East West Rail is a project to reinstate a cross country East-West route north of London running from Oxford to East Anglia via, of course, Sandy. There used to be a line running directly from Oxford to Cambridge, which crossed the East Coast Main Line (London to the North and Hyperborea) at Sandy which even Dr Beeching didn’t destroy, leaving that pleasure to British Rail. As someone who works in academic libraries, I miss the idea of being able to commute to Oxford, Cambridge, or London: it would open up job opportunities no end. Sadly, it looks like they are not going to consider opening a direct route from Sandy to Cambridge, instead using the existing line to Hitchin because a lot of the track has been built on. Potton (you might have to look a little harder to see this one) station, for instance, is now a private house. They should just tear up roads and build railway lines on them.
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