Thousands respond to East West Rail public events
Nearly 6,000 people took part in a consultation exercise on the new East West Railway line that will ultimately link Oxford to Cambridge.
There were events at 16 locations along the proposed route between November 2024 and January 2025.
At the events, East West Rail presented information on work to upgrade the existing line between Oxford and Bedford, as well as the proposed new line between Bedford and Cambridge.
It is the third non-statutory consultation that has been carried out, and will help inform the final design, which will be presented for consideration next year.
The highest level of interest came from people who attended the events in Comberton, Great Shelford and Cambourne in Cambridgeshire.
People largely saw the new route as good for the UK's economic development and felt it could drive up local property values, especially in areas like Bicester and Cambourne.
They also felt it could address housing shortages, with more development near the new stations in Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire.
There was concern about the demolition of homes, disruption and negative impacts on businesses and house prices during a prolonged construction phase, as well as the visual impact of the line.
There were questions too about some station designs, changes to major roads and bridges in Bedford and Bicester, and the environmental impact of a viaduct over the River Great Ouse floodplain.
East West Rail said its technical team would now be going through the comments in detail to see if there were any refinements that could be made to the designs.
You can follow BBC Oxfordshire on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
What is happening with East West Rail?
'We have to take risks to build major railway'
Operator named for first part of East West Rail
New station built with 'East West Rail in mind'
East West Rail
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Forbes
11 minutes ago
- Forbes
Local Politicians Blame ‘Rude' Cycling Advocates For Lack Of High-Quality Cycle Lanes
Detail of a bike symbol partially obliterated by roadworks on Tottencourt Court Road, in London, ... More England. (Photo by Richard Baker / In Pictures via Getty Images Images) Aside from the proliferation of potholes, few other issues lead to fiercer debate in local media than the creation of bike lanes. Even though cycling is a benign form of personal transport, much of this debate is often headlined as 'controversial,' with those who call for cycle infrastructure sometimes labeled, wrongly, as 'all-powerful.' At the same time, far more dominant car interests fly under the radar. Now, a new British study claims that a 'sizeable number of cyclists may unwittingly undermine their own cause.' In the words of one local politician mentioned in the study, this was because of the 'rudeness' of some cycle advocates on social media. This characterization may be a symptom of so-called 'motornormativity'—unconscious bias in favor of motoring—but, according to a local politician quoted in the paper, many U.K. councils 'find it harder to advocate for more cycle infrastructure, not because people don't like it, but because people feel that nothing we ever do will make cyclists happy.' Given the often truncated nature of bike lanes—which can start and stop for no physical reason and rarely mesh to form a useable network, unlike the infrastructure provided for motorists—this is perhaps unsurprising. The study includes interviews with dozens of councilors and local officials who work on local transport projects across the U.K. Study author Dr. Alexander Nurse, a reader in urban planning at the University of Liverpool, found that while bike lane opponents were often hostile and antagonistic, so were some cycle advocates. View of a bus cutting across a painted cycle lane at Old Street roundabout on in London, England. ... More (Photo by John Keeble/Getty Image) Nurse found that slightly less than one-third of interactions with cycle advocates about new projects were seen as negative. One respondent complained: 'Cycling campaigners are counterproductive due to their rudeness.' Strident social media campaigning in favor of bike lanes 'can massively undermine [cycling's] case, particularly with skeptical councilors,' said a respondent to Nurse's survey of almost 50 councilors and officials. However, such strident posts on Twitter, Facebook, and other social media sites were considered by councilors to be peripheral, while far more persuasive were emails and face-to-face interactions with constituents. 'While social media is a powerful tool,' said Nurse, 'it doesn't replace traditional methods when it comes to meaningful community engagement.' The subject of providing infrastructure for cyclists was considered 'controversial' by many councilors, reports The Guardian, with debate on social media seen as 'toxic.' Those opposed to cycling infrastructure could often be 'abusive,' said the research. One councilor described being 'doxxed' online, with their address and family details revealed. Some councillors expressed suspicion of those opposed to bike lanes, describing them as 'usually anonymous' and often pushing 'misinformation from the Libertarian fringe or organizations that are almost certainly bankrolled by fossil fuel organizations' but councillors also said that some cycle advocates 'don't appreciate challenges in advancing delivery.' The paper is published in the journal Local Government Studies.
