New Rail Line Between Oxford and Cambridge 'Will Bring Billions to the Economy'

Many people are excited for easier travel, but some dread loss of land

East West Rail Company is planning the construction of a new railway which will connect oxford to Cambridge. The project is scheduled to be completed by 2030, with many stops being operational before then. There is currently no direct way to travel between the two cities via public transport.

The lack of a train link is said to be ‘constricting growth’ and East West Rail claims the construction of the line will boost the economy by approximately £111 bn. The claim the construction of this line will stimulate economic growth, housing and employment.

The rail line will allow direct travel between Oxford, Oxford Parkway, Bicester, Winslow, Bletchley, Bedford, Tempsford, Camborne, Cambridge South, and Cambridge.

The construction is scheduled in three phases: the first will connect Oxford to Bletchley/Milton Keynes, the second will connect oxford to Bedford, the third have services run from Oxford to Cambridge via Bedford and Bletchley. 

This service is being implemented because there is currently no direct link between Oxford and Cambridge, travellers currently have to take the X5 bus from Oxford to Bedford and then the 905 bus to Cambridge. Alternatively, there is an option to take the train from Oxford to London, then London to Cambridge. University student Alex is ‘pretty excited’ as it will make visiting her friends in Milton Keynes much easier. She says ‘At the moment there is a 2hr bus which makes me carsick and there is no direct line on the train.’

Local university student Ben recently had to travel to Cambridge and says it was ‘terrible’. He says ‘There was no direct travel, I had to go to London. There was a disruption at London so I was stuck at St Pancras. I only got halfway before the train was cancelled and I had to get a replacement bus.’ He spoke of not only the difficulty getting there, but that getting back was also difficult. ‘there was no train back to London so I had to go to Birmingham. It took five and a half hours. A direct would definitely improve the experience.’ He said it was ‘crazy’ that there isn’t one.

Installing a railway will be a much appreciated improvement to current travel as it will shorten the travel times between the cities. It will also make travel between Oxford and Cambridge more accessible to those who have disabilities or are otherwise unable to use the bus to commute.

However, questions have been raised about access to the Bedford hospital during construction. East West Rail plans to relocate St Johns station to Britannia Road car park, which is next to Bedford hospital. This can make using the hospital harder and be a severe inconvenience for locals.

Another problem with this construction is the damage to homes in the Poets area of Bedford, it is said that 37 homes will be affected. However East West Rail says this has been brought down from 53, and they are reviewing methods to leave the least negative impact possible.