UK confirms funding for East West Rail's Bedford–Cambridge section

The Central section of East West Rail is planned to connect Bedford to Cambridge via an entirely new alignment (the historic Varsity Line is partly built over). In January 2020 Route E was selected as preferred option: Bedford (Midland) – Tempsford – Cambourne – Cambridge, with new stations at Tempsford (interchange with the East Coast Main Line) and Cambourne; in Bedford the plan involves compulsory purchase and demolition of 65 houses for additional tracks. In January 2025 Chancellor Rachel Reeves confirmed funding for this section; Wikipedia gives "early 2030s" as the completion horizon (no exact date is sourced, so 2030-12-31 is kept as a placeholder for "by end of 2030 at the latest"). Update (18 Dec 2025): After a voluntary consultation with more than 6,200 participants, the East West Railway Company has announced more than 80 changes to its earlier plans. The route between Bedford and Cambridge is now fixed and runs via Tempsford, where a new station is to serve the government's planned new town of 40,000 homes; a Cambridge East station near the airport joins Cambridge North and Cambridge South. On the Marston Vale Line between Bletchley and Bedford, five little-used halts are to close and the four remaining stations are to be upgraded (four instead of three passenger trains per direction, top speed of 120 instead of 90 km/h); the drafts also support the government-confirmed reopening of the Cowley branch near Oxford, which frees up capacity at Oxford station (LOK Report, 18 Dec 2025).