Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the projected end date is of East West Rail and when that date was last reviewed; what the forecast spend is for the current financial year and when that forecast was last reviewed; what the initial planned whole life costs were; what the projected whole life costs are and when that projection was last reviewed; and what the delivery confidence assessment is and when that was last reviewed.

East West Rail Connection Stage 1 (CS1) - connecting Oxford to Bletchley/Milton Keynes – is expected to enter into service in 2025. This date is regularly reviewed. The[CE1] Government has provided £1.3bn towards its delivery.

For Connection Stages 2 (connecting through to Bedford) and 3 (connecting through to Cambridge) the next step is a statutory consultation, expected in the first half of 2024. EWR Co will need to apply for a Development Consent Order to secure permission to build the railway and subject to approvals for the project is aiming to introduce services across the whole route in the early 2030s. The estimated cost of the CS2/3 stages is £4bn to £6bn.

The Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA) published Delivery Confidence Assessments for East West Rail in its Annual Report on Major Projects 2021-22. These were amber for CS1 and red for CS2/3. These will be updated in the IPA Annual Report for 2022-23.