Aylesbury spur left off latest East West Rail expansion including new stations and upgrades
The Aylesbury spur has been left off the latest expansion proposals released by the Government as part of the East West Rail project.
Despite strong local support for the scheme, the Department for Transport has prioritised other areas of the rail line in its latest roll out.
This morning, the Government confirmed plans to build four new stations under the £7bn project. These stations will be part of a new train line operating between nearby Bletchley and Bedford.
Other upgrades have been revealed by the Government department including new entrances at three of the stations included on the scheme designed to improve connectivity between Cambridge and Oxford.
Aylesbury’s removal from the East West Rail project has consistently been lamented locally, given the town’s limited rail connections.
It is believed that a quick connection between Aylesbury and Milton Keynes could ease some of the town’s traffic woes.
Bucks Council leader, Councillor Steven Broadbent, told the BBC earlier this year that leaving Aylesbury out of the plans was "really short-sighted". He referenced congestion issues in Aylesbury and the lack of transport links between the town and nearby Winslow.
Aylesbury’s long-serving town council leader, Councillor Richard Lloyd, has consistently championed the argument for the Aylesbury spur. One of many points he made in an open letter to the Department of Transport last year was that many residents in the Aylesbury Vale area have witnessed major rail constructions for East West Rail and HS2 Ltd without benefiting directly from the surge in lorries and heavy-duty machinery that have populated surrounding areas.
Proposals revealed by the previous Government in 2023, left Aylesbury out of its initial construction plans listing it as a ‘potential future section’ on the new rail line. The Department for Transport has not allocated enough money to fund the Aylesbury connection, according to latest council updates.
The rail minister, Peter Hendy, told Bucks Council this year that the Aylesbury connection was ‘out of the scope’ of the East West Rail project. Lord Hendy said: “This was because early work suggested that delivering any level of passenger service to Aylesbury was likely to have a poor business case and require significant unfunded investment and infrastructure improvements.”
He added that there was ‘passive provision’ to include Aylesbury at a later date.