How capital costs have been considered as  part of East West Rail

At all stages of planning for East West Rail (EWR), we are committed to delivering the best value for taxpayers and returning the most benefit for every pound spent. Costand overall affordability are key criteria that we use to refine our plans.

Following the route update announcement in May 2023 – which confirmed thealignment of the railway between Bedford and Cambridge and outlined proposed  infrastructure for the whole route from Oxford  to Cambridge – we’ve worked hard to bring  costs down as we’ve developed and refined  proposals for EWR. This design development  work over the past 18 months has delivered like for like cost savings, compared to the estimate we published at Route Update Announcement.

In parallel, we have identified additional work to enhance the benefits of EWR for strategic  reasons, including:

• Electrification to lower carbon and  improve performance – discontinuous electrification has been included in line  with our ambition to be a net zero carbon railway, as well as delivering improved  journey times for passengers. 
• Enhanced upgrades on the Marston Vale Line to improve safety and  reliability – we have now included work to replace the signalling system on this  section of the line, as it would not be cost  effective to repair the old system, and  modern signalling integrated with the rest of the line will deliver more reliable train  services for passengers. We have also  included costs for relocating stations, in  the event this option is chosen.
• Depots to improve the efficiency  of railway operations – since the Route Update Announcement, more  maintenance depots have been included  as a precaution to ensure more efficient  operations, while we refine our thinking on how the railway would be operated.

Including these additional works, like  electrification, does inevitably have cost  implications. We have, however, been able to use the like for like savings we generated to help fund this work and therefore to limit the cost impact of these key improvements  to our proposals.

A table outlining how costs have evolved since the route update announcement is provided below. Figures present capital costs exclusive of inflation, base date: second quarter, 2021.

What’s your approach to estimating costs?

Capital costs relate to costs incurred during  delivery of a project, such as carrying out  construction works and purchasing buildings,  land and equipment as opposed to the costs of operating, maintaining or decommissioning the project.

We consider costs such as:

• Base Construction Costs – such as civilengineering, stations, track, signalling,  land and property.
• Indirect Costs – including project  management, design, costs of railway possessions and contractor’s costs for site set up, welfare and security.

We continue to take a consistent approach to estimating principles and have carried out  an update in line with the same approach  taken at route update announcement. All  estimates have been quantified and priced in accordance with the Rail Method of  Measurement published by Network Rail or the New Rules of Measurement published by the  Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.

Find out more

For more information about the costs we published at the May 2023 route update announcement, please visit: eastwestrail.co.uk/routeupdate  

For more details on latest proposals for East West Rail, please see the Consultation Document here: https://eastwestrail.co.uk/consultation2024 

How to get involved

Visit our website - https://eastwestrail.co.uk/

You can find the full range of  consultation material in accessible  and downloadable formats. You’ll  also find information on how you can respond to this consultation and further details about East West Rail. 

Get in touch

You can always get in touch with a member of our team by calling 0330 134 0067 or emailing, [email protected]