Recently appointed Prime Minister Liz Truss has given her backing the £5 billion East West Rail project, set to link Oxford and Cambridge.
The next phase of the project was put in doubt after the Department for Transport said it was a decision for ‘the next Prime Minister.
Despite local objection to the project, the Prime Minister backs the scheme, shortly after local business leaders made a case for the project.
Beth West, chief executive of East West Rail, said: “We were pleased to see that EWR appeared on the list of projects Government is keen to accelerate.
“At EWR we believe that local people living and working in the communities in and around Oxford, Milton Keynes, Bedford and Cambridge, deserve reliable, sustainable and affordable public transport that links them to their jobs, families and friends.
“The EWR team is passionate about making life better for the communities we serve by connecting people to the things that really matter.
“EWR will offer cleaner, faster travel between home and work and opportunities for days out, reducing journey times, traffic congestion and pollution. We are delighted at the prospect of delivering the benefits of this fantastic new line for hundreds of thousands of people.”
The first section to upgrade the railway between Oxford and Bicester was completed in 2016. Construction of the next phase between Oxford and Milton Keynes is well underway and is expected to complete by 2025.
Image: Simon Dawson / No10 Downing Street, OGL 3 <http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3>, via Wikimedia Commons
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