Plans for East West Rail (EWR) – designed to improve rail services between Oxford and Cambridge via Milton Keynes and Bedford – are being ramped up after securing government support.
Chancellor of the exchequer Rachel Reeves allocated some funding towards the £7bn project in her first budget statement last November. Last month she expressed support for the construction of a new station at Tempsford in Bedfordshire as part of the scheme.
As principal designer, Mott MacDonald and WSP (MWJV) will take care of planning, managing and monitoring pre-construction activities during design and survey phases, helping to move the programme towards construction.
MWJV project director Matthew Bailey said: “Safety and collaboration are at the heart of this project, and MWJV’s role as principal designer will ensure we deliver infrastructure that not only meets the highest standards but also anticipates and mitigates future risks. This appointment allows us to apply a proactive approach to design, ensuring greater scrutiny and adaptability while prioritising long-term safety and efficiency to deliver lasting value for East West Rail and the communities it will serve.”
MWJV will provide the technical and management resources to support EWR Co as it prepares to apply for a development consent order (DCO). This includes preliminary engineering and systems design, environmental assessment and management of the statutory processes. A successful DCO would then authorise EWR Co to build the new infrastructure required to deliver EWR.
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