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East West Railway (EWR)

As part of the pre-application stage, EWR are consulting on their proposals. EWR intend to carry out two consultations before applying for development consent: a non-statutory consultation and a statutory consultation that will be held late 2025/early 2026. EWR  believe carrying out two rounds of consultation will maximise the opportunity to share proposals, gather people’s feedback and take this into account as they finalise proposals for the railway.  

The consultation will be open from 14 November 2024 to 24 January 2025

EWR are holding a series of in-person consultation events across the route. At each event you can review the updated proposals, talk to members of their team, ask questions and submit your feedback.

The two in-person consultations nearest Comberton are:-

  • Cambourne, Cambridge Belfry, 3 December 2024, 2pm – 7pm
  • Comberton, Comberton Village Hall, 10 January 2025, 2pm – 7pm

Additionally there are on-line briefings :-

  • 20 November 2024, 2:30pm – 4:30pm
  • 10 December 2024, 6pm – 8pm
  • 9 January 2025, 10am – 12pm

The consultation materials (and how to sign up for the on-line briefings) will be released on November 14th – To read their announcement click here

and will be provided as links from the Comberton website .

EWR is mentioned a number of times in the Autumn 2024 Budget..

5.171 East West Rail consultation – East West Rail will connect Oxford, Milton
Keynes and Cambridge and unlock land for housing and laboratories, supporting
the wider Cambridge life sciences cluster. The Budget will announce the East
West Rail consultation, the next step in the project, which will be launched by the
Secretary of State for Transport in November 2024

East West Rail will connect Oxford, Milton Keynes, and Cambridge and unlock land for housing and laboratories, supporting the wider Cambridge life sciences cluster. The first East West Rail services will begin operations next year, running between Oxford, Bletchley, and Milton Keynes. The acceleration of the Marston Vale Line will ensure these services extend to Bedford from 2030. To deliver the next stages of East West Rail the government is launching a consultation.

…..

Unlocking transformational growth in the Oxford, Milton Keynes and Cambridge corridor through £10 million of funding to enable the Cambridge Growth Company to develop an ambitious plan for the housing, transport, water, and wider infrastructure Cambridge needs to realise its full potential, and by taking the next steps to deliver East West Rail. This will support life
sciences companies and unlock private investment, cementing Cambridge’s  status as a globally renowned centre of excellence and its important role within the Industrial Strategy

.. The Budget also ensures support for these sectors is distributed across the UK. As noted above, the Investment Zones and Freeports programmes will continue.

The government is announcing the approval of the East Midlands Investment Zone, which will use its funding envelope to drive growth in green industries and advanced manufacturing. Funding was also released earlier this month for Investment Zones supporting advanced manufacturing in the West Midlands and life sciences in West Yorkshire, supporting major clusters in the Industrial Strategy’s growth-driving sectors. In addition, the Cambridge life sciences cluster is being supported by taking the next steps in delivering East West Rail, to connect the laboratories, industrial parks, and housing needed.

… Unlocking future economic growth through £10 million of funding to enable the Cambridge Growth Company to develop an ambitious plan for the
housing, transport, water and wider infrastructure Cambridge needs to realise its full potential and taking the next steps to deliver East West Rail.

Committing to East West Rail between Oxford, Milton Keynes and Cambridge, including funding to accelerate delivery of the Marston Vale Line ensuring services will run between Oxford and Bedford from 2030. This scheme will unlock land for housing and laboratories across the region, particularly around Cambridge, supporting the world-leading life sciences sector. The government is also launching the consultation for the next stage of East West Rail.

 

a map from the previous consultation was published on this website last year here