Ground investigations in Bedford Borough starting in April 

To help us develop the designs for the new railway between Bedford and Cambridge, we need to undertake ground investigations to understand the properties of the soil and rock and the nature of the groundwater in the area around the proposed railway. This will help us deliver East West Rail in a responsible and environmentally sustainable way and avoid and mitigate any potential negative effects. 

A number of methods are used in ground investigation surveys to obtain samples and to monitor and test them, including drilled boreholes that take soil samples at various depths. Ground investigations between Bedford and Cambridge started in February, but in November 2024 we decided to revise our programme to avoid drilling ground investigation boreholes within Bedford Borough before March, following the tragic incident at Cleat Hill in October 2024.  

We have used this time to appoint independent experts and have carried out robust reviews and audits of our procedures and those of our survey contractors. As a result, we have applied additional safety precautions that go beyond standard industry practice, so that these ground investigations can now commence without concern.  

We would like to assure local residents that the boreholes we need to drill as part of our first phase of ground investigations will be much shallower than the hole drilled at Cleat Hill, which encountered a pocket of natural gas at approximately 100m below ground level. The majority of the boreholes for East West Rail between Bedford and Tempsford will be just 10m or 20m deep and our current plans for the three deeper boreholes do not exceed depths of 40m.   

We are due to start preparatory works on land in Bedford Borough at the end of March, like putting up temporary fencing and laying temporary trackways into fields. We’ll then start our ground investigations in April, and we’ll let local parish councils know when we are due to be in their area. You can read more about ground investigations and what you can expect on our ground investigations page. 

31st March 2025