EWR could avoid Sandy

While it’s good to see the western arm of East West Rail finally pushing ahead, how the line is going to fulfil its stated aim of getting to Cambridge is still uncertain.

Consultation on the route is supposed to open shortly, but the current plan to plug the gap at the narrowest point between Bedford and Sandy has a number of drawbacks.

It’s now generally accepted that the original route is scuppered by development in Sandy, and the scandalous (and fairly recent) decision to allow a rowing lake to bisect the trackbed at Willington, at a point where various small lakes and rivers make suitable diversions more or less impossible.

Proposals now focus on linking a chain of housing developments via an alternative route between Bedford and Sandy, but that sounds like fantasy. Integrating with property schemes sounds progressive, but in reality housing developers will come up with as little as possible. And if there is a downturn in the market they will have no qualms about dropping the scheme there and then. Developers should contribute to transport schemes, but via a property value levy, not wishful thinking.

It also confuses a local rail project with an inter-urban one, and risks not really serving either. If it does get built, it seems counterproductive that it will require use of the East Coast Main Line (ECML) between Sandy and Hitchin, when so much effort and investment has been put into schemes to take traffic and conflicting movements off that very route (the Werrington dive-under being the latest).

A quick glance at the railway map suggests that East West Rail doesn’t need to go through Bedford at all.

The Marston Vale line actually turns northwards halfway at Ridgmont and broadly parallels the Midland Main Line (MML) to Bedford, only slower. A new line could instead follow a more or less straight line west to east from Ridgmont to Ashwell & Morden, and could partially parallel the M1 and A507 in places. This would alleviate any need to use the ECML, and avoid a potential pinchpoint at Letchworth.

Interchange stations could be built across the MML at Ampthill and the ECML at Arlesey, as well as chords if needed. Bedford could be equally well served by this option simply by making a triangular junction at Ridgmont, allowing trains from Bedford to the east. Improved access from Cambridge and Oxford to Luton Airport would be an added benefit.

As for housing development, this could still be part of the plans, and a parkway station where the line crosses the A6 might make sense. The slightly longer route mileage would probably be compensated for by the relative ease of construction compared with Bedford-Sandy, and it would certainly be quicker - even 100mph-plus.

In this light, sticking to the old route just to serve the small town of Sandy is starting to look like an unnecessary dogleg. Jonathan Hibberd, Nottingham