Bletchley-Oxford Rail Link

Andrew Smith Excerpts

Tuesday 15th November 2011 Westminster Hall

[Iain Stewart (Milton Keynes South) (Con)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship for what I believe is the first time, Mr Caton. I am delighted to have this opportunity to help to promote the case for reopening the east-west railway line, which would link Reading, High Wycombe and the rest of the Thames valley with Oxford, Bicester, Aylesbury, Bletchley, Milton Keynes, Bedford and destinations further east.

The campaign is run by the East-West Rail Consortium, which is a partnership of local authorities, the South East Midlands local enterprise partnership, rail operators and Network Rail. The ambition is to have the western section included in the next control period—CP5—and HLOS, the high-level output specification, from 2014. I am in the process of establishing an all-party group to help to promote this campaign.

The east-west railway has the informal and slightly romantic name of the Varsity line, linking as it does Oxford and Cambridge, although the extent of the route is much greater than that, particularly the link to Aylesbury. My comments today will primarily focus on the western end of the east-west rail link. I should make it clear that many, including my hon. Friend the Member for Cambridge (Dr Huppert), regard this section as a vital first step to opening the eastern end of the line between Bedford and Cambridge, and from there linking into the existing rail network serving Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk.

[Mr Andrew Smith (Oxford East) (Lab)]

I congratulate the hon. Gentleman on securing this important debate and on his establishment of the all-party group. As he has mentioned the other place, I want to get in early and mention Oxford and how strong the support is for this initiative across political parties, both in Oxford and in the wider Oxfordshire county. The cost-benefit ratio is, of course, particularly good.

[Iain Stewart]

There is indeed widespread support along the line of the route and across parties. I was about to mention that this is not a new campaign. A former constituent of mine, a Mr Chris Wright, e-mailed me at the weekend to say that this year marks the silver anniversary of his involvement in the campaign to reopen the line.

By way of background, the line was built in phases between 1846 and 1862. The first attempt to close the line was made in 1959, but a local campaign opposed the closure. It did not even feature in the Beeching plans in the 1960s. It was only when fast trains were introduced between London and Cambridge and London and Oxford in the ’60s that patronage fell away to such an extent that it was quicker for people to travel into London and back out again rather than make the cross-country journey. British Rail withdrew passenger services, except of course for the section between Bletchley and Bedford, which remains in operation today. Even though passenger services were withdrawn, the line remained in operation for many years and was used for a variety of purposes, including freight services and for diversionary passenger services when the main line was undergoing engineering work.

In 1993, the section between Bletchley and Calvert Junction was mothballed, although much of the track bed remains and, thankfully, none of the line has been built on. Much of the route is already back in use. In 1987, British Rail reopened the Oxford to Bicester Town section. The Chiltern Railways Evergreen 3 project, subject to the Secretary of State’s decision on the recent public inquiry, plans to upgrade the line and build a new chord, which would see fast passenger trains from London to Oxford via Bicester and High Wycombe.

Chiltern Railways services have also been extended north of Aylesbury to the new Aylesbury Vale Parkway station, which has been built to service new housing development in the north of that town. The section between Aylesbury and Bicester remains open for freight purposes, so the line needs to be upgraded only for passenger services. My right hon. Friend the Member for Aylesbury (Mr Lidington) is a strong champion of the restoration of this passenger service.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mrs Villiers]

Time constraints prevent me from going into the detail of what might be included in CP5 for the Greater Anglia area, but I am well aware of my hon. Friend’s campaign to improve the infrastructure there. That will be considered very seriously as part of both the HLOS process and the refranchising process.

Different ways of delivering the project have been carefully assessed by the consortium, with each one being tested for efficiency. I welcome, for example, its work on finding a lower-cost approach to planning consents, with a mix of permitted development rights and local authority planning permission.

The Government are already working on projects that could benefit the east-west rail corridor. As my hon. Friend the Member for Milton Keynes South said, the route between Oxford and Bicester Town, as well as being part of the east-west rail project, is being upgraded under the Chiltern Evergreen 3 programme. That will deliver new train services between Oxford and London Marylebone by 2014. Our agreement with Chiltern Railways includes funding the cost of strengthening the bridges and improving the tunnel, which will ensure that that section is capable of accommodating possible traffic resulting from east-west rail. Chiltern has planned its improvements so that the section is ready for a further upgrade of track and signals. Again, if east-west rail happens, that will be necessary.

My hon. Friend was brave enough to mention HS2. If HS2 goes ahead along the preferred route put forward for consultation, that could co-exist with east-west rail; there would be some synergies, potentially. The preferred route for HS2 would run parallel to east-west rail, between Quainton and Claydon. The operation of HS2 could free up busy parts of the west coast main line, including Milton Keynes, enabling new regional and local services to be run. That could improve the business case for east-west rail by providing space for more long-distance connecting journeys.

On my hon. Friend’s proposal for an HS2 station, I can assure him that we are considering with great care all the consultation responses, including all those that have proposed new stations. He proposed that we should fast-track east-west rail and deliver it by the end of the Parliament. I see that as quite an ambitious goal, but I will take it on board in discussions in the run-up to the growth review.

I think that the consortium is right to concentrate on the western section of the route. The case for reinstating the central section between Bedford and Cambridge is less developed. However, it is generally accepted that if the western section gets the go-ahead, that will be the time for more substantial work to see whether we cannot take forward the rest of the project at some future point.

The railways are experiencing a renaissance in 21st-century Britain. More people are travelling by train than at any time since the 1920s. Despite a deficit as serious as any in our peacetime history, we are undertaking the biggest programme of rail upgrades since the Victorian era. In the days before privatisation, projects on the scale of east-west rail to reopen lines closed years previously would have been scarcely conceivable. Now, they are not just conceivable, but credible and even realistic. However, despite—

[Mr Andrew Smith]

Will the Minister give way?

[Mrs Villiers]

I am about to run out of time. Despite the strength of the business case, there is no doubt that a very large amount of investment—about £250 million—is required to rebuild the route, and the expanded train services would probably require extra subsidy in the early years of operation. Ultimate success will therefore depend on a continued focus on getting costs down and bringing in additional funding sources. It will also depend on what is affordable, taking on board competing priorities for CP5. This debate has provided a very welcome opportunity to consider those issues and is a valuable contribution to the preparation for the HLOS statement and the Government’s decisions on what it will be possible to fund in the CP5 period.

[Mr Andrew Smith]

Before the Minister concludes, will she give way? There is still time remaining.

[Mrs Villiers]

I will.

[Mr Smith]

The Minister has referred several times to CP5, and like others present, I welcome the tone of her statement. When might we expect a further statement on the prospects for this important project?

[Mrs Villiers]

We are continuing to assess this. The HLOS statement will be published in the summer. I think that the latest deadline for that is July, but we have not set a specific date for publication. In the meantime, we will continue to work on this project, alongside the consortium, and as and when there is an announcement to be made or progress to be announced, I will ensure that the right hon. Gentleman is the first to hear about it.