Bloomberg
an hour ago
- Bloomberg
Untested Banks Find Demand for Risky AT1 Bonds
Investors are so eager to buy the riskiest bank debt that they're snatching up securities even from unproven borrowers. A UK bank rescued from collapse less than two years ago, a lender to small businesses and an online loan provider are among a swathe of firms selling their first Additional Tier 1 bonds this year.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
With hounded police and pampered criminals, Britain is upside down
Our country is being taken for a ride and the public are sick to the back teeth of it. In April, Hashem Abedi, one of the men responsible for the Manchester Arena bombing, attacked prison guards with hot oil and a stabbing attack that seriously injured three officers. Abedi was also granted more than £1,200 in taxpayers' cash to launch an equal rights case in prison. Prison officers do invaluable work protecting the public and deserve better protection. Yet those who do the right thing and put their lives on the line for us often get hounded and harassed. Take Sergeant Martyn Blake for example, a specialist firearms officer who faced down real danger and took action to stop the dangerous and violent gang member Chris Kaba. Instead of a medal, Sergeant Blake got a murder trial – a disgraceful decision. Thankfully, he was found not guilty. That should have been the end of it. But it's not. Sergeant Blake is now facing gross-misconduct charges by the Independent Office for Police Conduct, a quango that said on his acquittal they wanted to 'acknowledge Chris Kaba's family and friends today as they continue to grieve his death. Our thoughts and sympathies remain with them and everyone else who has been affected.' This is the world we've built – where the people risking their lives for us get treated like criminals by their own oversight bodies, while the criminals are venerated. Britain used to be about the person who put in the hard work, who did the right thing, who waited patiently in a queue for their turn and stood up for what is right. Slowly but surely, something is changing. When I talk to people around the country, I get a sense of profound frustration. The shop worker, getting up at the crack of dawn for their shift, driving past the house at the end of the street, curtains still closed, bin full of takeaways, sleeping off a hangover after a night watching TV (all paid for by the taxpayer). It's the electrician, who can't afford to replace the latest set of tools stolen out the back of his van, driving past the asylum hotel full of people who arrived here illegally and are about be told they can stay in Britain forever and live a life paid for by his taxes. It's got to stop. And it starts with enforcement and re-establishing order. When the Conservative Party is in government again, that's exactly what we will do. The party of law and order is back. And I am unashamedly on the side of those who do the right thing. Our cities are descending into chaos. It's not a public health emergency, as London Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan keeps saying. It's a lack of bloody enforcement. We've all had enough of having to step over drug addicts while we go about shopping. Of toiletries and meat kept under lock and key in the supermarket. Of trains that seem to work for fare dodgers, not commuters – as highlighted by the shadow justice secretary Rob Jenrick in his excellent video this week. Labour is too busy releasing prisoners from their sentences early to get a grip on the situation. We have four more years of this, and when the time comes, we will need a party that knows how to fix problems, not just make noise. That starts with the broad-based plan the Conservatives are building. Our policy renewal programme is well underway and we are commissioning experts across the board to come up with the solutions to the challenges Britain faces today and will face over the next decade. Tomorrow, Robert Jenrick sets out another stage in our criminal justice proposals, which would help get a grip on the disorder in our prisons. The respected former prison governor, Ian Acheson, has conducted a rapid review to come up with solutions the government can adopt now. And this is just the beginning, there is more to come. Our problems are connected. We can never hope to get control of our streets if we are importing people who commit more crimes and don't deport them. We have to deal with immigration. Shadow home secretary Chris Philp and I set out the early stages of our plan to deal with that earlier this year: a hard cap on numbers, no pathway to citizenship without contribution, zero tolerance of foreign national offenders, and a real deterrent to stop those who try to come illegally. It says everything that one of Labour's first decisions in office was to scrap the Rwanda deterrent with no replacement. Now they vote against new proposals to tackle migration in Parliament, while offering milquetoast policies that do nothing to tackle the issue. Despite talking tough on migration, Reform's big idea is a new minister for deportations. Creating more politicians is not the solution for any of the problems the UK has right now. Conservatives are building for the long-term. I am ending the practice of rushing out policies and announcements with no plan. This approach may have been good for polling, but it was bad for the public. Instead, I am working on credible policies that will actually fix the UK's problems and ensure that those who work hard, make sacrifices and deliver safe communities and prosperity are rewarded, and those who break the rules are punished – severely. Other parties may race to the bottom of more hand-outs and more benefits. We are working on building a secure and prosperous country of which we can all be proud. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
