East West Rail | Environment & sustainability

Creating a railway that’s greener for the environment is at the heart of our decision-making at East West Rail.

As one of the UK’s largest railway projects, we have an important role in addressing the environmental challenges faced by us all. That’s why we’re aiming to make East West Rail a sustainable transport solution, and have made greener for the environment one of our five outcomes.

Greener for the environment

There’s never been a more critical time to act sustainably. With eight of the nine councils along our route declaring a climate emergency, and the UN reporting an unprecedented global decline in nature, the need for action is clear.

A railway can deliver more than just sustainable journeys for our region. We put environmental sustainability at the heart of decision-making, and believe East West Rail can improve and enhance the environment we share and benefit communities along the route.

Since 2021, the Government has published new policy setting out its environmental goals. In response, we have updated and aligned our Environmental Sustainability Strategy. Our six environmental sustainability pillars that define our environmental aspirations and the legacy we want to leave are central to our approach.

You can find out more about how we plan to achieve this in our Environmental Sustainability Strategy.

Environment Sustainability Strategy

Our Environmental Sustainability Strategy

In recognition of the scale of the global challenge, the government has made the environment one of the four areas of focus in the Oxford to Cambridge Pan-Regional Partnership. The mission of the regional partnership is to secure a future in which our communities prosper from the very best in environmentally sustainable ways of living and working. We support that ambition by protecting and enhancing the natural environment.

Putting environmental sustainability at the forefront of East West Rail presents opportunities that will benefit our natural environment and the health and wellbeing of the customers and communities we serve.

By making environmental sustainability central to our decision-making, we believe the railway can improve and enhance the environment we live in. Central to our approach are our six environmental sustainability pillars, and each pillar has an associated ambition and definition. These set our environmental aspirations and the legacy we want to leave.

You can read more about our approach to the environment in our Environmental Sustainability Strategy.

Click here to read more.

A graphic representing EWR's six environmental strategy pillars.

How we're delivering our environmental sustainability strategy

Our ambition is to deliver a railway that supports a thriving and diverse natural environment through ensuring the maintenance of healthy ecosystems (wildlife, habitats, soil, land and water resources).

To support this aim, we have four strategic objectives for the natural environment:
- Deliver a biodiversity net gain legacy ensuring it is lasting and resilient to future pressures.
- Create, enhance and restore habitats to benefit ecological connectivity and create connected green networks.
- Protect and enhance the function of the water environment.
- Protect the function of soils and agricultural resources.
How are we delivering on it?

Our colleagues at the East West Rail Alliance have created new habitats during construction of the section between Bicester and Bletchley (Watch video), including:
- Constructing 27 badger setts, all of which have been occupied by badgers, with 22% used for breeding.
- Building a bat house, already being used by roosting bats.
- Feeding and commuting bats, representing at least seven different species, are using our compensation sites.
- Creating ponds for great crested newts, all of which have confirmed presence of newts.
- Building two artificial otter holts, one of which is used regularly by otters.
Here at EWR Co, we are:
- Mapping locations of protected and designated sites to inform proposals.
- Avoiding directly impacting important environmental and heritage sites in the area, where we reasonably can.
- Surveying for protected species to avoid and protect their habitats whilst identifying mitigation and compensation where necessary.
- Undertaking detailed ecological surveys (delivered by EWR Co and EWR Alliance) - with over 12,000 since 2018.
- Assessing the environmental impacts on important areas like farmland.
- Avoiding the highest-grade agricultural land, where we reasonably can.
- Exploring ways to reduce the impact of the railway on agricultural practices and soil resources.
- Liaising with landowners to inform the design process.
We also plan to:
- Mitigate impact through water storage (flood management) and retention ponds.
- Avoid pollution through groundwater and surface water management.
Our ambition is to deliver a railway that enables operational net zero carbon by 2050 through robust carbon management during design and construction, delivering sustained reductions in whole life carbon emissions.

