East West: a new way of working

To complete his task, Brighouse has appointed ScotRail Alliance MD Phil Verster to manage a two-person team comprising Stephen Barker (Chiltern Railways) and Chris Nicholson (former cabinet member special advisor). 

Each has been carefully selected to bring a wide range of expertise to the scoping report as well as extensive knowledge of its varied outputs, including development of new infrastructure, operational and customer requirements, corporate financing and effective liaison with other government departments. 

Grayling will also hope that the work being carried out by Brighouse and his assembled team can re-energise a long-running project that has hit the doldrums, and which is in desperate need of renewed impetus after 30 years of campaigning to redraw the line on the railway map. 

The through route between Oxford and Cambridge closed in 1967, as a result of the Beeching cuts. It was exactly 20 years later that local councils first investigated the costs of reopening the section between Oxford and Bletchley to passengers (it was still being used for freight). From there services could run up the West Coast Main Line to Milton Keynes, and then onwards to Bedford and the Midland Main Line via the little-used Marston Vale line. 

From this process the East West Rail Consortium (EWRC) of local authorities was founded in 1995 to develop the business case, chaired initially by Ipswich City Council. 

The scheme took a huge leap forward in 2008 when a Network Rail GRIP 3 study determined a benefit:cost ratio (BCR) of 2.1:1 for the western section proposal, at an estimated cost of £228m. The national importance and strategic value of a northern orbital route for London that would eventually connect the Great Western, West Coast, Midland, East Coast, West Anglia and Great Eastern main lines was incontrovertible, and so this initial phase of construction was granted final approval by the Coalition Government in 2011.  

In the High Level Output Specification for Control Period 5 (CP5, 2014-19), £270m was allocated to upgrade the route from Oxford to Bedford to 100mph, running on double track that was to be electrified. RAIL 679 subsequently reported in October 2011 that the target date for the introduction of passenger services was December 2017. 

Despite these intentions, however, only the westernmost part of the western section was ever completed under the Evergreen 3 upgrade (Phase 1). The line from Bicester to Oxford, operated by Chiltern Railways, is therefore currently the only part of the route to carry passengers west of Bletchley. 

From Bicester and the newly-built chord with the Chiltern Main Line, the line runs a short distance east to Claydon Junction for freight services. But from there, the 11½ miles of track to Bletchley is in situ but not operational, having last been used for freight in May 1993. Restoring this disused part of the western section is known as Phase 2, but is proving frustratingly slow to deliver. 

Although environmental assessments and structural surveys took place in April 2014, delivery was pushed back from CP5 (2014-19) to CP6 (2019-24) as a result of the Hendy review in November 2015.

This review had been commissioned to re-draw NR’s overly-ambitious investment plans, when it became apparent that excessively optimistic project costs and timescales (plus inadequate planning) threatened to push NR outside of its funding envelope for CP5. 

NR’s internal resources also looked to be over-committed - other flagship projects such as the Great Western Main Line electrification were badly scoped prior to commencement, leading to lengthy and costly overruns. 

NR also had to reconsider its funding priorities for CP5, following the decision in 2014 to reclassify its debts as government liabilities. This has limited how much it can now borrow to plug funding shortfalls, and has prompted other schemes such as the Midland Main Line electrification to also be put on hold.  

With a new target date of 2024, contracts were awarded in December 2015 to press on with East West Phase 2, with an alliance formed comprising Network Rail, Atkins, Laing O’Rourke and VolkerRail (EWR2). 

So far, however, only a limited amount of vegetation clearance and design work has taken place. Legal permissions have proven slow to obtain, with numerous consultations required before work can begin on the 18 new overbridges and 22 new footbridges and subways that are needed, or on the changes required to the 97 road and foot crossings that criss-cross this part of the railway.

To expedite progress, Chancellor Phillip Hammond allocated a further £110m to the project in November 2016. £10m was also allocated to continue development plans for the central section of the route between Cambridge and Bedford, which was lifted after closure with the trackbed now partly built on. Meanwhile, no firm plans have yet been made for the proposed eastern section - this will use existing routes to Ipswich and Norwich, and Brighouse confirms that it is unlikely to feature much in his report.  

He adds: “You’re thinking as soon as we go east of Bedford, what’s the route? Again, to me it’s a blank canvas. I want to look at the work NR’s already done and draw my own conclusions on what is the best option or the options that should be considered.

“When you look at the East West Consortium, I think it started in Ipswich but my remit at the moment is very clear - I am currently focusing on the route to Cambridge. I’m not saying I won’t consider what goes east of Cambridge, but there’s only so much you can do in three months.”