Oxford and Cambridge to get direct rail link under new plan
UK: Britain’s East West Rail project has opened its final public consultation on a new direct line connecting Oxford and Cambridge, with full services targeted for the mid-to-late 2030s.
The route — running through Milton Keynes and Bedford — would carry four trains per hour, with a fifth during peak periods, restoring a direct connection between two of Europe’s best-known university cities.
A corridor built in stages
Today, travelling between Oxford and Cambridge by train means a detour via London — a journey of around two hours each way. East West Rail would cut that to a direct connection through the English countryside, via Milton Keynes and Bedford.
Services between Oxford and Bedford are targeted by 2030, with the full connection to Cambridge following in the mid-to-late 2030s.
Trains are planned to run on a partially electrified route, with hybrid battery-electric technology the preferred option to replace diesel traction.
What comes next
A formal planning application is expected in 2027. Construction could begin in the late 2020s at the earliest, once the approval process is complete.
The consultation, which runs until 9 June, is the last major public engagement before that application is submitted.
Oxford and Cambridge have been rivals in academia, rowing and arguably most things else for the better part of a millennium. A direct train between them has, until now, remained stubbornly out of reach.