East West Rail (EWR) aims to establish a strategic railway connecting East Anglia with central, southern and western England. EWR comprises three separate sections: Western, Central and Eastern. The Western Section of the route consists of two distinct phases of work known as EWR Phase 1 and EWR2. EWR Phase 1 was completed in December 2016 and trains operate from Oxford via Bicester Village to London Marylebone. EWR Phase 2 (EWR2) includes improving and reconstructing lines between Bedford, Bicester, Bletchley, Milton Keynes and Aylesbury.
In July 2017 the Department for Transport (DfT) directed Network Rail to evaluate whether the capital costs of the project could be reduced whilst maintaining all of the benefits for local connectivity within the Oxford–Milton Keynes corridor. We identified that savings could be achieved to the total project costs through a combination of changes to the construction methodology and the Project’s scope. The DfT have endorsed that these changes be taken forward. The scope change has resulted in alterations to the Project, necessitating a third round of consultation.
The purpose of the Round Three Consultation is to present the changed scope of the EWR2 proposed works to stakeholders such as the public, landowners and statutory consultees so they can appreciate how the changes may affect them and understand the environmental effects that may arise as a consequence of these changes.
The consultation end date is 9 February 2018.
Consultation details were sent to newly identified landowners/occupiers on 5 February and the consultation end date for this group only is 5 March 2018.