EWR’s ongoing target to build a railway and support local businesses and sustainability has taken the interest of a few young people after their recent consultation, but it still seems as though they are not fully engaged wth this multi-billion-pound project.
If built, the new Oxford-to-Cambridge rail link, with potential connections to Universal Studios, could enable young people in Bedford to access new business opportunities in the surrounding area.
This may well boost productivity in the region, despite criticism that could carry a high environmental cost.
Megan Nichols, a student living near Cambridge who commutes to Bedford daily, told the Bedford Independent that transportation now “can be easy, but there are some timetable restrictions when it comes to how fast I can get in and out of the area”.
Stuart Ratcliffe, external communications manager at EWR Co, says their research shows it takes “an hour” to drive between Bedford and Cambridge City Centre when you factor in the park-and-ride bus service.
He adds a train via London “would take around two hours 12 minutes”.
Shorter journey times
EWR Co estimate that the new project will cut driving journey times by 25 minutes, and the overall journey between Oxford and Cambridge will be around “90-95 minutes” compared to “two hours” by car.
Megan says that this decrease in journey times would make her “more likely to use it”.
While getting from one train station to another may well be improved, what about onward journeys and connections to other modes of transport?
Stuart acknowledged “interchange facilities between trains and buses could be better”, and said they were looking at a western entrance at Bedford train station to make it safer for people cycling or walking to the station.
Read: Latest EWR update shows new Bedford station and faster services but critics still concerned
While EWR says they are working hard to get younger people engaged in the project, including greater use of social media, with Instagram in the last year, they are still predominantly reaching older demographics.
But Stuart says early signs suggest more younger people are taking an interest.
Their Instagram engagement accounts for 38% of their audience, and they aim to “raise that level of engagement with younger people”.
Stuart emphasised that it’s probably fair to say that in a younger audience, they weren’t “really aware too much about what East West Rail actually was”.
To tackle this, they further invited groups such as the Bedford Youth Council to attend a consultation.
The students were said to be very interested in the “environment and sustainability” aspects of the project, especially regarding “carbon management”.
While Megan was pleased to hear about the time reductions in travel, as a young person she raised the issue of “affordability of travel once the project is running”.
Despite the project’s benefits, many concerns remain.
Demolitions and construction criticisms
Cllr Gribble (Independent/Renhold & Ravensden) raises concerns that the project is not only “environmentally [and] socially destructive” but also holds an “economic impact on Bedford during construction and one that will take the longest to construct.”
Read: Bedfordians asked to comment on East West Rail plans without key disruption details
She emphasises that “there are alternatives that will be cheaper, involve no demolition of properties and fracture of communities” whilst still “achieving the government’s objectives”
Gribble points out that even during construction it has been “grossly underplayed with road diversions, traffic management and closures to look forward to”
While EWR has attempted to help those properties that will be damaged through their “Need to Sell” scheme, Gribble argues that “those who are losing their houses or land and businesses are rightly angry at their losses and lack of adequate compensation”
Read: Councillors unite against home demolitions in East West Rail plans
While reduced journey times have been promised, Gribble points out that “the new black cat road will be open next year,” which in turn also “[reduces] the time it takes to travel to Cambridge”
Gribble also criticised EWR’s consultations, saying she believed they were “notoriously poor with a lack of information or the right people there to answer [her] questions,” and she, too, described the events as “the same tick-box exercises”.
Gribble adds that they “have had plenty of opportunity to change the way they listen and speak to people; they choose not to do so” and feels that she has “not yet seen this approach changing in spite of feedback”.
Read: East West Rail consultation attendance falls 39% from previous round
General awareness
Speaking to shoppers in Bedford town centre, two people who recently moved to the town admitted they were unaware of the project.
But they raised initial concerns about the project’s necessity and other issues surrounding the environment and sustainability
Stuart told us EWR is keen to “minimise that disruption as much as possible”.
As a company, EWR maintains that it has taken views like these into account and is “acutely aware” of its responsibilities to the environment,
Stuart adds that they are also aware there is still a lot of “uncertainty”, especially for those facing demolition of their homes, and they are working hard to get firm answers as soon as they can.
Despite the ongoing pushback from those affected by the chosen route, Stuart maintains that with the opportunities during construction and once it is up and running, EWR will be a “glue that joins that region together”.
