Project would re-establish a rail link between Cambridge and Oxford 

East west rail map

Network Rail is opening a new consultation on the transformation of east-west rail services between Oxford, Bicester and Bedford and Milton Keynes and Aylesbury.

The views of residents, businesses and passengers are being sought from 12 January until 9 February, with a number of drop-in events taking place across the regions.

The proposed East West Rail project, which is scheduled to be completed in the mid-2020s, would re-establish a rail link between Cambridge and Oxford which Network Rail said would improve connections between East Anglia and central, southern and western England.

Phase 2 of the western section of the project will introduce rail passenger services between Bedford and Oxford, Milton Keynes and Oxford, and Milton Keynes and Aylesbury, with connection via Amersham or Princes Risborough to London Marylebone.

Last month the Cambridge-Oxford rail line moved a step closer after transport secretary Chris Grayling launched the East West Rail Company.

This has been set up to oversee works to restore the links between the two cities, nearly 50 years after the closure of the old Varsity Line that used to connect the pair at the Second World War site of Bletchley Park.

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