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".

In the most rigorous examination of the plan yet to have been undertaken, the £300,000 study examined engineering and operational needs, along with the issue of funding. It concluded that two trains every hour between Oxford and Milton Keynes could be achieved, with a strong business case to support the service.

It would form part of an orbital 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.

With the link seen as supporting housing growth, the report makes clear that developers should be expected to help fund the plan to the tune of £100m, through supplementary tariff and planning gain supplement payments.

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 national 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 and define what is going to be built." 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 Department for Communities and Local Government.

The study established that an upgraded railway could be built "easily and quickly" and "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.

The consortium's chairman, Neil Gibson, said: "The release of this report shows for the first time that there is a credible and achievable scheme for the western section of the East-West link.

"The next stage of development work will define the scheme and establish a clear delivery and funding frame- work."

The report was welcomed by the Regional Transport Board. Its chairman, Nick Skellett, said: "The board supports the restoration of the East-West link as an essential part of the infrastructure required to support the delivery of growth in Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes."