changer: it even included commitment to upgrade the railway in Cambridge to make it fit for better connections to Ipswich/Norwich, which Railfuture has campaigned for over a long time, and this can be used to advance other rail projects in the region
4. As late as 2013 if you had asked officials in Whitehall if they thought East-West rail would get built, they would have smiled sweetly and said (something like) 'nice idea but there are too many obstacles to make it happen'
5. Observers are sceptial that Cambridge-Bedford will be achieved by the "mid 2020s" but that is the official government position and Railfuture intends to hold them to it and expect it to be open within a decade.

UPDATE - See Railfuture Central Section photos about the Cambridge-Bedford route, uploaded in April 2016, and Western Section photos about the completion of the Oxford-Oxford Parkway route, uploaded in September 2016, which opened to the public on Sunday 11th December 2016 as a 'trial' day with the full service commencing the following day.