Mayor's Welcome for East West Rail Routes on to Cambridge From Bedford

Mayor Dave Hodgson has welcomed the news that both potential routes identified by Network Rail for the proposed 'Central Section' of East West Rail on to Cambridge are via Bedford. One of the shortlisted 'corridors' is via Hitchin and the other is via Sandy, with both now due to be subject to further, detailed consideration.

A longlist of sites had included routes which would not serve Bedford at all, but a study has shown that the corridors connecting Bedford and Cambridge via Sandy or Hitchin offer the best value for money at this stage of development. Network Rail will evaluate these corridors further in order to identify a single preferred corridor and then consider the precise routes of the line within that corridor.

Commenting, Mayor Dave Hodgson said: "Having worked for so many years to ensure the East-West Rail route includes Bedford we are pleased that Network Rail has confirmed that the rail connection will be coming to Bedford whichever onward route is selected. This announcement is critical for Bedford's local economy, with reports carried out by the Consortium estimate the economic benefit of a train link between Oxford and Cambridge to be up to £750 million.'

"It always made sense for the route to include Bedford and I hope now we have overcome this uncertainty we will see greater progress on the western section of the project, linking Bedford with Oxford."

The western section of the East-West Rail link between Bedford and Oxford is scheduled to be open in 2019. It will provide direct links from Bedford to locations including Oxford and Reading, and will open up access from Bedford to numerous new rail links.