CambridgeshireLive readers share strong views on plans to link Cambridge, Oxford, Bedford and Milton Keynes by rail, with concerns over costs, delays and local impact
CambridgeshireLive readers have been sharing strong views on the latest plans to link Oxford, Bedford and Cambridge by rail. The comments below were posted under our earlier report. They show worries about cost, delivery, and local impact. Some ask for different priorities closer to home.
The latest details on a “once-in-a-generation” project to link Cambridge, Oxford, Milton Keynes, and Bedford have been revealed. East West Railway Company (EWR Co) has announced details of its last route-wide consultation on the latest designs for the scheme.
East West Rail plans to construct a railway line between Oxford and Cambridge. Proposals include upgrading an existing section of railway between Oxford and Bicester, bringing back a section of railway between Bicester and Bletchley, and building brand new railway infrastructure between Bedford and Cambridge.
EWR Co has confirmed that an eight-week consultation will run from April 14 to June 9. Communities along the route will be able to have their say on the proposals before a Development Consent Order is submitted in 2027.
One reader questioned who would benefit. Weneedqueenmeghan comments: “It’s a private railway for the university. Nobody else will use it. They should pay for it themselves.”
Camssurvivor says: “I travelled on the last train from Bletchley to Cambridge nearly 60 years ago. If the line wasn’t considered financially viable and essential then, it certainly isn’t now. Governments have thrown money around like water.”
Feelgood66 asks: “How many people have looked at what is being proposed, the actual plans, road closures, permanent. Where’s the benefit to the villages? There is none. Just years of pollution to look forward to. Destruction of the countryside.”
Calumen Nomen quotes: “‘Communities along the route will have an opportunity to have their say on the plans.’ Hilarious. Communities along the route have been vociferous in their condemnation of this eye-wateringly expensive white elephant for years now. In particular, the decision to build the country’s largest new town and then route a new (and their only) railway fifteen miles due south is black-belt mindlessness. We closed the old varsity line because no one used it. We have just cancelled half of HS2 because of its cost and general pointlessness. And yet this hapless and untalented administration carries on, like a super-tanker with a tree-sloth at the helm.”
Windypants simply says: “Delusional project.”
While over on our Facebook page, John M comments: “They’ve held this three or four times. The line from Oxford to Bletchley finished a year ago, but no trains yet as we can’t agree who shuts the doors on trains. There are no plans to have stations in local communities between Cambridge and Bedford, only two, one at Cambourne and one in a new unbuilt town.”
Alan W says: “All the time, as the months go by, the price increases by millions. I wonder, if they think they have endless meetings, whether this is a distraction from the fact that there may not be simply any money to pay for the section to Cambridge.”
Silvia KT writes: “This has been in the pipeline for a few years, and still nothing has been done about the Cambridge to Bedford bit, and then the whole thing from Cambridge to Oxford. They have held lots of meetings, but still no proposed route from Cambridge to Bedford or from Cambridge to Oxford.”
Carole CB feels: “Better links to Fulbourn would be a better idea.”
While Jeremy B adds: “Wish they could reconnect Huntington to Cambridge via train.”
Scott Peacock comments: “Another consultant meeting. You will get the same whining nimby’s objecting to the railway. Just look at the mess they made of the countryside when constructing the extension of the A428 near St Neots. You can’t make an omelette without the eggs.”
Where do you believe urgently needs a rail connection with Cambridge? Comment below or HERE to join in the conversation.
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