Work to deliver East West Rail Western Section continues
Last week the Secretary of State for Transport announced that Peter Hendy, the newly-appointed chairman of Network Rail, has been asked to develop proposals for how the rail upgrade programme will be carried out. This includes enhancement schemes that are due to be delivered by Network Rail during the five-year control period 2014-2019. The report will be published in the autumn.
In the meantime, Network Rail and the local authorities within the East West Rail Consortium are continuing to work to deliver the core East West Rail (Western Section) scheme and electrification as planned.
This core scheme will provide the railway infrastructure required for passenger trains to operate between Bedford and Oxford, Milton Keynes and Oxford, and Milton Keynes and Aylesbury.
The Western Section of East West Rail is a priority investment in the National Infrastructure Plan published December 2014 and is included in the Network Rail five-year plan for delivery by March 2019.
Links:
Secretary of State’s Statement 25th June 2015
New chair of Network Rail announced 25th June 2015
National Infrastructure Plan (see Chapter 16: Top 40 priority infrastructure investments) Published December 2014