A huge milestone in the first connection stage of East West Rail between Bicester and Bletchley is cause for celebration, says a councillor.

A track construction train has made its final visit to the stretch of railway, with track laying now 99 per cent complete between Bicester and Bletchley.

With passenger services due to start between the two towns in 2025, a spokesperson said the milestone brings the benefits of the rail project even closer to local communities - enabling better access to jobs, education and healthcare, and making it easier to see family and friends and travel for leisure.

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Once complete there will be 66km of new track between Bletchley and Bicester with the final welding, stressing and ‘tamping’ (track alignment) works to be completed in the New Year.

Nick Mawer, town councillor for Bicester North and Caversfield, said: “The M40 and the Chiltern line to London and Birmingham have already made Bicester a popular place for people to live in, and for companies to relocate to.

“The extension of the EWR project to Bletchley will in my view provide additional benefits to the people who live here, and it will make Bicester an even better place to invest in.

“Unlike HS2, EWR is using existing track bed for this section and we in Bicester will directly see benefits from it.

“All that being said, we must not lose sight of the situation at London Road which needs vehicular crossing, the finance to cover it, and the political will to deliver it.”

Installation of the signalling and telecoms equipment needed to operate the railway is also underway, and once completed, will be followed by dynamic train testing before the railway reopens in 2025.

Once open this section of line will provide direct passenger services between Oxford, Bletchley and Milton Keynes for the first time in over 50 years.

This phase of the project is being delivered by the East West Rail Alliance which was appointed by Network Rail to construct the Bicester to Bletchley section of new railway.

The track itself has been laid by a state of the art “New Track Construction Train”, one of only two such machines in the whole country.

EWR alliance director Mark Cuzner said: “It is good to see the progress we have made with our track construction programme in the last 12 to 18 months.

“Our team has worked tirelessly with our supply chain partners and Network Rail to meticulously schedule all the engineering trains necessary to support the track construction.

“Witnessing the 58th and final track construction train shift is testament to the combined efforts of the entire team and with 99 per cent of the rail now laid, the project is in a healthy position to complete the final section of track installation in the New Year.”

 

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This story was written by Matthew Norman, he joined the team in 2022 as a Facebook community reporter.

Matthew covers Bicester and focuses on finding stories from diverse communities.

Get in touch with him by emailing: Matthew.norman@newsquest.co.uk

Follow him on Twitter: @OxMailMattN1