The mayor of Bedford Borough, Tom Wootton (Conservative) has said he’s “deeply disappointed” that East West Rail Co have “made it clear” they won’t look at their choice of the route again after he commissioned a report to look at alternatives.
That’s despite, a spokesperson for East West Rail saying they “remain fully open to receiving new information and are actively considering the Council’s report as part of our ongoing design work”.
The Mayor expressed his frustration following a summit at Borough Hall, that brought together the Mayor, senior officers and councillors, and leaders of the East West Rail Company.
The summit followed two reports commissioned by Bedford Borough Council about the scheme, which gave a detailed breakdown of eight different possible routes.
This looked at how each of them compared for criteria such as economic benefit, ecological impact, and how many homes would have to be demolished to make way for the new route.
The resulting report did not find a definitive and obvious alternative to Route E, which runs through the north of the Borough after leaving Bedford station on Ashburnham Road.
Read: Council’s live-streamed EWR briefing allows public scrutiny of eight potential routes
Despite this, Mayor Wootton believes it does show that there is a need to double-check previous decisions.
“We’ve shown that there is a real need to look again and decide if the current northern route really is the best one for East West Rail, and for the people of Bedford Borough,” he said.
“Unfortunately, East West Rail made it clear that they are still not going to do that.
“When I asked, they did agree that they would formally respond to our reports, but they seem determined to move ahead with the current route.
“This scheme has the potential to bring enormous benefits to Bedford Borough – but that only makes it more important to get it right. And knocking down people’s homes is not a necessity to make this happen.”
However, EWR Co, say they’re taking on board the findings of the reports and are open to further feedback, but admit they believe their route choice is the best option.
“EWR Company undertook extensive work to assess alternative alignments including those detailed in the report commissioned by the Mayor of Bedford in advance of setting out our preferred route last May,” said a spokesperson for the company.
“We explained then why we are confident that this route is the best option for Bedford.
“It will deliver fast and frequent services which will help attract more businesses, jobs and investment into the town centre as well as making it easier for patients, staff and visitors get to the hospital – a service that people can rely on day by day.
“We do though remain fully open to receiving new information and are actively considering the Council’s report as part of our ongoing design work.
“We will continue to meet regularly with key stakeholders including the Mayor who met our Chief Executive to discuss the reports last month.
“All stakeholders and the local community will also be able to have their say on the project and our plans when we hold our statutory consultation in the first half of this year. “
The East West Rail scheme is expected to go out for an eight-week statutory public consultation this summer, and then a second statutory public consultation in 2025.
Mayor Wootton agrees that East West Rail could be a key part of what he calls “an exceptionally exciting time for Bedford and for the entire Borough”, which he says makes it all the more important to get the route right.
“…it’s crucial that we get the maximum benefit from these developments, and not just settle for what we’re being given,” he said.
Adding, “I will be asking for another meeting with Huw Merriman, the minister of state for rail, who is the man behind the plans. This is something that I know so many of our residents feel strongly about, and I will fight all the way to the top.”
