Rail link 'is a goer'

9:00am Friday 9th March 2007

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Plans for a £130m rail link between Oxford and Milton Keynes via Bicester have been boosted by the findings of a year-long study.

A new report finds the East-West link to be a "credible, deliverable and affordable scheme".

The £300,000 study examined engineering and operational needs, plus funding.

It concluded there was enough support for two trains every hour between Oxford and Milton Keynes.

It would form part of a rail route that could ultimately link Swindon, Oxford and the Thames Valley with Cambridge and East Anglia.

The prospects for the rail link have been boosted by anticipated increases in house building in Oxfordshire and along the western corridor.

Adrian Saunders, Oxfordshire County Council's rail development officer, said: "We are working on the basis that 2012 is a realistic time frame for the Oxford- Milton Keynes line, given the momentum behind the scheme and the support from Government.

"The report builds on the planning study published by the Government last year. It looked more closely at the engineering issues and whether it was affordable. It demonstrates that it is. It is a major step forward, allowing us to move forward."

The report was jointly funded by a consortium made up of four councils, including Oxfordshire County Council, the regional assembly, the South East England Development Agency, the Milton Keynes Partnership and the Depart- ment for Communities and Local Government.

The study established that an upgraded railway could be built "easily and quickly", outside the normal railway environment "at a much lower cost than normal".

The Oxfordshire and western section of the link is now listed as a priority in the draft South East Plan, currently undergoing an examination in public in Reading.

David Robertson, Oxfordshire County Council's cabinet member for transport, said: "An East-West railway line of this kind would represent a real breakthrough for public transport in general and railways in particularly in Oxfordshire,and the country as a whole"