Created by Secretary of State for Transport Chris Grayling in December 2017, the East West Railway Company (EWR) is a relatively new organisation charged with fulfilling a much longer-held objective. By aiming to restore the direct rail link between Oxford and Cambridge (closed as a through route in 1967), EWR's task forms the latest chapter in a story that began with the formation in 1995 of the East West Rail Consortium by a group of forward-thinking local authorities from along the route. Having developed a strong business case to resurrect the former Varsity Line, EWRC embarked on a slow and often fruitless campaign to persuade Westminster of the considerable economic benefits the scheme had to offer - in addition to the strategic value of a northern orbital route for London with the potential to connect the Great Western, West Coast, Midland, East Coast, West Anglia and Great Eastern Main Lines.
展开▼
