East West Rail
East West Rail is creating a new direct connection between Oxford and Cambridge.
The new Mayor of Bedford Tom Wootton has made it a top priority in May 2023 to:
- understand the background of the East-West Rail decisions,
- drive forward the development of Wixams Rail Station
https://www.bedford.gov.uk/news/2023/mayor-tom-woottons-first-day-office
A consultation document was published in April 2021 with further detail on the two options for a northern route between Bedford and St Neots. The consultation closed on 9th June 2021 but it is available on the East West Rail page. Staploe Parish Council responded in the following way:
East West Rail Virtual Consultation
There is a particularly helpful map covering our section (Clapham Green to the Eversdens) which can be accessed here: https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/5118014853b64e4c9016ac655d41e941/?draft=true
It shows that the most northerly route proposed would pass just north of Wilden but south of the Colesden Road and well south of our parish crossing the A1 just north of the Black Cat. However, many are concerned that it could lead to large scale development in our area.
Here is the map on p12 of the consultation showing the different options for the “northern” route.
Aerial view showing where the most northerly route would pass in relation to Wilden, Colesden and Chawston
Blue and pink routes in relation to the Black Cat roundabout
There is a campaign group called “Bedford For A Reconsultation” who are campaigning for a reconsultation on the route. Their leaflet is available below and the aerial views above were prepared by their members.
They also have a website:
The preferred route for Bedford to Cambridge was announced in February 2020. The northern route which goes south of St. Neots and appears to pass near or through Wilden was chosen.
https://eastwestrail.co.uk/the-project/central-section
The Mayor of Bedford gave the following response when asked why the northern route was chosen (route E being the northern route):
“The decision to adopt Route E on the East West Railway was not made by Bedford Borough Council, it was made by the East West Railway Company in January 2020 following a consultation. The consultation for the section between Bedford and Cambridge took place in 2019. Almost 7,000 people gave feedback following 6 weeks of consultation on the five route options. You can read more about the consultation, including reviewing the public feedback at https://eastwestrail.co.uk/the-project/bedford-to-cambridge.
The Council submitted a response to the Consultation, which you can see at Preferred-Route-Option-Announcement-Public-Feedback-Report-Appendix-1.pdf (eastwestrail-production.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com)https://eastwestrail-production.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/public/ListsBlockMedia/5261ff3319/Preferred-Route-Option-Announcement-Public-Feedback-Report-Appendix-1.pdf (from page 65). All the political groups on Bedford Borough Council supported a route through Bedford, you can see this support at https://www.bedfordindependent.co.uk/east-west-rail-route-must-go-through-midland-road/.
The Council has a long-standing policy to support a route through Bedford Midland Station, including in the Local Plan which had six separate consultations, the Local Plan included the statement on EWR that “The central section between Bedford to Cambridge is more difficult as the original Varsity railway line has now been built over and a new corridor needs to be determined. The Council’s preferred option is for East-West Rail to be routed through Bedford Midland Station”
For the current consultation the Council has now submitted its response and a copy is available at https://www.bedford.gov.uk/council-and-democracy/have-your-say/consultations/east-west-rail-consultation/“
Our MP Richard Fuller was asked about this matter and here is his response:
“The current proposal is for a route north of Bedford and then on to Cambridgeshire. An alternative route originally consulted on was south of Bedford via Wixams but this was not supported by the Borough Council. I refer to this, as the views of local authorities are very important in significant infrastructure developments such as East West Rail.
The [Borough] Council’s response to East West Rail’s consultation in March 2019 stated:
“ The Council recognises that one aim of the EWR Central section is to support new settlements in the Arc (and for new settlements to enhance the case for the railway).
2.11 During the preparation of its emerging Local Plan the Council recognised that it would be beneficial to allow the newly created and expanded communities to the south of Bedford to mature before introducing further change. This means that growth opportunities in Wootton, Shortstown, Wixams and Stewartby are limited for the duration of the Plan.
2.12 The Plan also considered the merits of four new settlement proposals, at Colworth, Twinwoods, Thurleigh and Wyboston. Whilst none of these has yet been allocated, it is likely that their promoters will submit them again to be considered for allocation in future plans.
2.13 The Council is committed to an immediate review of the current submitted Local Plan once it is adopted, so as to incorporate the new Standard Method of calculating housing need. Each of the potential new settlements, ranging in size from 4,500 to 10,000 dwellings, will be considered for inclusion in that Plan if submitted.
2.14 Each site is to the north of Bedford and would be better served by a northern route for EWR through Bedford Midland, as would much of the development potential between Bedford and Cambridge. In the Council’s view, therefore, there is little or no scope to count further development south of Bedford against the benefits of a southerly route for EWR. “
East West Rail decided to adopt the northern route rather than the southern route. As a result, this will be influential in deciding future house building in the area. Indeed, I challenged the Special Advisors at the Department for Local Government and Housing to name another example of a country that has sought to gain economic advantage by connecting two universities. I am not aware of Harvard and Yale in the US suggesting this, nor Monash and Sydney universities in Australia. It has all the hallmarks of the musings and determinations of a disconnected technocrat and it is. The OxCam Arc is the brainchild of Lord Adonis and, sadly, has not been kicked into the long grass by either Mrs May or Mr Johnson’s governments.
I will do my best as your MP to ensure that some sense prevails in this endeavour. For example, I have already hammered away at the ridiculous “one million homes” target set by Mr Adonis (a target now dropped) and at tempering the overall housing growth pressure on Bedfordshire. This constituency is already growing at three times the average. Sadly, Bedford Borough Council has (as set out above) already submitted plans that were highly influential in getting the East West rail line to go through and north of Bedford – opening up entirely new areas of Bedfordshire for housing growth.
The attitude of local authorities are crucial: for example, Buckinghamshire already got shot of Lord Adonis’ super highway (so it will now run from Cambridge to Milton Keynes then turn into a standard one lane A road through leafy Buckinghamshire) and Cambridge district councils have protected mid Cambridgeshire from more housing pressure by ensuring the East West rail route goes north, through an area already earmarked for housing.
Perhaps to help put this into context, between 2012 and 2020, there were over 8,000 new properties built in Bedford Borough. That is just 2,000 short of the figure for the urban Milton Keynes local authority and just over 2,000 more than the South Cambridgeshire local authority area.”