Many thanks for CA’s own Graham Turnbull for this news summary.
East West Rail and its effects on Greater Cambridge is not one simple story driven by a (cunning) plan and the latest announcements haven’t provided clarity.
The recently announced £2.5b for EWR in the Government Spending Review, to be spent during this Government, sounds like a firm commitment to progress the Oxford to Cambridge EWR rail link. A commitment, but for what and when?
Back in January Government promised a new station on the East Coast Main Line at Tempsford to serve a new town by providing a service to King’s Cross which handles many suburban rail services including Stevenage, Welwyn Garden City, and Letchworth Garden City. New rail stations are slow to build and expensive as Cambridge South illustrates, so that is a chunk out of the £2.5b for a very complex cross over station on two levels. Uninterrupted ECML traffic north has priority and EWR supposedly passes below with interconnected platforms serving passengers for Bedford and Cambridge. Or above, possibly, one day. As yet there are no plans or timescale and Network Rail has to be in control because of the Main Line, not the East West Rail Company.
There is a second new rail station promised by Government, this time to serve the Bedford Universal Studios Theme Park which Government says ‘will bring an estimated £50bn boost for the economy and create around 28,000 jobs in total across creative, hospitality and construction industries.’ It is set to open in 2031 so the hurry is on to achieve that date. This development is of huge importance to the region around Bedford and a bright light for the Government to campaign on in the next general election in 2029 when its construction should be well advanced.
The chosen site for the 478 acre park includes a 500 room hotel and retail complex and could attract 8.5 million visitors in its first year. Appropriate rail services are vital to avoid the region’s road system being overwhelmed.
Universal Studios has said there will be a new station on the East West Rail Marston Vale Line replacing Kempston Hardwick station adjacent to the resort and upgrades to the Wixams Railway Station on the Midlands Main Line connecting to Luton Airport where expansion has also been approved.
At Bedford the EWR plans are to relocate Bedford St Johns station and completely rebuild Bedford Station.
Editor: It’s important to note that Universal Studios have made no demands on government to provide an EWR link to Cambridge.
This adds up to three brand new railway stations at Bedford and transferring the costs of upgrading Wixams Rail Station to four platforms from local government to Whitehall in addition to the Tempsford Station. That £2.5b needs to cover those costs and the upgrading of the EWR Marston Vale Line to Bedford. Editor: Note that the upgrade of the line from Bicester to Bletchley (CS1) cost £1.2billion.
Chiltern Railways has been selected to operate the first phase of the East West Rail (EWR) service which will run between Oxford and Milton Keynes and presumably that organisation will extend the service to the Marston Vale Kempston Hardwick Theme Park station when the track is ready. For that station to be open in 2031 the existing route from Bletchley to Bedford has to be refurbished and interim arrangements made for Chiltern trains to terminate in Bedford from 2031.
Those interim arrangements for Chiltern Railways need to operate from opening of the attraction in 2031 for perhaps five or more years. Between 2031 and 2035/6/7 Chiltern Railways need turn-back and depot service at Bedford or close by. The EWR proposal is to make space for the rail tracks in the approach to Bedford Station by relocating the existing Jowett Sidings, where Thameslink trains are parked and maintained when not in use. The sidings would be relocated to a site near the existing Cauldwell Depot which is on the Midland Main Line approximately 1.2km (0.7 miles) south of Bedford Station.
At the existing Jowett Siding site EWR propose to retain and repurpose some of the sidings infrastructure for use by East West Rail which would in turn minimise any need for development of an alternative stabling site. EWR state that this opportunity will be explored further with more details provided at the statutory consultation.
Current EWR plans for Bedford involve a new St Johns Rail Station opposite the hospital; a new Midland Mainline station and demolition of homes in the Poet’s area of Bedford when a six-track configuration is built. For more details consult the BFARe website. Editor: There is an unresolved conflict between EWR plans and much needed hospital expansion plans at the site. These plans claim an economic boost for Bedford at the cost of prolonged disruption and many people pointing out better alternatives. What is clear is that Bedford will now be the centre of urgent discussions if there is to be a Theme Park rail station on the Marston Vale Line to serve visitors along with the Midland Mainline Wixams Rail Station. Expect some lively arguments about new Bedford railway stations. The elephant in the room is how to provide Chiltern Railways with interim turn-back facilities.
The EWR passenger service to Cambridge is not on the same timescale as the opening of the Bedford Theme Park which claims a much earlier economic benefit, and maybe a greater economic benefit than extending EWR services to Cambridge. The earliest completion date for a new Bedford to Cambridge EWR line is mid 2030’s (at best). The EWR Cambridge turn-back facilities for Chiltern Railways at Cherry Hinton are a distant prospect and can make no contribution to successful opening of the Theme Park in 2031 and those 8.5 million visitors in its first year. Editor: Will not Chiltern Railways have disappeared into Great British Railways by then?
