How East West Rail would benefit Cambourne
East West Rail would make it easier to connect to other parts of the UK and get around the local area with faster connections that are greener for the environment. East West Rail's new link from Cambourne would dramatically cut the travel time to Cambridge, which is currently around an hour by car during busy periods. EWR would also provide better access to jobs and days out with friends and family, while supporting investment in public services.
By providing a new, reliable and sustainable way to travel, EWR would boost the economy, while making the region an even better place to live and work for local people.
With the new station at Cambourne, East West Rail would help reduce car dependency and congestion, making it easier and faster to get around locally. With the journey to Cambridge taking just 15 minutes from Cambourne, hour-long commutes by car in rush hour could be a thing of the past.
A new station at Cambourne would mean faster, easier commutes to more than two million jobs across the region, reducing the need to drive. Connecting employment hubs and communities, EWR could help unlock over £100 billion in additional value for the area by 2050. Our goal is to foster inclusive economic growth, giving communities improved access to education, skills and opportunities at a local and national level.
We are working closely with local partners to deliver Local Opportunity Plans that will kickstart growth around the new station and regenerate the area. EWR would make it easier for everyone in the Cambourne area to get around the region and access better public services.
A new railway would take cars off the road and improve local air quality by providing regular train services across the region, reducing emissions with journeys that are better for the environment.
Compared to a car journey, travelling by train can reduce emissions up to two thirds and our ambition is to be a net zero carbon railway. We’re committed to protecting the region’s natural assets and we have planted 150,000 trees as just one element of our strategy to deliver a 10% net biodiversity gain.
EWR would connect to most of the north-south main lines making it easier to get to the rest of the UK from Cambourne, bringing friends and family closer. With more options and shorter journey times, Cambourne residents can enjoy the nation’s most-loved destinations across the UK via train, from a city break in Liverpool to the cobbled streets of Bath.
Interchanges with other train lines will also provide better connections to UK airports such as Luton, Stansted and Birmingham, making overseas destinations more accessible.
Why are we proposing this work?
Building a new rail link between Oxford and Cambridge would bring faster and better long-term connectivity across the region. It would open up new journeys, cut travel times, ease congestion on local roads and bring more jobs within reach of local people.
Our proposals
Our proposals will bring a new station to the area to serve Cambourne residents with easy everyday journeys to Cambridge in the east, and Bedford, Milton Keynes and Oxford to the west.
We understand our plans may affect people’s homes and businesses, so we’re supporting them through our new Proposed Need to Sell Property Scheme. This will help property owners who have a compelling reason to sell but are only able to do so at a substantially lower value due to the EWR Project. Eligible owners can apply for their property to be purchased at its unaffected market value. Find out more here.
Following feedback, we’re looking at ways we can reduce the need for, or the height of, embankments and viaducts through South Cambridgeshire and have identified potential opportunities which will be presented in our statutory consultation.
Meet your community engagement team
Here at EWR Co, we’re passionate about hearing what local representatives and their communities think about East West Rail. It means we can work together as we build a successful project that will deliver shorter journey times, lower transport costs and ease pressure on local roads while bringing people closer to the things that matter most – jobs, friends and family.
Meet your Community Engagement Manager, Gail Buckland and your Local Representatives Groups Engagement Manager, Sarah Jacobs.
Head over to our community hub where we’ve set up 15 Local Representatives Groups in all areas along the route where we will deliver EWR and have a dedicated page to our events.
Find out more
Upcoming events
Community conversations
10 May 2024
14:00-19:00
South Cambridgeshire Hall, Cambourne Business Park, Cambourne, CB23 6EA
Statutory consultation
Summer 2024
Latest stories
27.03.24
Nine community conversation events scheduled ahead of first stage of statutory consultation
18.03.24
East West Rail’s potential perfectly illustrated by success of reopened railway
06.02.24
Preparing for DCO (Development Consent Order)
25.10.23
See how EWR would make it easier to get out and about across the UK
22.09.23
Improving journey times between Bedford and Cambridge
12.07.22
Removing and reducing embankments and viaducts on East West Rail
We're delivering EWR over several stages. This includes:
- Upgrading an existing section of railway between Oxford and Bicester
- Bringing back a section of railway between Bicester and Bletchley
- Refurbishing existing railway between Bletchley and Bedford
- Building brand new railway infrastructure between Bedford and Cambridge
East West Rail trains are expected to start running between Oxford and Bletchley/Milton Keynes in 2025, with services extending across the route in the coming years – following planning approvals and construction of the new railway.
What's next?
We'll provide further details of our developed proposals for how East West Rail will serve Cambourne at the statutory consultation which we expect to take place in the first half of 2024.