Consortium response to National Infrastructure Commission Report
In response to the National Infrastructure Commission’s interim report on the Oxford – Milton Keynes – Cambridge corridor, the Chairmen of the East West Rail Consortium’s Western and Central Section boards, Cllr Rodney Rose of Oxfordshire County Council, and Cllr Ian Bates of Cambridgeshire County Council have issued the following statement:
“We welcome the National Infrastructure Commission’s recognition that new east-west transport links present a once-in-a-generation opportunity to secure the future success of this area.
“We echo the National Infrastructure Commission’s recommendation to Government to bring forward £100m to accelerate delivery of the Western Section of East West Rail between Oxford, Bedford, Milton Keynes and Aylesbury; and for £10m to enable further planning work to take place on the Central Section between Bedford, Sandy and Cambridge. We look to the Chancellor to confirm this is next week’s Autumn Statement.
“We are, however, disappointed that the commissioners have not challenged the timetable to complete the Western Section. The report recommends completion before the end of 2024, and stating it is now unlikely to be delivered until 2022-24 following the Hendy Review. This is a significant delay against Network Rail’s original planned completion date of March 2019.
“We will continue to work with the Department for Transport and Network Rail to accelerate delivery to have trains running at the very earliest opportunity. The enormous improvement to regional transport and national mainline connections is vital to support the economic, employment and housing growth plans.”
See National Infrastructure Commission News Release here
View or download the NIC report here