"There is a lot of support coming from the Department for Transport and Network Rail to get this project moving. Construction work could start by the end of 2009."

^228m is a bargain. Think of the costs of Reading, Birmingham New St, let alone Crossrail or Thameslink. And how much is a couple of miles of M74 extension in Glasgow going to cost?  ^400m+ I seem to recall.

And the road alternatives are awful, particularly in the rush hour. My wife knows, as she has to drive to MK every couple of weeks, and the journey from Nailsea takes around 3 hours. I suspect the main problem would be overcrowding. Bristol-Swindon-Oxford-MK would be the ideal service, which could also provide a bit of additional peak capacity between Bristol and Swindon.   

The "congestion busting" link holds out the promise of 12-minute train journeys between Oxford and Bicester and 35 minutes between Oxford and Milton Keynes.

Nearly a year on and East-West Rail have published their more in-depth report which takes the project to final stages of GRIP (Guide for Railway Investment Projects) Stage 3.

http://www.eastwestrail.org.uk/reports/documents/GRIP3FinalReport.pdf

The project has moved on considerably and is now based on a 100mph link between Oxford and Bletchley and a 90mph link between Aylesbury and Calvert to provide a 'regional express' service at 2tph and 1tph respectively.

The following extracts indicate that the start of any actual construction work is over two years away, and that constrution would take over three years.

6.38 Currently at a stage comparable to GRIP Stage 3, it is anticipated that the remaining
Design and Mobilisation Phase of the EWR Scheme will take further 26 months. This
will include completion of GRIP 4 and 5 (single option development and detailed
design), and makes an allowance for the procurement negotiations required before a
Contractor is appointed to undertake construction phase of the project. It is during this
phase that necessary possessions and blockades will need to be booked with Network
Rail.

6.39 The construction period alone is estimated to be a period of 43 months. Further
refinement of the programme will be required as more detailed design is undertaken
and it is believe the construction period could be reduced to closer to 30 months.
Driven by the need to lay the track, it has been assumed that most civil engineering
works, signalling, crossings and drainage etc can be progressed concurrently with the
track laying.

I have watched this project for many years, and although we're still a long way from the first train running, this document seems well-reasoned, acheiveable, and just goes to show the work (and money) that has to be spent on getting a relatively modest scheme such as this off the ground.

With Ruth Kelly under increasing pressure to increase rail capacity, or at least be seen to be doing so, this is just the sort of scheme that will get her department lots of prositive coverage, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

I would have thought that Chiltern's contribution will significantly reduce the cost of the scheme (at least the infrastructure element of it), and make it much more likely to be funded. 

Now if we could only get Bourne End - High Wycombe, Bucks could end up with a superb rail network serving all the principle towns.

Unfortunately the Maidenhead Advertiser has a report on a planning enquiry into a scheme to build on the track bed at Wooburn. If it were to be approved it would kill any reopening.

And why only 100 mph? The section east of Bicester is pretty straight, and has no points for stations until Bletchley! 125 mph please!

Two points:

Via Aylesbury? I think the BBC have got it wrong. They probably mean a separate route from Aylesbury to Milton, and Oxford to Bedford.

And why only 100 mph? The section east of Bicester is pretty straight, and has no points for stations until Bletchley! 125 mph please!

Does anyone know whether the intended re-engine of the Chiltern Railways 165/0's fleet will see their top speed increased from 75mph to 90/100mph?

They want to re-engine their 168s to 100 mph (to get 90 min timings London - Birminham). I doubt they'll change their 165s.

However, they will probably order more 172s (100 mph) to run the Oxford services.

Chiltern might be able to pull off a near 90-minute timing for the odd train, if yet more money is spent on extra capacity in north-west London and reinstating through loops at Buckinghamshire stations - and they don't get stuck behind a Freightliner between Banbury and Leamington - but is it really worth it?

I don't think the current Government will have the longsighted vision.

Do you honestly think ANY Government would have that kind of vision? And if so, who?

"In the Calvert area, an HS2 infrastructure maintenance depot is
proposed. The depot would be alongside the existing East - West Rail
route between Bicester and Bletchley, near Steeple Claydon. Placing the
depot here would allow maintenance trains and on-track plant (for
example ballast trains) use the WCML at Bletchley to gain access to HS2.
There would be a link connecting HS2 to East ^ West Rail, which itself
would need to be grade-separated over HS2, potentially involving
re-alignment and raising over a distance of up to 3km. The critical
distance associated with the design on HS2 is the loop lines adjacent to
the main line. There would need to be provision for locomotives to run
round their engineering trains. Turnouts to and from HS2 and East ^ West
rail would be needed, and 80kph switches were assumed. The link to and
from East ^ West rail would need to be capable of bi-directional
operation. The depot itself was modelled on the Singlewell Depot on HS1." 

"Further investigation is needed to devise an optimum layout accommodating
the existing lines, the HS2 line, and the spur to the maintenance depot."

