OXFORD City Council has been criticised for failing to contribute towards a major rail infrastructure project through the county.

The authority has decided against spending nearly £5m on the East West rail scheme as it had been asked to do by the Government.

All other local authorities in the area will be contributing to the scheme.

County councillor Rodney Rose, deputy leader of Oxfordshire County Council, said: “I think it is a great shame for the rest of Oxfordshire.

“There are obvious benefits to this project. It will affect business and tourism in Oxford. The business case for this has been proven and accepted by the Department for Transport.

“Why shouldn’t the city council be paying for the project which has been in the pipeline since 1995?”

The East West rail scheme will link Oxford’s rail network to Milton Keynes, Bedford and on towards East Anglia and is due to open by December 2017.

Most of the £500m funding will come from Government, but councils in the Thames Valley have been asked to put in £50m between them.

The county council agreed last month to spend £11m on the scheme while Cherwell, Buckinghamshire, Aylesbury, Milton Keynes, Central Bedfordshire and Bedford councils will put in the rest.

But Mr Rose said the city council – which had been asked to pay £4.7m – was the only authority not to pay.

He said it was not yet known whether the other councils would have to pay more as a result of this decision and he hoped the city council would change its mind.

Bob Price, leader of the city council, said there would not be any benefits for Oxford.

He said: “We see this is a project where the benefits for the city will be limited economically.

“We can see the benefits for the north-east of the county, but for Oxford the East West link has no significant economic benefits.”

City council spokesman Louisa Dean said: “The city council supports the East West Rail link project, and we recognise that it is likely to bring significant benefits to the Bicester area.

“However, as a district council, the city is not funded for transport capital projects.

“We are, however, continuing to discuss with partners a funding contribution from the city to the proposed new Oxford station that will be a key element of the East West rail network, and an important part of the city’s West End and Oxpens regeneration strategy.”

A spokesman for the East West Rail Consortium said the other local authorities would not have to pay more as a result of this decision and added that discussions are ongoing about how the city council can contribute in kind.

Milton Keynes Council spokesman Tony Bacon said the council saw the scheme as important and was pleased to work with all other local authorities in the area via the consortium.