East West Rail “cannot come soon enough”

A raft of businesses in technology and science clusters, from AstraZeneca to KPMG, all say that East West Rail “cannot come soon enough”.

Their comments in a new report by the East West Main Line Partnership (EWMLP) - Building better connections: the business imperative for East West Rail - come as pressure builds on the new Government to commit to delivering the full scheme to Aylesbury, Bedford and Cambridge.

Construction of the Oxford to Milton Keynes section is well under way and due to complete by 2025.

“With economic growth a key priority for the Prime Minister, it is crucial that the Government now commits to delivering the full scheme,” says EWMLP Chairman Steven Broadbent.

EWMLP is a group of local authorities, local enterprise partnerships and other bodies that has campaigned for East West Rail for nearly three decades, and produced the original business case for the scheme.

Construction of East West Rail between Oxford and Cambridge (including the link to Aylesbury) is crucial to enabling the Partnership’s longer-term ambition for coastto-coast services from Norwich and Ipswich through to Swindon, Bristol and South Wales.

Broadbent continued: “As a hotbed for world-class science and technology innovation, our region plays a pivotal role for the UK economy. However, our existing transport system is holding us back, hitting productivity, restricting collaboration and limiting access to labour.

“That’s why businesses and organisations say that East West Rail cannot come soon enough.”