Its interesting that both the East-West consortium and the preferred line of HS2 both want to use the old Great Central track bed between Aylesbury and Calvert Jcn.  Can both be accomodated ( my recollection is it was only ever a double track line).

Its interesting that both the East-West consortium and the preferred line of HS2 both want to use the old Great Central track bed between Aylesbury and Calvert Jcn.  Can both be accomodated ( my recollection is it was only ever a double track line).

A 5-minute video, which to be honest is full of flashy graphics and little new information, has been released summarising the project.  Useful for those that know little about the scheme.

http://eastwestrail.org.uk/video/

Oxford Economics have produced a report summarising the wider economic case for investment in the Western Section of the East West Rail project.  There's a summary on the following link together with a link to download the full document.

http://eastwestrail.org.uk/the_project/the-economic-case-for-investment/

a double junction at Oxford North to facilitate increased capacity of connection to the
Bicester line (subject to the progression of East West railway).

Just found this on the BBC democracy live page:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/democracylive/hi/house_of_commons/newsid_9639000/9639614.stm

Financial Times. November 28, 2011
Signal green for ^Varsity^ line reopening
By Mark Odell and George Parker
Ministers are expected to give the go-ahead to re-open part of the Oxford to Cambridge railway line, closed in the wake of the Beeching cuts in the 1960s, as part of a key infrastructure announcement.
 
Under the ^250m scheme, passenger services between Oxford and Bedford ^ withdrawn by British Rail in 1967 ^ will resume by 2017. The main part of the project involves re-laying and upgrading mothballed track between Bicester and Bletchley that was last used for freight services in the mid-1990s.
The scheme is expected to be one of the surprises among 40 key infrastructure projects the government is due to announce on Tuesday (Chancellor's "Autumn Statement"), which will include schemes already under way or well advanced in the planning process.
Supporters of the project, which include the local county and borough councils, have campaigned since the mid-1990s to get the route re-opened, arguing that it will bring considerable economic benefits by linking the fast-growing city of Milton Keynes to academic and research centres in Oxford.
Under their calculations, the route will generate more than ^6 in economic benefit for every ^1 invested, a key government measure of the value of big infrastructure projects. The benefit figure would rise to ^11 if the scheme were 15 per cent funded by the private sector, they argue.

The government is expected to instruct Network Rail, the owner of the UK rail network, to include the scheme in the list of projects it has put forward for the next funding period between 2014 and 2019 (IIP & CP5).
The re-opened line would allow passengers to bypass London by linking the west of England with the Midlands and the north. It would connect with Great Western services at Didcot and Reading and with West Coast services at Milton Keynes and Midland mainline services at Bedford.
The full scheme, known as East West Rail, ultimately envisages fully re-opening the old route between Oxford and Cambridge, dubbed the Varsity or Brain Line, which closed in the aftermath of the restructuring of Britain^s railways by Dr Richard Beeching in the 1960s.
But since part of the old route between Bedford and Cambridge has been built on, ministers have baulked at the idea of trying to build a new line.
Re-opening the stretch between Oxford and Bedford also offers a political dividend for the Tories, as it runs through the constituencies of a number of Conservative MPs.
Separately, George Osborne is set to announce a cap on regulated rail fares in his autumn statement on Tuesday.
Season tickets and peak travel fares were due to rise by 8.2 per cent on average after the coalition government earlier this year increased the formula to 3 per cent above the retail price index rate of inflation.
The chancellor is now expected to announce the average fare will rise by 6.2 per cent, and that the cap will also apply to Tube and bus fares in London.
Public transport lobby groups had warned of a backlash from commuters in the south-east ^ where the constituencies of the four transport ministers are located ^ if the government left rail fare rises unchanged while appeasing the motoring lobby by acting on fuel duty.
The government is expected either to freeze or to delay the imminent full 3p increase in fuel duty.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/5ee150f0-1919-11e1-92d8-00144feabdc0.html

Transport Briefing (@transportb)
28/11/2011 09:07
Transpennine electrification, Kingkerswell bypass, Tyne & Wear Metro and East West Rail all mentioned in ^5bn infrastructure plan leaks

So, what about the bats... 

I reckon it'll either be added to the new FGW franchise or become its own separate franchise. One thing's for sure - Chiltern haven't got the stock.

Which, oddly, *would* necessitate said signalling equipment installing....

that's why they talk about *extending* Aylesbury services - so no extra trains arriving into MYB.

6 car platfoerms ought to be long enough. Frankly, it's not going to generate much traffic from myb to Milton Keynes, is it?

Anyone got any thoughts as to who might want to operate this service?

Chiltern would seem probable favourites given that they already operate the Marylebone to Aylesbury Vale Parkway service and between Oxford and Bicester Town, though our own MD indicated to me that FGW would be interested and it might be easier to integrate a change like that into a new Greater Western franchise.

In respect of the EW route it is supposed to offer a new cross country option from Birmingham to Reading, and is there not a tentative plan to put an electric coach into the Voyagers? 

Bats won't halt rail plans