Find out about the latest news and updates from East West Rail.
Keeping You
Connected
October 2025
Newsletter survey – Results are in!
We asked you to help us understand what you’d like to see in the ‘Keeping You Connected’ newsletter and we received over 600 responses. Thank you to everyone who took the time to share their views, we really appreciate it.
Based on your feedback, we’re going to make some changes to the newsletter.
What you told us:
74% of you rated the newsletter at 4 or 5 out of a scale of 1-5 with 5 being very useful and 80% of you were happy with the length of it.
60% of you told us that quarterly editions were enough but a further 38% of you want to see more editions.
We received over 500 votes from you for more general project news and updates and almost 300 votes for more information about environmental work.
We received a lot of comments requesting more information about the Oxford to Milton Keynes services and how EWR will benefit local communities through funding and educational activities.
Here are the changes we’ll start to make:
We'll continue to issue the newsletter quarterly but we’ll share news bulletins when we have project updates or information between the quarterly editions.
We’ll share the latest updates directly from Chiltern Railways, keeping you up to date on their progress ahead of passenger services starting between Oxford and Milton Keynes.
Our Accessibility Advisory Panel will share regular updates on what they’ve been up to as they work with us to design a railway for everyone.
We’ll hear more from the environmental team about their work on the project covering different themes in each edition.
You’ll start to see these changes in the next few editions of Keeping You Connected and we’ll send out another survey next year to ensure that we are still providing you with the most relevant information. Once again thank you for taking the time to complete the survey, we hope you enjoy this edition of your ‘Keeping You Connected’ newsletter.
Community Pop-ups
We’re excited to launch a series of community pop-ups which will tour the line of route over the coming months.
We’ll pop-up into local venues at the heart of different communities on a regular basis enabling residents, visitors and workers in the areas we visit, the opportunity to talk to members of our team about the project as they are passing by. There will be general information on the project available as well as leaflets to take away and share with others.
These pop-ups are separate to the engagement and consultation activities that ask for feedback on the scheme as we prepare our planning consent, those events will be coming soon and we’ll signpost you to them when we’re out in the community.
To learn more about our events click the button below.
We recently met with residents living near Bedford Station to share our updated vision for a more ambitious station development in the town. This new interchange is designed to support much needed future rail capacity and deliver improved connections between the station and the town centre.
We understand that the proposed changes to the station design are concerning for residents and businesses who are directly affected, particularly as these updates differ from the plans shared during our previous consultation. We want to reassure you that we are working closely with all those affected and our team has been holding in person meetings to explain our proposals and to answer their questions. We’ve also held a drop-in event and will be arranging further opportunities for people to chat to us in the near future. We believe our updated designs for the station will unlock long-term benefits for Bedford and our revised plans will also enable us to deliver these benefits sooner and with less disruption over time.
Accessibility Advisory Panel
We know that designing a railway that works for everyone means listening to a wide range of voices—especially those with lived experience of disability and accessibility challenges. That’s why we set up an Accessibility Advisory Panel (AAP) in April 2023.
The panel brings together 12 residents from across the East West Rail Oxford- Cambridge route, many of whom are active in community groups and campaigns focused on improving access. Their insights help us better understand the everyday realities of travel and highlight where improvements are needed.
Meeting every six weeks—either in person or online—the AAP shares feedback on everything from station layouts and platform access to level crossings and wayfinding. This ongoing dialogue helps us identify barriers and explore inclusive design solutions early in the project.
The AAP will continue to support us through the Development Consent Order (DCO) process and beyond, helping shape a railway that’s easy to use, more welcoming, and better connected—supporting independent travel for all.
You can find out more about our Accessibility Advisory Panel on our website.
Chiltern Railways update - Preparing for future projects
Chiltern Railways is continuing to make progress to prepare for the start of Oxford – Milton Keynes passenger services. In recent months this has included progressing the fit out of the new station at Winslow with customer facilities including a gate line and ticket desk and the completion of a new colleague accommodation facility at Bletchley. Chiltern is working closely with the Department for Transport and other industry partners to deliver this service for local passengers and businesses.
Once open the route will support new developments, enabling economic activity across the Oxford - Cambridge Growth Arc. In the last few months we have seen plans for a new 16,000-seat football stadium for Oxford United granted planning permission by Cherwell District Council. Subject to final approval by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, the new ground will be located on land known as ‘the triangle’ opposite Oxford Parkway station.
Chiltern has worked closely with the club to plan public transport connections to the stadium and expect to receive a (Section 106) contribution to improve customer facilities for future match day operations. They will now be working closely with the club and Oxfordshire County Council to plan and deliver these improvements ahead of the projected opening of the new stadium in 2028.
Chiltern is also working closely with Puy Du Fou, a company which is proposing to build a history themed park featuring interactive shows near Bicester. Chiltern is currently reviewing how they can support the arrival of customers via rail, including working on an integrated model to transport customers from Bicester North and Village stations to the site via shuttle buses. Chiltern will share more information once the scheme has been through the planning process.
East West Rail’s inclusive design approach showcased at RIBA conference
At East West Rail, we are committed to ensuring accessibility and inclusivity are embedded at every stage of the project. This month, our Accessibility Manager, Georgina Taylor was invited to speak on a panel at the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) Inclusive Design Overlay (IDO) Conference, sharing how our early engagement and inclusive design practices are shaping the future of railway infrastructure.
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