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Test trains on the first section of East West Rail between Oxford and Milton Keynes, which the Budget confirmed will open next year

At today's Budget, the Chancellor committed to the delivery of East West Rail to Bedford and Cambridge.  She said work on the Marston Vale line would be 'accelerated' with East West Rail services by 2030, and that a consultation on next stages would launch in November.

Chair of England's Economic Heartland, Cllr Liz Leffman said: "Our region and its concentration of knowledge-intensive businesses, world class universities and highly talented workforce are pivotal to the government’s economic growth ambitions. However, poor connectivity in many parts of the region is acting as a barrier to us realising our economic potential.

"We welcome the Chancellor’s commitment to East West Rail, infrastructure which our region’s businesses and local and combined authorities tell us is fundamental to allowing them to positively plan for the long-term future. EEH is working with Government and its partners to ensure the return on Treasury’s investment is maximised for our communities, businesses and wider UK economy.

"There is still much more to do to ensure our transport system enables our region’s unique economic potential to be realised. Our region already has the fastest growing population of any sub-national transport body area, with population growth almost double the average from across the rest of England.

"This has been achieved without the necessary investment in infrastructure. EEH’s Board of elected leaders is clear that, if the Government wishes to see even greater levels of economic growth, we simply must get the infrastructure first. This will be our message as we make the case for investment ahead of the pivotal multiyear Spending Review in spring 2025."

Group shot of those present at the Local Authority Transport Decarbonisation Accelerator welcome day, including EEH's head of decarbonisation and innovation, James Golding-Graham, furthest right, bottom row.

England's Economic Heartland is working with two SMEs as they develop innovative solutions to better understand travel behaviours, as part of Connected Places Catapult's 'Local Authority Transport Decarbonisation Accelerator'.

The six-month programme is designed to trial disruptive new innovations aimed at reducing transport emissions. Connected Places Catapult will assist the SMEs by providing a bespoke programme of commercial support.

As part of the programme, EEH set a challenge to develop innovative solutions to better understand how policy affects resident’s transport choices.

The two SMEs chosen to undertake the challenge are Calcommuter and TravelAI.

Calcommuter is 'an intelligent commute survey platform that analyses commuting habits and calculates alternatives to help organisations report on and reduce commute and home working emissions (Scope 3)'.

The TravelAI project will tell 'the end-to-end transport stories of citizens at scale, using travel diary app MyWays that identifies routes, times and modes of travel taken'.

Two other challenges were set as part of the programme, with a pair of SMEs chosen for each: 'incentivising the transition of taxis to electric vehicles' (set by Cardiff Council) and 'decarbonisation of refuse collection vehicles' (set by Adur & Worthing Councils).

To mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, EEH is hosting an event in Aylesbury (also available online) on Monday, 25 November to explore what policy-makers, strategists and early scheme developers can do to enhance women and girl’s safety on public transport. 

We'll be joined by a panel of expert speakers who will present their findings and recommendations for local authorities on various dimensions of women’s safety, led by Dr Maurizio Catulli from the University of Hertfordshire. Dr Catulli will be presenting his British Academy funded research on 'Women and Mobility as a Service: An exploration of the issues faced by women when using shared mobility and possible responses by providers.

More details to come shortly.

Register your interest here

As part of our centre of excellence offer, we are committed to sharing opportunities for free learning and development from across the transport sector – here’s some upcoming sessions we’ve spotted:

See below for opportunities in the region

Senior Project Manager, Cambridgeshire County Council, Closing: 31/10/24

DRT Fleet Co-Ordinator, Hertfordshire County Council, Closing: 31/10/24

Principal Transport Planner (Strategy), North Northamptonshire Council, Closing: 04/11/24

Transport Service Manager, Luton Borough Council, Closing: 04/11/24

Assistant Highway Development Management Engineer, Cambridgeshire County Council, Closing: 05/11/24

Highways Contracts Manager, Central Bedfordshire Council, Closing: 12/11/24

Transport Project Officer, West Northamptonshire Council, Closing: 20/11/24

Newsletter produced by England's Economic Heartland sub-national transport body, based at Buckinghamshire Council, Walton Street, Aylesbury. Email businessunit@englandseconomicheartland.com for general enquiries.