East-West Rail is a project currently renewing and rebuilding a largely disused rail line between Oxford and Cambridge. Oxford to Bicester is open, and works between Bicester and Bletchley are well advanced.
When the line opens, East West Rail envisages running many extra trains over a short distance of the West Coast line from Bletchley and Milton Keynes Central, where trains will reverse and then run back to Bletchley before going on to Bedford, and eventually to Cambridge.
But there is little or no capacity for these new services. The problem would be exacerbated if the company then reinstates services north from Aylesbury. Services operated by Southern from Clapham Junction to Milton Keynes have been cut back to Watford for the same reason – the line is full.
• See also HS2 - Sunak condemns Britain's rail to decline
• See also More delay, more cost