Increased fears in village of rail depot chaos

People living near the site of a proposed East West Rail (EWR) train maintenance yard have said it could have a bigger impact than previously thought.

The rail company wants to build on land alongside Whaddon Road, west of Bletchley and Newton Longville, near Milton Keynes, as part of the scheme, which would link Oxford and Cambridge directly.

Ness Thornton-Kitchen, who runs The Crooked Billet pub, said: "We are part of the community, but if Whaddon Road closed for 12 months [as part of building work], that will close our business."

David Hughes, from East West Rail, said: "We are three years away from construction, so have not even begun the detail of construction and logistics planning."

If approved, the Bletchley West depot would include sidings capable of housing 20 five-car trains, each about 120 metres long, and maintenance workshops for multiple trains which would also be cleaned, inspected and maintained.

EWR said it would create 100 jobs.

The company said two design layouts were being considered, but had ruled out building it where the existing Bletchley Train Maintenance yard or HS2's Calvert depot were because of a lack of space, and added there were not enough lines to put at the nearby Wolverton Works either.

Hughes said the Newton Longville site was "the optimal location" from an "operational, construction and engineering perspective", but added that decisions on the project were still subject to consultation, with work not expected to start until 2029 at the earliest.

Thornton-Kitchen took over the pub in September 2023, after it closed in 2022 when Whaddon Road (the main road linking the village to Milton Keynes) was shut as part of a previous bridge refurbishment for the rail project.

She was concerned this could happen again and said: "Developments like a train depot - I don't think they sit right in our village or on green belt."

She added it should be built at either end of the line in Oxford or Cambridge.

Caroline Armstrong, who previously told the BBC her livery yard would have to close because of the depot, said EWR had contacted her recently as they wanted to make a compulsory purchase of part of her land.

She said her 81-year-old mum who lived there was "so upset as she had been there for nearly 40 years" and feared she would "lose her house".

She added: "Everything that is happening at the moment is so upsetting."

Christine Craker's family bought Lower Salden Farm in 1959 and it is now a livery business for horses and has space for storing 50 caravans.

"The impact of this will shake our homes; we won't be able to live there and it will destroy our business," she said.

"We put a lot of investment in for the next 10 years to pass it on to our family, but this has totally scuppered us."

Andrew Jones, a parish councillor in nearby Mursley, said he feared the impact on his village would be worse than originally expected.

"This is such a huge piece of work, plus the passing loops and noise associated with the depot, and trains moving in and out."

Others at a meeting expressed concerns that new designs for the yard showed that one underpass and three bridges could be closed for months at a time.

Hughes said recently published construction diagrams "possibly created the impression we need more land".

The EWR chief exec added: "I don't think it is the case our anticipated land take is greater than we set out earlier.

"I'd be very surprised if we have to close multiple bridges at the same time."

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