Readers’ Platform
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STAR LETTERS
East West ups and downs
I WOULD like to respond to ‘Will East West Rail Go South?’ (December), which was misleading in many ways.
The key fact about the route selection is that a process has been ongoing in public for several years: Network Rail held a consultation on route options in 2016, and EWR Co likewise in 2019.
Both included public exhibitions.
The 2019 consultation gave weight to public views and on that basis the current route was chosen. The cost estimates of the options used in that choice have been queried, but the public choice seems based on serving the most people, rather than cost.
This year’s consultation was about options around key sections of the route. For most sections, such as Bletchley-Bedford and the new lines around Bedford station, there were minimal impact options, e.g. zero house demolition. So it is wrong to present ‘worst case’ options as the final choice.
The options for the Bedford/ Bletchley stations included one for keeping all the stations open. But the alternative: new and relocated stations, was geared to stations close to futurehousing and industry.
In the St Neots area, there could be issues around noise. But the line will be close to the new A421 dual carriageway and that will also include a viaduct and be a significant source of noise.
The article discusses the choice of the route approaching Cambridge: north or south. The choice has been debated for several years. No doubt that if a northern approach was preferred, there would be equal objections. All around Cambridge, new roads, with their own embankments and flyovers, have had a major impact on the environment; yet more are proposed. One of the purposes of EWR is to provide an alternative to new roads that has less environmental impact: new roads cause more land-take and pollution than even a diesel railway.
John Henderson Frome
IT IS not only the Bedford to Cambridge section that is causing concern, but the Aylesbury section of East West Rail is suddenly up for review as, after all the expensive studies, capacity issues have been identified.
The Aylesbury section was originally conceived as a cross-county line, but this was dropped and now the whole scheme is under review in spite of the massive housing plans for the area.