DETAILED plans are being drawn up for a multi-million pound direct Rail link between Oxford and Cambridge, writes Chris Koenig.

The Oxbridge connection would form part of a proposed £237m east-west line from Swindon to Felixstowe which, Railtrack argues, would cut journey times for passengers and take lorries and cars off the roads.

Transport Minister Glenda Jackson has asked for a detailed business plan and costings to be drawn up.

Railtrack and 25 local authorities are now drawing up a plan exploring the feasibility of the idea.

MPs from constituencies along the route have been briefed and the minister has also asked officials from rail franchising office Opraf and the Department of Environment, Transport and the Regions (DETR) to become involved.

Backers of the scheme say that the route could open in 2003. It would run from Swindon through Oxford, Aylesbury, Milton Keynes, Bedford and Letchworth to Cambridge where it would split in two, with one line going to Norwich and the other to Ipswich and Felixstowe.

Half the funding would come from access fees that rail operators would pay to use the line. The other half could come from Opraf support and Government grants.

Public spending limits could make raising the money difficult, although supporters maintain that the line could become a test case for the Government's commitment to take traffic off roads and on to railways.

The last Oxbridge rail link, built in 1850, was closed 30 years ago during the Beeching period.

The new link would need only ten miles of new track.

The rest would come from upgrading existing passenger and disused or freight-only lines.

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