New railway will offer alternative route to Heathrow Airport
East West Rail: End of the line at the 'mothballed' section of track that will be re-instated for passenger services as part of the East West Rail link
Holidaymakers and business people will be able to escape the nightmare of travelling through London to get to one of the world’s most important hub airports.
The new East West Rail Link between Bedford and Oxford, Aylesbury and Milton Keynes will enable people to travel on to Reading and thereby bypass the capital as a way of getting to Heathrow.
The target date for train services to the operational on the East West Rail link between Oxford and Bedford is December 2017, and for electrification of the line to be complete by March 2019.
Patrick O’Sullivan, rail consultant for the East West Rail Consortium, said: “Support for the East West Rail has been tremendous. We shall be talking to parish councils, local residents, businesses owners, rail users and other stakeholders shortly to ensure that we achieve the maximum benefit from the railway and to address any concerns at this early stage in the project. Network Rail and the Consortium expect to start formal consultations in autumn this year.”
The route between Bedford and Oxford is proposed for electrification as part of a wider scheme to enhance passenger and freight services between Southampton and the West and East Midlands, and the Consortium and Network Rail will be examining ways in which the two projects can be integrated.
Councillor Peter Hardy, chairman of the Joint Delivery Board for the Western Section for East West Rail, said: “This is really good news for the region. The economic, environmental and social benefits of the East West Rail link to the areas it serves in Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Bedfordshire and beyond should not be underestimated.
“The railway is of huge importance to support economic growth. It will link major centres for economic and housing growth within the region, enabling more journeys and making the areas it serves even more attractive for businesses and inward investment. It will also support the creation of some 12,000 jobs and boost annual regional gross domestic product by £38million.”
The East West Rail Consortium, which includes all the local authorities along the proposed route, has successfully promoted the re-instatement of a rail link between Bedford and Oxford to enhance rail services both within the region and beyond.
With the support and financial backing of the Department for Transport, the Consortium will now work with Network Rail to develop and implement the project, with the aim of having East West Rail services operational for passengers and freight by December 2017.
The next steps are for Network Rail and the Consortium to complete environmental impact assessments and obtain any necessary planning consent.
In addition it remains a firm aim of the East West Rail Consortium to re-introduce a rail link between Bedford and Cambridge and work will shortly begin to re-assess the benefits that several of the potential routes could provide.
Expected journey times: Oxford to Milton Keynes: 40 minutes. Reading to Milton Keynes: 84 minutes. Milton Keynes to Aylesbury: 33 minutes. High Wycombe to Milton Keynes: 63 minutes. Oxford to Bedford: 60 minutes and Reading to Bedford: 106 minutes.
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Weather for Bedford
Thursday 20 June 2013
Today
Light showers
Temperature: 13 C to 19 C
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