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East West Rail (EWR) is a new railway line being created between Oxford and Cambridge. But it is not being delivered by Network Rail – instead it is being created by East West Railway Co, an organisation set up by Chris Grayling in 2016 when he was transport secretary.
East West Railway Co was created to operate independently from Network Rail so that it could focus all of its attention on the East West Rail project rather than being distracted by other priorities or projects. The aim was to get East West Rail moving more quickly.
The ramifications of this decision extend further than speeding up project delivery.
For this project, East West Railway Co is the developer but also the operator of the line. This means its team must take a holistic view as builder and operator.
It is in a position to ensure the construction, operation and customer experience dovetail to create a modern, reliable and adaptable railway.
When considering the capital and operating costs of any decision, East West Railway Co considers consultation feedback, economic modelling, socio-economic data analysis and a range of environmental studies.
“It means we can build customer needs into our design in a way that in the past would never have been possible,” says EWR programme delivery director Ian Parker. “We’re trying to challenge the model in terms of how we can get it built quicker but be more reliable. How can we do it as cheaply as possible in an affordable way that creates the service which generates a good level of demand when it goes into operation?”
EWR engineering director Simon Scott adds: “A lot of the things we do in railway structures is ‘fix and forget’. What we’re trying to do is design around that. We need to build in a way that can be upgraded cheaply and effectively to take advantage of the technology changes and the demands of the customer.
“Other railways think about assets and rail systems – we don’t think that way. To us, everything is a system. These systems have to be really closely coupled to create that customer experience, that reliability.”
Connecting communities
Although EWR will one day stretch from Oxford to Cambridge, the main objective is to make it easier to get between the small communities that lie between the two cities. It will be a “transformative railway” for these towns and the region as a whole, according to Scott.
Before the EWR got underway Network Rail completed an 18km line from Oxford to Bicester Village in 2015. It then handed over to East West Railway Co to continue the project. Work on the £760M Connection Stage 1 of EWR is currently underway. This will extend the line from Bicester to Bletchley. For this 32km section, the line is following the route of the Varsity Line, the former Oxford to Cambridge railway that was created by George Stephenson and colleagues in the mid-19th century, but which fell out of use in the 1960s.
Work is taking place all along Connection Stage 1. Earthworks are nearing completion, track is being laid, new bridges are being built, new areas of biodiversity are being planted and a new station is under construction at Winslow, about halfway between Bicester and Bletchley.
We’re trying to challenge the model in terms of how we can get it built quicker but be more reliable
This part of the line will become operational in early 2025. Work on Connection Stage 2 will then begin. This is a 26km section of the route taking the line as far as Bedford. It follows the Marston Vale line, a section of the Varsity Line that is still in operation, but which will be adopted and upgraded by the EWR project.
Funding permitting, the final phase will extend it to Cambridge – another 48km or so, although the route has not yet been finalised.
“We’re not looking for the short, straight line, we’re looking for the line that connects the most places,” Parker says. By the time the full project is complete, trains will stop in at least nine villages between the cities at either end.
As well as Winslow, a new station will be built at Cambourne, and upgrades will take place at all the others.
Interaction with the residents along the railway has been a key aspect of the way EWR is designed and delivered.
“You have lots of local communities, all of whom are inevitably going to be affected by the work to some extent, so a lot of focus is on keeping them satisfied with what’s going on,” Parker says. “They’re also our future customers, so it’s pretty important that we leave them with some positive feelings about the railway.”
Triggering growth
With that in mind, EWR is looking to precipitate and support the expansion of communities along the railway.
“It’s not about the number of journeys from Oxford to Cambridge, it’s about creating connectivity right through what’s being referred to as the Oxford-Cambridge Arc,” Parker says. “It’s seen as an area of economic growth.”
With a population of 4,400 people, Winslow is an example of a town with potential that can be unlocked. Adjacent to the Winslow station site is a new secondary school and across the road is a large greenfield site, already purchased for a large housing development where families can settle and use the railway to commute.
This will solve a problem for large local employers like AstraZeneca, which has had difficulty attracting skilled staff due to the lack of transport infrastructure.
A railway connecting these rural settlements to industrial hubs is critical – and could become a massive boon for the country’s economy.
“With Oxford and Cambridge and all the other universities in the area, there are clusters that want to compete with Silicon Valley,” Scott says.
“So you need to have the transport infrastructure and the housing for people to come to the area. One of our key targets is to enable that to happen.”
Winslow station under construction
Research hub
Currently Winslow station doesn’t even have track running through it, so it takes some imagination to picture this area becoming the heart of Britain’s research hub – but it’s what Scott and Parker do every day.
“We have an internal mantra, which is ‘are we being bold and different?’,” Scott says.
“We’re really pushing hard to create our customers’ experience in the future, to make sure that the government gets an affordable scheme, and to make sure that the communities can redevelop from it. If we’re not being bold and different then that won’t happen. Then we’re just another railway.”
Parker builds on this with ideas for what stations could become. “Is it somewhere you get on and off the train, or is it a village centre? I’d love to see a situation in which the stations become the destination, where people might actually work. I think having people commute along the railway to a workplace that’s actually on the railway is quite an interesting idea.”
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