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Representation ID: 8968

Received: 03/09/2021

Respondent: East West Railway Company Limited

Agent: Mrs JANE PARKER

Adams Hendry Consulting Ltd submit this response to Bedford Borough Council on the Local Plan 2040:
Strategy Options and Draft Policies Consultation on behalf of our client, East West Railway Company
Limited (EWR Co).
As background, EWR Co is the organisation responsible for delivering East West Rail (EWR), a major rail
project aiming to deliver both new and enhanced rail infrastructure to provide frequent, fast, and reliable
rail links for communities between Oxford, Milton Keynes, Bedford, and Cambridge. The latest EWR
proposals were subject to a second round of non-statutory public consultation between 31st March 2021
and 9th June 2021. The EWR documentation library can be found at
https://eastwestrail.co.uk/library/documents.
The EWR route is split into six sections where improvements are to be made to existing infrastructure, and new connections are to be constructed. The Bedford Local Plan area is located within project Section B:
Bletchley and the Marston Vale Line, Section C: Bedford and Section D: Clapham Green to The
Eversdens.
Following the close of the consultation, EWR Co is considering consultees’ feedback and carrying out
further development work to inform the selection of a preferred route alignment in due course, including
on the options presented at the 2021 consultation that would affect Bedford borough.

General information on EWR timeframes
The EWR Project is being delivered in four stages. The first stage (already in operation) has improved the
link between Oxford and Bicester and was completed in 2016. This part of the EWR Project was delivered
by the Chiltern Railway Company Limited and Network Rail under the Chiltern Railways (Bicester to Oxford
Improvements) Order 2012, made under the Transport and Works Act 1992 (TWA 1992).
The second stage (Connection Stage 1) will extend EWR further north and east, allowing services to run
between Oxford and Milton Keynes. Creating this link requires the reinstatement of an out-of-use railway
line between Gavray Junction at Bicester and Bletchley including a new bridge over High Speed 2 (HS2),
a new station at Winslow and two new platforms at Bletchley station. Network Rail obtained the Network
Rail (East West Rail) (Bicester to Bedford Improvements) Order 2020 (the 2020 Order), made under the
TWA 1992.
The 2020 Order authorises the construction, operation and maintenance of works to the railway between
Bicester and Bletchley, and major civil engineering construction work has commenced. These works will
enable the introduction of two trains per hour in each direction between Oxford and Milton Keynes, plus
provide additional freight capacity.
The third stage (Connection Stage 2) would upgrade the existing railway between Oxford and Bedford to
meet the Strategic Objectives set by the Department for Transport (DfT). These works go beyond those
authorised by the 2020 Order obtained by NR, and so will require a new, separate consent. Enhancements
to the railway between Oxford and Bicester, to the Marston Vale Line between Bletchley and Bedford, and
to Bedford Station form part of EWR Co’s proposals.
The fourth stage (Connection Stage 3) would provide an entirely new railway infrastructure between
Bedford and Hauxton. This would facilitate the extension of the Oxford – Bedford services through to
Cambridge and the introduction of a further two trains per hour between Bletchley and Bedford.
Details of the potential enhancements to the existing railway infrastructure were provided as part of the
non-statutory public consultation that was undertaken by EWR Co from March to June 2021. EWR Co will
be undertaking further public consultation in 2022 on the preferred options.

EWR Application Process
The EWR Project has been designated as a nationally significant infrastructure project (NSIP). This means
that instead of applying for planning permission from a local authority, permission is given at a national
level by the Government; this is called a Development Consent Order (DCO).
The preferred options are currently being developed for both Connection Stage 2 and Connection Stage
3. EWR Co will develop a red line boundary to encompass all the land required for the construction and
operation of these works, as part of a Development Consent Order (DCO) application for the preferred
options. EWR Co will present further information on its emerging proposals during statutory consultation
which is currently scheduled to take place in 2022.
After this further statutory stage of consultation, EWR Co will submit an application for a DCO to the
Government. The application will then be considered by a single inspector or a panel of inspectors from
the Planning Inspectorate who will make a recommendation to the Secretary of State for Transport on whether the application should be approved. The final decision to grant or refuse the DCO application for
the Project would then be taken by the Secretary of State in line with the National Policy Statement for
National Networks.