Rail Minister attends an evening reception hosted by the East West Rail All Party Parliamentary Group in Westminster

On Tuesday 3 July the East West Rail All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) chaired by Iain Stewart MP hosted a reception at the House of Commons to which members of the newly established East West Rail (EWR) Joint Delivery Board (JDB) were invited. The JDB has been established to undertake the governance of the project in the context that local authorities who are on the JDB have committed to use best efforts to raise a significant contribution to the capital cost of the western section of East West Rail.

The Rt. Hon Theresa Villiers MP Ministry of State at the Department for Transport attended the reception and she was able to meet many of the local politicians, MP’s, members of the House of Lords and supporters of the project during the event.

The JDB is looking forward to an anticipated announcement from the Secretary of State before the end of this month about the possible inclusion of East West Rail in HLOS, the Department’s programme for investment in rail projects and enhancements for the period 2014 to 2019.

From left to right: Cllr Peter Hardy Chairman of the Joint Delivery Board, Neil Gibson Chairman of the Project Executive Board, Rt. Hon Theresa Villiers MP Minister of State, Iain Stewart MP Chairman of the EWR APPG, Patrick O’Sullivan EWRC Programme Manager.