Council welcomes railway upgrade boost for Aylesbury Vale

Archived press release

Date Published: 16/07/12

Train

Aylesbury Vale District Council has welcomed news that the East-West Rail project is included in the government’s rail investment programme for 2014 to 2019.

The plan will restore a disused line between Oxford and Bedford, featuring a stop at Winslow and a spur line down to Aylesbury, and also stops at Bicester, Bletchley and Milton Keynes. Journey times from Aylesbury to Milton Keynes will be just 33 minutes.

The economic effects of the new rail link, planned for opening by 2017, could be to generate up to 12,000 jobs along the route and increase opportunities for businesses to invest.

Councillor Carole Paternoster, Cabinet Member for Strategic Planning, said: “The council welcomes the commitment by government to investment in the rail network in Aylesbury Vale. The restoration of this strategic transport corridor will benefit the economic potential of our district by linking us with key centres of economic activity.

“Continued investment is essential to ensure we remain competitive. We must continue to attract inward investment and grow our existing businesses. As well as delivering long-term sustainable economic growth, this project will create jobs in the short to medium term in sectors such as construction, manufacturing and engineering.”

Today’s government announcement follows the decision by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in his November 2011 Autumn Statement that East-West rail funding of £270 million would be made available, providing the promoter of the scheme, the East West Rail Consortium, of which AVDC is a partner, met two conditions.

The first requirement was a strong business case for the route. The case put forward by the East-West Rail Consortium along with the Department for Transport and Network Rail was accepted as robust. The second condition was for a commitment by local authorities along the route to contribute to the cost; a ‘commitment in principle’ to contribute £50 million between them over a period of 15 to 20 years from 2014 onwards has been agreed by the western section members of the consortium.

The consortium is now working with Department for Transport and Network Rail to implement the necessary development work to ensure the target re-opening of the western section of the east west line is met by 2017.

More information is available on the East West Rail website: eastwestrail.org.uk

Information sheets and FAQ’s are available on the website as well as a contact page and a mailing list for news of future information releases. East West Rail also has a Twitter account, @eastwestrail, which will be updated with news as it happens.