East West Rail

East West Rail is a major project that will benefit the UK economy by establishing a strategic railway connecting the Thames Valley with the South East Midlands and East Anglia.

The project will reinstate and upgrade a route abandoned in the early 1970s and complements plans for a new Oxford to London Marylebone service by Chiltern Railways from 2014.

The project is being promoted by the East West Rail Consortium and includes a number of local authorities and businesses with an interest in supporting job creation and economic growth, new homes and better access to the national rail network.

The route

The western section of the proposed route will provide new train services linking Reading, Didcot Parkway (for the Science Vale UK enterprise zone), Oxford, Water Eaton Parkway and Bicester with Milton Keynes and Bedford - providing a direct link for Oxfordshire residents wanting to travel north using the West Coast Mainline at Milton Keynes Central.

There will also be a service from Milton Keynes to Aylesbury and High Wycombe.

When it is happening

In July 2012 the Government confirmed its intention to pay for the western section of the route. East West Rail is now part of the Government's High Level Output Specification (known as HLOS) - the rail investment programme for 2014 to 2019.

The Consortium is now working with the Department for Transport and Network Rail and aims to have the western section open by 2017.

More information

For more information and latest news about East West Rail go to the East West Rail Consortium website. You can also follow the project on Twitter @eastwestrail.

Contact

Patrick O'Sullivan, East West Rail Project Manager
01908 252481 or info@eastwestrail.org.uk