East West Rail boss says scheme 'critical' for government ahead of Autumn Budget
The scheme was allocated £2.5 billion by the Government earlier this year
The boss of East West Rail (EWR) is not ruling out any more funding from the Government when it sets out its Autumn Budget today.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves already set aside £2.5 billion to the scheme - which connects Cambridge, Milton Keynes and Oxford - in her summer spending review earlier this year.
The Government hopes this funding will - as well as speed up the delivery of EWR - support new housing developments and fulfil the Oxford to Cambridge growth corridor.
"The Chancellor has, on several occasions, made clear the Government's commitment to East West Rail," David Hughes, chief executive at EWR, said.
"They (the Government) see it as critical to the economic growth agenda; they see the Oxford-Cambridge growth corridor as being critical to that mission and they see EWR as being the infrastructure that makes a reality of that corridor."
'Funding already secured'
Last week, East West Railway Company confirmed updates for different parts of the route, including a new rail station in Cambridge, changes to the Marston Vale line to serve the new Universal Studios resort in Bedfordshire and designs to support the reopening of the Cowley branch line in Oxford.
Last month, the Government pledged £500 million to support the growth corridor, including the reopening of the Cowley line and major funding for development in Cambridge.
Mr Hughes told us the scheme could cost between £5-7bn to build.
"We may get name-checked in the Budget, we may not, but our funding is already secured," he added.
"When we go to the planning process, one of the things we need to set out is the business case, but the cost estimates are stable and hasn't changed from the position we set out when we went through our last consultation exercise this time last year."
Labour 'not prepared to miss out' on growth chance
The Government has described EWR it as one of Britain’s largest transport projects, claiming it's set to boost the Oxford-Cambridge economy by £6.7 billion per year by 2050.
Speaking in January, Ms Reeves said the Oxford-Cambridge corridor could become "Europe's Silicon Valley", adding £78 billion to the UK's economy by 2035.
Ms Reeves added that Labour is "not prepared to miss out on the opportunities any longer (and) we are going further and faster to unlock the potential of the Oxford-Cambridge growth corridor."