A local MP has blasted the East West Rail link calling it after it was announced a new station would be built along the route in Tempsford.
Richard Fuller, the Conservative MP for North Bedfordshire was reacting to the announcement from EWR following a highly-anticipated growth speech from Chancellor Rachel Reeves who gave her backing to better transport links between Oxford and Cambridge.
Read: Chancellor of the exchequer gives unequivocal backing to East West Rail
After yesterday’s speech, EWR Co, the company charged with delivering the rail link, said the new station will be delivered ahead of time, enabling “better connections along the Government’s ‘growth corridor’ between Oxford, Milton Keynes, Bedford and Cambridge route”.
Tempsford’s new station is now set to be delivered up to five years earlier than planned, providing a station for services on the East Coast Main Line travelling north to south, whilst the Oxford to Cambridge rail line is still under construction.
In her announcement yesterday (Wednesday), the Chancellor gave her support to the East West Rail scheme which EWR Co say will now allow the station to be delivered under an “accelerated timeframe”.
This phased approach to the construction of a station at Tempsford, they say, will also mean “new housing and growth opportunities can then be brought forward”.
But the news hasn’t been met with excitement from all and Fuller has called out EWR Co and the Government saying the transport links are something else entirely.
“[The] announcement by the government to expedite building an East Coast Mainline Station at Tempsford, confirms that considerable house building is coming to Tempsford and elsewhere in Bedfordshire,” he said.
“I warned at the general election campaign that East West Rail is really a housing project.”
Mr Fuller believes the views of local people are not being listened to and the Chancellor has given the go-ahead to “concrete over our countryside”.
He’s also raised concerns over the “huge cost to taxpayers” and an “increase in pressure” on local services that he says are already struggling to keep up with a “rate of housing growth which is already two and a half times the national average.”
However, David Hughes, CEO of East West Railway Company, believes the rail line, alongside housing, will unlock the region’s potential.
“The Chancellor’s decision highlights the crucial role East West Rail will play in unlocking growth for the UK economy by providing infrastructure which can support new jobs and much needed affordable housing, as well as supporting this region’s world-leading life sciences cluster,” he said.
Europe’s ‘Silicon Valley’
The chancellor’s speech yesterday focused, at least in this area, on a plan to create Europe’s ‘Silicon Valley’ with Oxford and Cambridge at either end.
Speaking at Siemens Healthineers in Oxfordshire, she said connecting Oxford to Cambridge universities through better road and rail links and housing could add up to £78bn to the UK economy by 2035.
“Just 66 miles apart, these cities are home to two of the best universities in the world, two of the most intensive innovation clusters in the world, and the area is a hub for globally renowned science and technology firms in life sciences, manufacturing, and AI.
“To grow, these world-class companies need world-class talent who should be able to get to work quickly and find somewhere to live in the local area.
“But to get from Oxford to Cambridge by train takes two-and-a-half hours.
“Oxford and Cambridge are two of the least affordable cities in the UK. In other words, the demand is there but there are far too many supply-side constraints on economic growth in the region.”
However, campaign group STARC (Stop The ARC group) has condemned the government’s plans.
“EWR itself is an extravagantly expensive railway. The EWR business case, such as it has one, says the railway will return only 30p for every pound spent on it,” said STARC spokesman Nick Burton.
“And we now learn that the proposed new stations between Bletchley and Cambridge must be funded by the developers of nearby housing, while local authorities will expect the same developers to pay for roads and local services.
“For developers to make a profit, the resulting houses will be some of the most expensive in the country.
“Reeves claims her plans will produce £70bn GVA by 2035, none of which will be created by the railway, which is only planned to be complete and running in the same year.”
William Harrold, STARC member and founder of the Cambridge Approaches thinktank added, “Everyone agrees the country has a housing problem and a growth problem. But the Chancellor’s proposals are set to deliver the wrong kind of housing, in the wrong places.”
