EWR

I set out the high level basics of where we are in the process with EWR without much comment and then outline what the effects in Queen Edith’s might be. I would encourage you to take part in the consultation process and make your views known. There is clearly going to be a lot of disruption as would be expected from a project like this.

Background

East West Rail has been thought about for a very long time. It started out as a plan to connect East Anglia with the western side of the country i.e. Great Western Railway lines in the 1990s. The plan was adopted by the Department of Transport and in 2017 the East West Railway Company was launched by Chris Grayling Secretary of State for Transport.

The company states that it aims:

 ‘to unlock sustainable economic growth – attracting investment in the UK, connecting businesses, creating jobs and making the communities between Oxford and Cambridge a place that people want to live, work and settle down.’

The intended benefits are:

 

• • • Improved quality of life by cutting travel times and easing congestion
  • • New journeys opened up
  • • A greener way to travel
  • • More jobs brought within reach of local people
  • • Provide employment
  • Open up new areas for businesses to grow (other than Oxford and Cambridge)

The plan is to connect Oxford to Cambridge in 3 stages:

 

1. 1. 1. Oxford to Bletchley/Milton Keynes. This has been completed as far as Bicester and the remainder of the line to Bletchley will be open in 2025.
   1. 1. Bletchley to Bedford. Planning consent was given for this section in 2020.
   1. Bedford to Cambridge. This is in the planning and consultation stages.

Bedford to Cambridge section

There was a consultation on the route to be taken in 2019 and another in 2021 where the route was refined where 9 possible routes were outlined. The Southern route was chosen in May 2023 because of the economic benefits of linking up with the Cambridge Biomedical Campus (CBC). This enables more people to get to their workplace by public transport, and there are more jobs at the CBC than in the North of Cambridge. This factor is driven by the lack of housing in Cambridge itself.

The next stages are a non-statutory consultation which is currently being carried out and will close on 24 January 2025. The link is here https://eastwestrail.co.uk/consultation2024. Please make your views known.

This will be followed by a statutory consultation and after that the company will apply for a Development Consent Order (DCO). This is a planning tool introduced to make it easier to construct major infrastructure projects. There are 6 stages, the first being pre-application and this is the stage that EWR is at now. Once the statutory consultation is concluded, a report of the consultation will form part of the application to the Planning Inspectorate and the Secretary of State will make the final decision.

How the route will affect Queen Edith’s

There are several places that will be affected. EWR is planning to lay two more railway tracks on the west side of the existing West Anglia main line ones between Shepreth and Cambridge main station.

Construction compounds:

The first is a construction compound for Granhams Road which will require a cycle route diversion, and then another one for Addenbrookes Road both in purple below:

 

Pictures taken from the interactive map in the consultation documents, here: https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/8fab754ca7164d73b1ed0ed79c41f311

The next section contains a construction compound at the corner of Sedley Taylor and Luard Roads -see below. Of all these it is the residents of Sedley Taylor Road who will be most affected as this is a residential street. There will also be a small construction compound at Purbeck Road.

 

Widening of Long Road Bridge

The main effect of the two extra tracks will be the need to demolish and construct a new and wider Long Road bridge. This will require two construction compounds on either side of Long Road. However, the main issue here will be the closure of Long Road for several months while the work is being done resulting in traffic problems.  More details are in chapter 16 of the consultation document.

Other matters

There will be an underbridge to take the water from Nine Wells under the line of the railway.

Next steps

I did wonder whether the new Labour government were going to continue with this and it seems that they do. The main thing to do now is to ensure that the disruption from the work of construction is minimised. Please reply to the consultation and also send me your comments and I will also represent your views to EWR and the council.

There is a lot more to discuss and I intend to return to the subject in future blogs.