To support this aim we have four strategic objectives for carbon:
- Enable net zero carbon emissions from passenger services by 2050.
- Enable zero emission door to door journeys.
- Deliver a railway which reduces whole life carbon emissions in line with the UK net zero carbon trajectory.
- Deliver new depots and stations capable of being net zero carbon from day one of operations.
How are we delivering on it?
- Work is underway to define our Net Zero Carbon target & and our trajectory to achieve Net Zero Carbon.
- We're aligned with The Construction Leadership Council’s Five Client Carbon Commitments.
- Our preference is for green traction power in the form of discontinuous electrification with hybrid battery-electric trains. As well as reducing carbon emissions, discontinuous electrification would mean overhead lines would only need to be installed along some sections of the route, which would reduce disruption to existing structures and potentially reduce visual impacts in more sensitive locations on the new railway between Bedford and Cambridge. This option would also cost less than full electrification and would need less land for things such as mast foundations.
Our ambition is to deliver a railway that is prepared for a changing climate by ensuring our design, construction and operation is resilient in the long term.

To support this aim we have two strategic objectives for climate resilience:
- Deliver a railway whose operation is resilient to future climate.
- Deliver environmental mitigation that is resilient to future climate and contributes to wider climate resilience.
How are we delivering on it?
- Designing climate resilient assets.
- Throughout the project we’ll carry outflood risk assessments to help inform the design process.
Our ambition is to keep people at the heart of the delivery of EWR in providing a means for communities to engage with their history and present their own stories throughout the design and delivery of the Project.

To support this aim we have two strategic objectives for historic environment and landscape:
- Sensitive integration of the Project with the existing local landscape character, visual context and historic places.
- Connect local communities and users of the railway with the local history.
How are we delivering on it?
- We’re carefully considering how what we build can be designed to blend in with your local environment, and there are a number of ways we can look to do this. For example, by utilising landscape earthworks to soften the appearance of embankments and integrate it into the wider landscape context or by using sensitive placement of appropriate planting to either screen views from sensitive receptors, or to soften the appearance and presence of engineering earthworks.
- Developing designs that respond to the surrounding landscape, protects views and celebrates our heritage
  through sensitive integration into the existing landscape, valuing our historic environment.
Our ambition is to deliver a railway that supports a circular economy through maximising the value of materials and designing out waste.

To support this aim we have four strategic objectives for circular economy:
- Adopt circular economy practices to maximise the value of materials.
- Embed the efficient use of resources in project delivery.
- Procure and use responsibly sourced construction materials.
- Sustainably manage waste produced throughout the Project.
How are we delivering on it?
- Using circular economy principles throughout planning and construction.
- Addressing the sustainability of construction products and processes to preserve resources and minimise impact.
- Promoting the durability and adaptability of built assets.
Our ambition is to deliver a railway that protects the health and wellbeing of our communities, customers and colleagues through managing impacts and providing opportunities for cycling, walking and the use of open space.

To support this aim we have three strategic objectives for people and community:
- Maintain pre-existing operational noise levels in Noise Important Areas.
- Protect local air quality.
- Improve access to open spaces, National Trails and Public Rights of Way.
How are delivering on it?
- Working closely with communities and their representatives to keep them informed about the project.
- Developing a Code of Construction Practice for the Project, which will explain the steps we will take to eliminate, minimise or mitigate disruption to local people, communities and the environment.
- Facilitating enhanced infrastructure for local communities including new and upgraded footpaths, cycle paths and bridleways.
- Working closely with communities and their representatives to keep them informed about the project.

Ecological compensation sites

As part of Connection Stage One of the project, East West Rail has created 20 ecological compensation sites along the route from Bicester to Bletchley, mitigating the project impacts to protected species and habitats along the line of the railway. To find out more, watch this video.

Watch video

Aligning with the UN Sustainable Development Goals

The United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are our world’s call to action on the most pressing challenges and opportunities facing humanity and the natural world.

They recognise that ending poverty and other deprivations must go hand-in-hand with strategies that improve health and education, reduce inequality, and spur economic growth – all while tackling climate change and working to preserve our oceans and forests. In practice, they are designed to be a ‘blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all’.

Recognising this and to underline our approach to the environment, we have aligned our nine environmental principles with ten of the UN SDGs.

A graphic explaining how EWR's environmental pillars align with the UN Sustainable Development Goals

Zero emission passenger services by 2050

East West Rail provides the opportunity to deliver sustainable low carbon journeys for the communities along our route, whilst also supporting the UK's transition to an overall net zero carbon economy.

In line with our ambitions to create a net zero passenger railway by 2050, we're proposing that East West Rail runs trains using discontinuous electrification. You can learn more about what this means by watching the short video below.

Play video

East West Rail - Our approach to powering EWR trains