BBC article featuring some NIMBYs
Construction Enquirer article sans NIMBYs
Good news for EWR. A new round of consultations is happening and I will be attending one in May. Here’s a breakdown of some of the points.
Trains are expected to serve Stewartby station in the “early years”, so early 2030s. 5-coach trains, 4 per hour rising to 5 once Bedford station has been remodelled. A shuttle bus will operate from Milton Keynes to the resort until the railway is operational.
The line between Bletchley and Bedford will be fully electrified by the looks of it. This will need to be upgraded and this was previously slated to happen in the early 2030s, though it sounds like this should start in the late 2020s now.
Accelerated construction plans are now being thrown around as the rail link seems to be more significant than ever, addressing housing stock issues, connecting industry, and now Universal Studios. I’m not entirely sure how they’re doing this, but I think they’re moving ahead before the DCO (Development Consent Order) is filed, at least for works they can do without it.
The plans move away from a phased approach to delivering the sections in parallel. HS2 did the same but the risk was in supplies needed for the whole line at once. This shouldn’t be a big issue for EWR as it is a
lot smaller in scale.
For the Bedford Station remodelling, the aim is a mid 2030s opening, this being “accelerated”. The render of the station is below. The work involves adding additional through platforms which would serve Oxford–Cambridge trains, bringing the platform count from 5 to 7*.
The whole line should open in the mid-late 2030s.
