Arriva Group’s Chiltern Railways has been selected to operate the first stage of the East West Rail project linking Oxford and Cambridge.
The Department for Transport (DfT) said on Tuesday it expected services to start later this year, connecting Milton Keynes to Oxford for the first time in 60 years.
East West Rail, a proposed billion-pound railway line, forms a vital part of the government’s plan to create a £78bn growth corrider between the two university cities, known for their array of tech, life science and AI firms.
In a statement on Tuesday, the rail minister, Lord Peter Hendy, said: “Appointing Chiltern Railways to run the first East West Rail services is one of the crucial last steps in getting the line up and running later this year and means local people in the area are closer to experiencing the benefits of this transformative project.
“This milestone demonstrates that we are serious about unlocking the potential of the Oxford-Cambridge Growth Corridor, providing greater connectivity across the region and delivering on our Plan for Change mission to drive economic growth.”
The launch of the first stage of East West Rail will create around 100 new jobs at Chiltern. When delivered in full, the project will bring around £6.7bn of growth per year in Oxford-Cambridge by 2050 and supporting up to 28,000 jobs, according to government estimates.
The new line will initially link Oxford and Milton Keynes, serving six stations.
Amanda Furlong, Interim Managing Director of Arriva UK Trains, said: “We are incredibly proud that Chiltern has been chosen to operate the first phase of the new East West Rail line, a transformative infrastructure project that will drive long-term benefits for communities, businesses and the wider economy
“Arriva has a track record of delivering high-quality, reliable passenger transport and our plans to start services later this year are already underway.
“We look forward to growing passenger numbers on Chiltern’s expanded network and playing our part in the decarbonisation agenda by encouraging more people to use public transport.”
