GCP transport director: ‘East West Railway Company isn’t saying much to us’
A transport director has revealed that conversations previously held with East West Rail are now being held with the Department for Transport amid “a lot going on nationally”.
The comments raise further questions in the ongoing debate around whether the East West Rail scheme will be delivered in full.
The Greater Cambridge Partnership’s transport director Peter Blake told a recent meeting of its joint assembly that despite seeking “regular contact” with the East West Railway Company it had not “heard anything substantive”.
He told the meeting: “I’ll tell you what I know about East West Rail, and it’s not a lot” adding: “Clearly some statements have been made by politicians about whether it is viable now.”
Mr Blake then admitted that the GCP was now instead speaking directly with the government.
He said: “We’ve actually been holding conversations quite recently with the Department for Transport rather than East West Rail and I think it’s fair to say that there’s a lot going on nationally.”
When approving National Highways’ proposed A428 Black Cat to Caxton Gibbet Development Consent Order application last month, former transport secretary Grant Shapps dismissed claims that the road scheme is not needed as it runs along the same corridor as the proposed East West Rail.
He said that there was a “uncertainty and lack of detail around the East West Rail project” and added that it was unclear whether or not the rail scheme is deliverable.
Earlier that month, the Cambridge Independent published letters signed by councillors, MPs, university representatives and business leaders in support of the scheme.
Cambridge’s Labour MP Daniel Zeichner said “failure to complete will damage Cambridge”.
Serious doubts have emerged over the latter stages of East West Rail after the Cabinet Office’s Infrastructure and Projects Authority said they appear unachievable and transport secretary Mr Shapps admitted he would like to scrap them during an interview on LBC radio.
The ambitious £5bn rail link aims to connect Oxford and Cambridge, via new stations at Cambourne and St Neots/Tempsford.
The Department for Transport said the scheme is in “early development stages” while East West Railway Company says it continues to keep the “business case and delivery programme under review”.
The EWR Company has yet to publish the full results of a public consultation held last year.
It says the route will be a catalyst for growth and provide affordable, sustainable public transport.
