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Beth West, chief executive officer of East West Railway Company, on ensuring the project is at the forefront of innovation
Putting East West Rail at the forefront of innovation T
here was a collective sigh of relief when the Chancellor announced in the Autumn statement that East West Rail (EWR) would be “funded as promised”. Jeremy Hunt’s comments ended speculation the £5 billion rail project which will link Oxford and Cambridge might not be delivered in full. “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,” said Beth West, chief executive officer (CEO) at the East West Railway Company (EWR Co). “It is fantastic to have appeared on the list of projects government is keen to accelerate and after months of it being unclear what was going
to happen and spending a lot of time focusing on building that advocacy for the scheme, we are delighted at the prospect of delivering the benefits of this fantastic new line for hundreds of thousands of people.” The EWR project will see better connections between Oxford and Cambridge with new services and destinations introduced over three connection stages: Connection Stage one: EWR services will run from Oxford to Bletchley/Milton Keynes. Connection Stage two: EWR services will extend from Oxford to Bedford. Connection Stage three: Completion of the full EWR connection with services running from Oxford to Cambridge via Bedford and Bletchley.
In addition to ramped-up engagement, the next milestones will be a route update announcement in which the team will talk about the next steps, as well as supplier events in the new year, ensuring organisations understand what it is that EWR is trying to achieve and any barriers faced by organisations that could work on the project. “EWR will offer cleaner, faster travel between home and work and opportunities for days out, reducing journey times, traffic congestion and pollution,” said Beth, who is leading the organisation with the purpose of increasing prosperity and improving the wellbeing for communities between Oxford, Milton Keynes, Bedford and Cambridge. “Across the route and the region people have been clamouring for this project for years and years because when you look at the rail network there’s not that much that goes east and west.
January 2023
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