The
public


consultation
over
plans
for
the
next
stages
of
East
West
Rail
restarted
yesterday,
having
taken
a
break
during
the
Christmas
and
New
Year
holiday.

However,
it
is
not
yet
clear
when
services
will
return
to
the
newly-rebuilt
section
between
Bicester
and
Bletchley,
which
was
opened
for
test
trains
last
October.

EWR
Co.
has
released
figures
showing
the
degree
of
interest
that
had
been
shown
between
19
November
and
13
December
when
it
had
staged
ten
local
events,
with
six
left
for
this
month.

The
busiest
event
was
in
the
village
of
Great
Shelford,
which
is
about
7km
south
of
Cambridge,
and
which
attracted
537
people,
or
about
one
in
eight
of
the
population,
on
22
November.

On
the
other
hand,
a
similar
event
in
the
city
of
Oxford
on
19
November
was
visited
by
only
212
people,
or
one
person
for
every
770
people
in
the
population.

A
total
of
3136
people
attended
the
ten
events
in
2024,
and
the
remaining
six
are
being
held
between
7
and
21
January.
An
online
webinar
is
also
taking
place
tomorrow
(9
January).

The
consultation
is
‘non-statutory’,
and
is
the
third
of
its
kind
since
the
project
began,
with
much
of
the
attention
being
focused
on
the
section
between
Bedford
and
Cambridge.
This
must
be
rebuilt
on
a
new
alignment,
because
the
original
trackbed
has
been
blocked
by
development
since
train
services
were
withdrawn
in
January
1968.

EWR
Co
chief
executive
David
Hughes
said:
‘Our
consultation
events
have
been
attended
by
more
than
3,000
people
wanting
to
learn
more
about
our
updated
proposals
and
sharing
their
feedback
in
significant
numbers.

‘I
have
really
enjoyed
discussing
the
benefits
of
the
new
line
with
people
at
the
events
and
hearing
their
views
on
it
as
this
exciting
project
builds
momentum,
with
passenger
services
between
Oxford
and
Bletchley
due
to
start
later
this
year.

‘There
is
strong
support
for
East
West
Rail
and
much
more
certainty
about
the
project
now.
I
would
encourage
people
to
find
out
more
about
the
project
by
attending
one
of
the
remaining
events
and
sharing
their
views
to
help
us
refine
our
designs
further
to
present
at
our
statutory
consultation.’