£760m funding a 'milestone worth celebrating'

Government has confirmed £760m for East West Rail between Oxford and Bletchley/Milton Keynes – with services due by 2025.

The investment means further vital construction work can begin and represents an important milestone in the East West Rail project. Delivery of this stage is expected to provide work for 1,500 people, injecting an estimated £1.1bn into the local economy.

Sue Clark, Chair of the East West Rail Consortium of local authorities which has campaigned for the scheme and produced its original business case, said: “We welcome the Government’s continued commitment to delivering East West Rail. The announcement means that in just a few years’ time, we will see the first East West Rail services from Oxford to Bletchley and Milton Keynes – a milestone worth celebrating.

“We look forward to having confirmation that Milton Keynes-Aylesbury  and Bletchley-Bedford will also be delivered as soon as possible. While each section brings its own benefits to the communities it serves, East West Rail’s full transformational potential will only be realised if it is delivered in full.

“We will continue to press the case for the investment in these two sections by working with the East West Railway Company to ensure that their proposals meet the requirements of users and communities for the decades to come. And we will continue to press the Government for an early decision on the investment that will allow those sections to be delivered as soon as possible.”