Of great importance to EWR and to Greater Cambridge is the promised Government midsummer announcement – the New Towns list. The New Towns Taskforce established in September 2024 was given a year to list the next generation of new towns for Government to develop in persuit of 1.5m new homes built during this parliament. These are developments of more than 10,000 houses and associated infrastructure and Tempsford has been widely trailed as a leading contender. If Northstowe is selected by Government for its New Towns List it has a build-out rate that can be accelerated and the promised 10,000 homes mostly achieved within this parliament. This New Towns List announcement in midsummer is therefore very important to Cambridge and there are implications for EWR. Editor: Given the EWR timescales it hard to see how Tempsford could contribute to the housing target for this parliament.
If Northstowe is on the list of new towns getting Government support, then the centre of gravity for new developments and economic growth in Greater Cambridge is very clearly a swathe around the north side of Cambridge. The area includes the University North West Cambridge Development that is the most significant capital project in the University’s history according to its Vice Chancellor. Eddington already sets new standards for housing developments. Near Northstowe, Waterbeach New Town has a relocated rail station. Trinity College is planning a new ‘Cambridge Science Park North’ at Histon by the A14 and also near Cambridge North Station the original Cambridge Science Park is being modernised and further developed. Cambridge East is planned on the present airfield land.
The importance of these developments and which new towns feature in the New Towns List is that the present EWR plans serve only Cambridge South and Cambridge City Stations with no service to Cambridge North. An EWR rail service to two out of three Cambridge rail stations looks tilted towards Cambridge Biomedical Campus to the neglect of the future of the city. The new Mayor of Cambridge and Peterborough Combined Authority prefers light rail and the imminent reorganisation of Local Government tiers creates uncertainty about proposed new busways which are unpopular to some but do have preliminary funding. The local transport needs of Greater Cambridge aren’t going to be resolved in this Parliament. Editor: As already reported Mayor Bristow is also proposing an EWR route much further south because light rail could serve the needs of Cambourne sooner than EWR.
The recently announced £2.5b for EWR in the Government Spending Review looks less impressive when the cost of upgrading the Marston Vale Line and building completely new rail stations at Tempsford, Marston Vale Theme Park, Bedford St Johns and Bedford are taken in account together with the Wixam Station upgrade. Will Cambourne feature on the Government New Towns List? Now the Bedford Universal Studio Theme Park is confirmed in terms of current planning and spending EWRCo have their hands full dealing with Bedford. Editor: The EWR driven ‘Local Opportunity Plan’ for Cambourne is also nearing completion so we will see a prediction of EWR driven housing growth there (if any).
5 replies on “News Update June 2025”
Interesting to read and thanks for highlighting all the finer detail. Yes the funds will get sucked up fast!
It would be good if we could have some local stations ….. but expect that issue will be swept along with the proposed Cambridge Mayor’s Light Rail.
Excellent stuff Graham Turnbull,. Thank You!
It seems that this Theme Park has sharpened minds to considering the whole future investment issue in East Anglia for transport and housing.
I am left wondering if we could get decent integrated transport structure and affordable housing in the right places, before any more route possibilities are closed off without massively expensive civil engineering projects like the Transpennine Route Upgrade?
Poor Rachel, she is going to have to increase taxes, U-Turns thick and fast. Perhaps the final leg of EWR will have a major re-think, including stopping the mixing of National, Regional and Local Transport needs?
Could the SCDC private railway (almost), be downgraded to light rail/tram metro schemes of 20+ years ago giving real LOCAL options, leaving National Rail in the form of EWR to have a much needed re-think on the route?
Doubt it. The current mob behind all this failure have lacked vision, experience, competence and are conflicted for the last 30 years, that ain’t going to change. It’s just jobs for the Girls and Boys.
It has become normal for governments (and governments in waiting) to throw around grandiose plans to catch votes. Such promises always include the enticing prospect of zillions of jobs, masses of so-called affordable houses, leisure and cultural facilities and so on.
As ever the devil is in the detail, and the proposers are never around long enough to sort out the chaos which results for such unrealistic and poorly thought out policies (HS2, Br**it etc etc!).
Reconnecting Cambridge to Bedford would renew the broken link in the national rail network, and for that reason is welcomed by many. But even a simple rural line with several stations would pose a lot of challenges (capacity at both Cambridge and Bedford) especially if freight is considered. But the way this scheme has been officially adopted by governments as the magic answer to their need for economic growth is becoming an almost impossibly flawed project. Never mind the dramatic effect on what remains of our precious countryside.
If the inevitable consequences were made known, along with the plans at the first announcement, the sort of mess we are now witnessing would never happen.
Thank you. This is characteristicaly informative and full of important detail. The points about research and commercial developments north of the city are crucial.