Iain Stewart MP has welcomed the Conservative Government’s new £760 million funding pledge to help deliver the next phase of East West Rail, benefiting people across Milton Keynes.
This investment marks an important milestone in the delivery of East West Rail, which will provide better connectivity along the Oxford-Cambridge arc and shorten journey times between routes outside of London, stimulating economic growth and serving major new housing developments.
The works between Bicester and Bletchley are expected to create 1,500 new jobs. This phase of the project will include the construction of new stations at Winslow and Bletchley as well as enhancements to existing stations along the route. By 2025, two trains per hour will run between Oxford and Milton Keynes via Bletchley.
Alongside the new funding for East West Rail, Iain Stewart MP has also welcomed the Transport Secretary’s call for bids for a share of the third and final round of the Department for Transport’s ‘Ideas Fund’, which awards up to £50,000 each to develop schemes to restore stations and railway lines.
This announcement forms part of the Government’s commitment to build back better from the Covid-19 pandemic and level up transport infrastructure across the country by investing in rail connections that will help boost economic growth, unlock new housing and create jobs and opportunity.
Iain Stewart, MP for Milton Keynes South, commented:
"I have been campaigning for East West Rail for years and I am thrilled by this latest phase of investment.
"Residents in Bletchley can already see preparatory work under way.
"The reopening of this railway will be a huge boost for our area, and the Government’s additional Towns Fund investment in Bletchley will help us reap the maximum benefit."
Also commenting, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said:
“Restoring railways helps put communities back on the map and this investment forms part of our nationwide effort to build back vital connections and unlock access to jobs, education and housing.
“Returning these routes to their former glory, and progressing work to reopen even more lines and stations, shows our commitment to levelling up journeys across the country as we build back better from the pandemic.”
