The council has worked with its neighbouring authorities and other bodies as part of the East West Rail consortium for some time to campaign for the case to restore rail services linking Reading, Didcot, Oxford, Bicester, Aylesbury, Milton Keynes and Bedford.

Public and private sector businesses from Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire and beyond have long believed the project had a very strong case for Government approval - even in a time of national financial constraint.

What is East-West Rail?

The East-West project will re-establish a strategic railway linking Reading, Oxford and Aylesbury with Milton Keynes and Bedford providing a major boost for businesses and residents alike.

In addition to supporting Oxford's role as a major centre of economic growth, the improved connections provided by East-West rail will support economic growth in the Science Vale and Bicester areas. And by providing an attractive alternative means of travel, the project will help manage pressure on the A34 corridor through the county. Already recent investment in the capacity of the rail corridor through Oxfordshire is seeing more freight being moved by rail.

Oxfordshire County Council, a leading member of the East-West Rail Consortium, had been working with local MPs to push for the project to be included in the Government’s 2014-19 railway investment programme.

Positive feeling

Councillor David Robertson, the Deputy Leader of Oxfordshire County Council, said: "It is so rare for new railway lines to be constructed and especially in a time of severe economic restraint.

"This decision today is a local reversal of one of the famous cuts to railway lines that happened in the UK between during and after the 1950s and 1960s. There are many people who are absolutely overjoyed. This will mean less traffic on our roads and opens up the possibility of yet more freight being put on to the railways. It means Oxfordshire will have rail links with neighbouring areas to the east once more and it means our county becomes more open to investment.

"I look forward to work beginning on this railway line being brought back to life and to seeing it go from strength to strength in future times. This is one of those moments when many people who have put in long hours of hard work can now feel rewarded in the knowledge that they have achieved something that will be of great value to local people for generations to come."