East West Rail

Overview

East West Rail is a major project to establish a strategic railway connecting East Anglia with Central, Southern and Western England. The route is broken down into three sections Western, Central and Eastern. The first phase of the Western Section between Oxford and Bicester Village was successfully commissioned in December 2016 as part of the Evergreen 3 project. The second phase of the Western Section between Bicester – Bedford is currently under construction by the East West Rail Alliance. The third, central phase will extend the railway from Bedford to Cambridge, with further eastern extensions projected towards East Anglia.

Part 1 of the presentation will revisit the original Evergreen 3 project. In 2010-11 Chiltern Railways invested over £100m in Evergreen 3, the last piece of its plan to restore the Chiltern Mainline.  This was a key precursor to East West Rail, including the upgrade and reinstatement to double track of the first section of route between Oxford and Bicester. Tom Barr (BAM Nuttall), will explain the rationale behind the investment decisions and the how engineering interventions that facilitated the journey time improvements were developed and delivered.

Part 2 of the presentation will give an update on the £1.1bn project to re-establish the rail link between Bicester and Bletchley. The East West Rail Alliance (EWRA) consisting of Network Rail, Atkins, Laing O’Rourke and Volker Rail has been developing the scheme since 2015 and has commenced delivery of the main civil works since summer 2020. The presentation will be delivered by Mark Cuzner, Alliance Director on East West Rail Phase 2 (EWRA2) and will give and update on the EWR2 development, include current scope, construction progress, and challenges.

Part 3 of the presentation will outline the latest developments on the proposed Central Section of the route between Bedford and Cambridge. Simon Blanchflower, CEO of East West Railway Company Limited will give an outline of the current status and aims of the project.