Secretary of State ‘unable to commit’ to opening date for East West Rail line
Secretary of State Heidi Alexander says she is ‘unable to commit’ to an opening date for the East West Rail line.
The Minister was responding to a letter from Buckingham and Bletchley MP Callum Anderson, who was seeking an update on work towards beginning passenger services on the line, which will run from Oxford to Bletchley, via the newly-built station at Winslow.
In a letter, which he sent to the Minister in August, Callum wrote that he “welcomed the Government's commitment to work with Network Rail and Chiltern Railways to commence passenger services between Oxford and Milton Keynes via Winslow and Bletchley in December."
In her response, published yesterday (Monday) the Minister said she would not publicly commit to an opening date for the service.
She wrote: “I know you will understand better than most how frustrating it would be for me to publicly commit to an opening date, only to have to move it later due to unforeseen circumstances.
“I hope you will therefore understand that I am unable to commit to a date at this time, but I can commit to keeping you updated as regularly as I am able about this process.”
From Sunday (September 20), Chiltern Railways moved into public ownership, which the Government said provided “a fresh opportunity to deliver East West Rail and its benefits to passengers.”
One of the factors behind the continued delays in the launch of the East West Rail service is a dispute between the RMT rail union and Chiltern Railways over whether to use driver-only operation (DOO) on the services.
The DOO system means the only staff member on board is the driver, who has responsibility for the movement of the train and door control.
The RMT held a demonstration outside Marylebone Station in London yesterday (Monday) against the use of DOO on East West Rail services, arguing that it “presents a significant risk to safety.”
The union’s members are currently being balloted on whether to take strike action over the use of DOO, with this closing on Tuesday September 29.
The impasse has meant that the new Winslow Railway Station, construction on which was completed in October 2024, has not yet opened to passengers.
In her letter the Secretary of State highlighted how “significant progress” had been made despite delays to the introduction of passenger services on the East West Rail line.
“We have been working hard to get everything ready to begin passenger services on the new line,” she wrote.
“Significant progress has been made, including the training of new drivers, the completion of a new colleague hub and driver depot at Bletchley, the fitting out of Winslow station, and the progression of the assurance activities required for the safe introduction of passenger services.”
Reacting to the letter Callum said: “I was very grateful to the Transport Secretary for recognising our collective frustration caused by the delays.
“While she cannot, at this stage, commit to a firm opening date, I am glad that she shares our priority for getting passenger services up and running as soon as possible.”