8 December 2020

East West Railway Company Project update

Simon Scott Engineering Director 2 December 2020

2 East West Railway Company What we’ll cover today

What is EWR? Some of the challenges EWR Co: the integratorDelivery Questions & Answers

3 East West Railway Company East West Rail: A new rail link connecting communities between Oxford and Cambridge

4 The Case for East West Rail

The Oxford-Cambridge Arc The National Infrastructure is an important economic Commission (NIC) has found asset for the UK and makes that the Arc’s future economic a significant contribution to prosperity is constrained by a the nation’s prosperity lack of suitable housing and poor east west-connectivity.

East West Rail

Car 5 Train (existing) Coach

0 hr 1 hr 2 hr 3 hr 4 hr East West Rail: The Enabler

EWR has been described as ‘transformational infrastructure’ in England’s Economic Heartland’s Draft Transport Strategy and ‘supported by high quality bus and active travel provision to rail stations – will fundamentally change the socio- economic geography of the region.’

EWR will become a community enabler with a strong focus on the first and last mile of journeys made across the Arc. Improving east – west connectivity can help realise the Arc’s potential

Direct cost savings for businesses from reduced travel times and being able to invest more of their time in production or industry innovation

Reduced cost pressures on firms from not needing to pay their employees higher wages purely to compensate for longer journey times and higher commuting costs

Increases in labour supply from reduced commute times, with commuters being able to choose to spend the time that is freed up either at work or for leisure, creating opportunities for higher wages if employees are more productive

Agglomeration benefits through greater density of economic activity, with firms moving closer to each other and their labour markets, and benefit from reduced journey times.

7 Some of the opportunities…

14 East West Railway Company East West Railway Company

Established by DfT in December 2017 to:

• Drive forward the work being led by Network Rail to reinstate the railway from Bicester to Bletchley, Milton Keynes and Bedford

• Take responsibility for developing the case for the section of new railway between Oxford and Cambridge

Be the Customer 1. Optimise and outperform the Be Trusted Business Case

Be Bold 2. Set a new benchmark in Be Open customer experience Have Fun

16 17 East West Railway Company The East West Rail Community Hub

An online space for people to share ideas & thoughts about East West Rail

Uses tools including polls, surveys, ideas/story boards

Integrated with the East West Rail website & Salesforce communityhub.eastwestrail.co.uk The first 4 conversations

Nearly 100 responses in 6 days

Survey: How would you like to stay in touch?

Stories: Share your unforgettable memories

Survey: Your travel experiences

Q&A: Bedford to Cambridge Preferred Route Option

19 East West Railway Company Delivery is already underway...

20 East West Railway Company Oxford to Bicester: Complete

Completed in December 2016 and saw a major upgrade of the existing rail line between Oxford and Bicester to facilitate future East West Rail services.

Involved building a new one kilometre section of railway to connect the former Bicester Town station (now Bicester Village station) to Oxford via the Chiltern main line, enabling a new Chiltern Railways service between Oxford and London.

21 Oxford to Bicester - complete

• Completed in December 2016 and saw a major upgrade of the existing rail line between Oxford and Bicester to facilitate future East West Rail services.

• Involved building a new one kilometre section of railway to connect the former Bicester Town station (now Bicester Village station) to Oxford via the Chiltern main line, enabling a new Chiltern Railways service between Oxford and London.

22 East West Railway Company Bicester to Bletchley & Milton Keynes

Bletchley viaduct being extensively • This phase will reinstate and upgrade old rebuilt to modern standards railway lines, allowing new train services to run between Oxford, Bletchley and Milton Keynes

• Vegetation clearance and enabling works underway ahead of major construction in Winter 2020/21

23 Bicester to Bletchley and Milton Keynes • This phase will reinstate and upgrade old railway lines, allowing new train services to run between Oxford, Bletchley and Milton Keynes

• Bletchley viaduct being extensively rebuilt to modern standards

June 2020 24 East West Railway Company July 2020 July 2020 Bletchley flyover works (1)

25 East West Railway Company Bletchley flyover works (2)

26 East West Railway Company Bletchley to Bedford

• Upgrading the Marston Vale Line to support enhanced services in the future

Bedford Station will be significantly upgraded and will support the wider regeneration of the town.

27 Bedford station Bedford St Johns (current) (current) 28 East West Railway Company Bedford to Cambridge

Consulted on five route options in 2019. All largely greenfield.

Preferred route option announced in 2020. Now developing route option alignments

29 Bedford to Cambridge: The Road to Construction Bedford to Cambridge: Bedford to Cambridge: The Preferred Route Option

32 Bedford to Cambridge: The Route to construction – Where are we? Bedford to Cambridge: Developing Route Alignment Options – Assessment factors

• Transport user benefits • Environmental impacts and opportunities • Capital costs • Operating costs • Overall affordability • Contribution to enabling housing and economic growth, including best serving areas benefitting from developable land • Short distance connectivity to support commuting into key employment hubs (current and future) • Short distance passenger services • Rail passenger connectivity to existing mainlines • Long distance passenger services • Satisfying existing and future freight demand (as anticipated by the freight industry) where affordable • Railway performance • Alignment with wider railway strategy and infrastructure • Safety risk (construction and operation) • Consistency with Local Plans

Helping us to understand the environmental conditions of the area

• Undertaking priority surveys – initial habitat surveys, great crested newts, bats, rivers, etc. • Some are being conducted outside the Preferred Route Option area – e.g., bat surveys in relation to a protected population of barbastelle bats in the Wimpole area Archaeological Surveys

Helping us understand our history that’s hidden from view

Some of the techniques used:

• Magnetometry-Fluxgate gradiometry • Caesium magnetometry • Ground penetrating radar • Electrical resistance tomography

36 Innovation – Initial Baseline Maps

37 The DCO process in 6 steps

1 2 3 4 5 6

Pre-application Acceptance Pre-examination Examination Decision Post-decision

We’ll publish An application will be During this period you The Inspectorate will The Inspectorate will After a decision has information about our lodged with an can register as an carry out an give a been made by the proposal, and consult Inspectorate, who has interested party. This Examination for up to recommendation SoS, there is an on this widely with 28 days to decide means you’ll be kept six months. During about the proposal to opportunity for legal the community. whether it meets the informed about the this time, you will be the Secretary of State challenge. Feedback will be used standards needed to proposal’s progress, given an opportunity (SoS) within 3 months to help inform our proceed to and told when there to provide a written of the close of the proposal, before it’s examination, are opportunities to submission, and examination. The SoS submitted to an including whether the put forward your case speak at a public will make a decision Inspectorate for consultations have during an hearing. about the proposal review and scrutiny. been adequate. Examination. within 3 months. 38 Thank you for listening!

What is EWR? Some of the challenges EWR Co: the integratorDelivery Questions & Answers

40 East West Railway Company