The Government has given the green light to the Oxford-Bedford section of East West Rail.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced in the Budget on March 4 that work would be accelerated to allow services to run by 2030. He said that delivery of work on the Bletchley-Bedford section would be brought forward, supported by £240 million from existing budgets.
Thirty-seven homes in Bedford could be demolished along the preferred route through the town, with a further 28 losing part of their gardens.
Completing East West Rail has “quite a powerful strategic case” despite having a poor benefit:cost ratio (BCR), MPs have been told.
The project to connect Oxford and Cambridge via Bedford has a BCR of between 0.5 and 1.1, meaning that costs are likely to outweigh the measurable benefits.
The Rail Minister, head of East West Rail and the senior civil servant at the Department for Transport were grilled by MPs on the Transport Select Committee as part of an inquiry into how Government works across departments to invest in infrastructure and services.
The investigation follows a National Audit Office report which found the Government “is not yet clear how the benefits of the project will be achieved nor how it aligns to other government plans for growth in the region”.
The report did not provide a value-for-money appraisal of the project.
Dame Bernadette Kelly, permanent secretary at the DfT, told MPs: “This isn’t just about transport. It’s about homes, investment, jobs.
“BCR measures what is reasonably quantifiable and certain. Typically, here it is transport benefits, reductions in road congestion, shorter journey times. But the fundamental purpose of East West Rail is to drive transformation in the region. In this instance the strategic case is absolutely critical.”
Rail Minister Huw Merriman responded: “The case for East West
