You can support me over on
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Chris_Rail_Focus
Or by joining Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrffHlssphfdkzTkVfBdo5w/join
alternatively if you’d like to buy me a coffee you can do so on my Ko-Fi page: https://ko-fi.com/rail_focus
or by making a purchase on my Redbubble photography page: Prints, Mugs, T-shirts and much more:
https://www.redbubble.com/people/EngPhotography/explore?page=1&sortOrder=recent
Blog: https://engineeringfocusblog.blogspot.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/EngFocus
BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/railfocus.bsky.social
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/EngineeringFocus/
Instagram: www.instagram.com/engfocus
East West Rail 2024 consultation page: https://eastwestrail.co.uk/consultation2024
East West Rail Update part 1, looking at the section and service from Oxford to Milton Keynes. Including a look at Winslow station and the plans to electrify the route.
#EWR #EastWestRail #Rail
41 Comments
If you would like to consider supporting the channel click: https://www.patreon.com/Chris_Rail_Focus or become a Member here on Youtube
Or you can support the channel by making a purchase on my Redbubble galleryÂ
https://www.redbubble.com/people/engphotography/shop
Or alternatively by becoming a YouTube member
Thank you for this clear, unfussy update. Yes as a former resident of Bicester, I can understand the tensions that might have been generated over the level crossing matter, because if that is taken out, the route into town is a long way round! I think Islip is pronounced as in 'I slip', perhaps to do with vehicle adhesion problems produced by frequent flooding of the River Ray there!
I'd hope they would electrify Didcot – Oxford if they were going to put Wires up on EWR
Another great video and I'm really looking forward to the next 2. How is it that the operator has not yet been announced? Aren't Chiltern Trains already short of a few DMUs to run their existing services? It's a bit surprising they can find others for this but not their commuter services.
Where is the four track section ? Is it where the line branches off at Fenny Stratford to join the WCML ?
Nice video! Do you have any plans to cover the Mid Cornwall Metro at all? thanks
Where is the connection for Northampton in golden triangle 😡😡😡
7:48 Bletchley Station did have an extra exit straight to the bus interchange but it was blocked off a long time ago due to antisocial things that were going on – it is being looked at again esp with the new council and government in charge.
I was in Bletchley couple weeks ago and i'm please that Network Rail is considering building the Eastern section of the station facing the bus station, its will avoid passengers walking the long round to the bus station to catch the bus.
Thanks for the update. Hopefully, they'll build the link to Aylesbury as well. It's not as if it would cost much as it was already in place prior to the line upgrade.
FYI when discussing Oxford station the visual is of Cambridge South station.
Quelle belle voie monotone de robot !
I'm delighted to hear that the electrification of the line is once more on the cards.
Do you think LNWR will continue to operate the marston vale line as ive seen a lnwr 150 go northbound past rugby
Are EWR seriously proposing to electrify the line (with all the attendant disruption/closures) only a year or two after it opens? What a fiasco!
West Midland can certainly spare some trains, because they're always cancelling services on my local line due to staff shortages.
Chiltern were announced as the operator of the stage 1 service on 6 April 2023. It was done by a PIN being issued by DFT to amend their management contract. It’s why Chiltern have been operating test runs with their existing DMUs, pending transfer of a number of Class 196 DMUs from the West Midlands.
Discontinuous Electrification is ridiculous, preventing high capacity freight services.
'Put measures in place…' probably means creating a residents parking zone, and charging the residents for permits to park there.
6:42 I've always thought that Oxford to Didcot should have been considered part of EWR anyway so glad they're considering merging the services.
I have a strong feeling 6x 2-car 196s will not be enough for the first services: several reopenings have exceeded expectations in recent years, including Okehampton and the Borders railway. Connecting the major settlements of Oxford and Milton Keynes is bound to generate more traffic than what these units can contain, so I hope they can muster more stock and/or operators running over the route soon.
Eye-slip
Great update! Just need them to build the Aylesbury Spur now
Can't wait for the North to get some of that government rail money as well as hs2 stage 2! 😔
So apparently West Midlands Railway Class 196 Civity are to be hired for the East-West Rail link Oxford-Milton Keynes Central service and to extend to Bedford that London Northwestern Railway are using the Class 150 DMUs cascaded from Northern.
I personally would like to see the Eastern section between Bedford and Cambridge to be built via Tempsford and Cambourne.
The dream is that one day this will connect with HSR
Nice video! It's about time the new government looked into adding back the electrification to East West Rail. It was a mistake for it to be removed. Overhead electrification really does need to be the default option on new railways.
Your comment about trains using East West Rail as a diversionary route highlights the fact that trains headed into London, that get diverted this way, might benefit from the electrification too. So the actual "cost vs benefit" analysis should not just be about the "anticipated revenue of passenger trains" – it should take into account all the other options that East West Rail unllocks for passenger and freight train movements.
Didn.t notice any electric car charging bays at Winslow station!
Electrification ftw!!
Appreciate you releasing this in three rather than one long video. The graphics and slow zoom are really useful to help visualise the route.
Winslow is looking awful barren. Poor pedestrian/cycle access by the looks of things too. Hopefully some sort of transit orientated mixed use development is on the cards too.
The ramp in the bichester looks like the corners are too tight for a fast turn. The underpass looks like the far nicer and shorter option.
Still dreaming of some sort of long term plan to extend to Whitney/Carterton
Ive travelled on the Didcot to Oxford railway for 25 years, the stopping services are often cancelled….it needs 4 tracks, and electrification…
Great information but the background music is completely unneccessary and rather annoying, in my view (or ears)
Good vid, thanks. It was a short-sighted move to close the Bedford-Cambridge line, and imbecilic to sell-off chunks of the track bed. At least the Bicester-Bletchley line remained in railway ownership so rebuilding was comparitively straight forward.
Similar short-sighted closures for the WR include the West Drayton-Uxbridge and West-Drayton-Staines lines, both of which would relieve their associated congested routes into London and provide a changeover to crossrail (and Heathrow) for both at West Drayton… oh for a crystal ball!
I hadn't considered extending the MK/BY services to Didcot to capitalise on the spare capacity there and relieve Oxford. Makes sense.
From a freight aspect, I think this route has great potential to relieve the London area and Birmingham-OXF for southampton /westbound stuff – basically anything trying to get away from the WCML south of MK (to Reading via NLL)
This all sounds extremely overambitious. Feels like they're trying to add in every gold-plated option they can get away with instead of just opening the railway and actually getting a return on their work. The freight loops might be a good idea, but I'm still not sure there's quite that much traffic for the line. It puzzles me why they're revisiting this section when it's not even in service yet, and the Marston Vale section probably needs more attention and consolidation.
It is Eye slip, not is lip….
It's not really East West Rail is it.. it's West Central Rail. or Varsity Rail at best… delivers absolutely no benefits whatsoever to rail passengers east of Cambridge who badly need them.
Universal studios theme park being built on this line is going to seriously test it's capacity.
Are EWR considering using solar panels on Carparks to provide a sustainable electrical connection and lessen the call on Grid power?
1:50 – When everyone has their orange beacons on, no-one has!
Thank you for this update. Its a bit difficult getting information from the official sources.
Amused to hear you hope that rail users will take a bus to Winslow! First find a bus