Western Section, East West Rail Communications and consultation strategy Re‐connecting Bedford, Oxford, Aylesbury and Milton Keynes September 2013; v1.5 Name Role Date Author Richard Flindell Communications Manager, NR June 2013 Reviewer Caryl Jones Communications Manager, EWRC June/July 2013 Reviewer Colin Murphy Consents Manager, NR June/July 2013 Reviewer Anna Guinness Consultation Specialist NR July 2013 Reviewer Steve Watson East West Rail Consortium July 2013 Version Date Description Date 1.1 June 2013 Original draft June 2013 Updated 1.2 July 2013 30 July 2013 Project and EWRC feedback Updated 1.3 July 2013 31 July 2013 Project Executive Board feedback Updated following 1.4 August 2013 15 August 2013 JDB endorsement Version 1.5 circulated to 1.5 September 2013 17 September 2013 Consortium, DfT and NR Project Table of contents Map of Western Section, East West Rail ................................................................................................................ 2 New journey opportunities.................................................................................................................................... 3 The route .............................................................................................................................................................. 4 Background........................................................................................................................................................... 8 Assumptions ........................................................................................................................................................11 Objectives ............................................................................................................................................................13 East West Rail Consortium and Joint Delivery Board .............................................................................................14 Network Rail ........................................................................................................................................................14 Department for Transport ....................................................................................................................................14 Communication strategy ......................................................................................................................................15 Consultation.........................................................................................................................................................18 Joined up communications ...................................................................................................................................22 Appendix A – Our progress ...................................................................................................................................25 Appendix A – Our progress ...................................................................................................................................25 Appendix B – Stakeholder overview .....................................................................................................................28 Indicative timeline................................................................................................................................................29 Page 1 of 29 Western Section, East West Rail Communications and consultation strategy Re‐connecting Bedford, Oxford, Aylesbury and Milton Keynes September 2013; v1.5 Map of Western Section, East West Rail Page 2 of 29 Western Section, East West Rail Communications and consultation strategy Re‐connecting Bedford, Oxford, Aylesbury and Milton Keynes September 2013; v1.5 New journey opportunities The train services currently assumed for route planning purposes as a result of completing the Western Section are: By December 2017 Paddington–Reading–Oxford–Bicester–Bletchley–Milton Keynes EMU Oxford–Bicester–Bletchley–Bedford DMU Marylebone–High Wycombe–Aylesbury–Bletchley–Milton Keynes DMU Bletchley–Bedford local DMU Possible Basingstoke–Reading–Oxford–Bicester–Milton Keynes–Manchester EMU Freight By December 2019 (subject to Midland Main Line electrification) Paddington–Oxford–Bicester–Bletchley–Bedford EMU Possible Southampton – Reading – Oxford – Bicester – Milton Keynes – Manchester EMU Key milestones 2015 Autumn Chiltern Railways Marylebone–Oxford Parkway (Water Eaton) May Chiltern Railways Marylebone–Oxford 2016 December GW electric service Paddington–Oxford July HLOS published for 2019‐24 to include funding for Central Section? 2017 December Western Section, East West Rail opens Bedford–Oxford, Milton Keynes–Aylesbury December Bletchley–Oxford electrification complete 2019 December Bedford–Bletchley electrification complete 2020 Milton Keynes population larger than Edinburgh 2021 Heathrow Western Access opens 2026 HS2 Phase 1 opens : West Midlands–London Page 3 of 29 Western Section, East West Rail Communications and consultation strategy Re‐connecting Bedford, Oxford, Aylesbury and Milton Keynes September 2013; v1.5 The route Bedford to Bletchley This 24 mile section of the route operates as the Marston Vale Line (a Community Rail Partnership) and sits within London Midland’s Passenger Train Operating franchise. An hourly service operates and stops at all nine stations between Bedford and Bletchley. There are 13 marked railway crossings along this section of the route. Page 4 of 29 Western Section, East West Rail Communications and consultation strategy Re‐connecting Bedford, Oxford, Aylesbury and Milton Keynes September 2013; v1.5 Bletchley to Claydon Junction – mothballed section This 10.7 mile section of the railway lies between Bletchley and Claydon Junction – between the two Stop Block Gates indicated in the map below. It is reported that the last train passed through this section approximately 20 years ago although freight and passenger services have not run since 1968 along this stretch of line. Restoring the twin track along the mothballed section of railway will require sensitivity and care to make sure all line‐ side neighbours are fully engaged and feel properly included in our plans. Much of this section will be re‐instated under Permitted Development (PD). However, there is one small, un‐ authorised section of railway (see schematic in next section) that falls outside of the railway’s lateral limits of deviation. This section will require inclusion in a Transport and Works Act Order to grant Network Rail the necessary powers to reinstate the line. A new station will be built at Winslow. Page 5 of 29 Western Section, East West Rail Communications and consultation strategy Re‐connecting Bedford, Oxford, Aylesbury and Milton Keynes September 2013; v1.5 Claydon Junction to Aylesbury/Bicester Town Freight service to waste recycling plant once per day. Buckinghamshire Railway Centre is located almost 4 miles north west of Aylesbury Vale Parkway. There are five marked crossings along these sections of line. In this section it is anticipated that one or more Transport and Works Act Orders (TWAOs) will be required to obtain powers for ancillary works not covered by PD; for example, where the railway: falls outside the limits of deviation [Section 2] and [Section 4] is ‘unauthorised’ [Section y6] at Verne Junction curve, built during World War 2 plus other interventions such as level crossings; Winslow station etc Page 6 of 29 Western Section, East West Rail Communications and consultation strategy Re‐connecting Bedford, Oxford, Aylesbury and Milton Keynes September 2013; v1.5 Bletchley to Milton Keynes This section of track currently forms the West Coast Main Line and runs for a distance of just over 3 miles between the two stations. Page 7 of 29 Western Section, East West Rail Communications and consultation strategy Re‐connecting Bedford, Oxford, Aylesbury and Milton Keynes September 2013; v1.5 Background The East West Rail project ‐ the aspiration to establish a strategic railway connecting East Anglia with Central, Southern and Western England ‐ has been promoted and developed since 1995 by the East West Rail Consortium, made up of an alliance of Local Authorities currently led by Cambridgeshire County Council. On 16 July 2012, the Department for Transport confirmed that re‐opening and upgrading the rail link between Bedford and Oxford, Milton Keynes and Aylesbury (East West Rail, Western Section) would form one of Network Rail’s committed outputs 2014‐2019 (Control Period 5), along with a commitment to electrify Bedford to Oxford. RThe EW Consortium is the key promoter of East West Rail and members will provide funding of £50m towards the project. Although the Western Section is to be delivered by Network Rail, we value and welcome the continued involvement of Consortium members to help successful delivery of the scheme. Two project phases Due to the size and complexity of the project the work has been broken down into two separate phases. Phase 1, the Oxford to Bicester phase will be delivered in conjunction with the Evergreen 3 project collaboration between Chiltern Railways and Network Rail). As well as providing the East West Rail link between Oxford and Bicester, this section will also form Chiltern Railway’s fast rail services between Oxford and London, Marylebone, due to open in 2016. This strategy is primarily concerned with Phase 2 of the East West Rail link: Bicester to Bletchley, Aylesbury to Milton Keynes and Bletchley