THE case for the East-West Rail link connecting Oxford and Aylesbury to Milton Keynes and Bedford has never been stronger, a senior councillor says.

Oxfordshire County Council deputy leader David Robertson said the completion of the upgrade on the Bicester-to-London Marylebone line showed the potential of the new cross-country connection.

Chiltern Railways’ new service made its debut journey from London to Birmingham last Monday, after two years and £250m worth of work.

Now Mr Robertson says he hopes the project’s completion will help win Government backing for the East-West link, which would create a new rail route from Bristol to the east coast ports through Oxford, Milton Keynes and Cambridge .

Mr Robertson said: “In all my time in local government I have never known such a positive feeling across such a huge spectrum of organisations – both geographically and in terms of both private and public sector speaking with the same voice.

“Chiltern Railways are a huge success and the investment in the line to Marylebone leading to 100mph trains shows just what is possible with imagination and good business sense.

“There is an absolutely overwhelming feeling that East-West Rail would bring enormous benefits to Oxfordshire, our neighbouring areas and further afield.

Councils and businesses have backed the scheme for over a decade, because it would take passengers away from major bottlenecks, and lorries off the A34.

Eventually, passengers would be able to travel direct from Oxford to Cambridge, or use the route for short or medium journeys avoiding London. But the Government has never given the scheme the financial backing it needs to go ahead.

The East-West Rail Consortium, which includes Oxfordshire County Council, Oxford City Council and Cherwell and Vale of White Horse district councils, is now lobbying for the project to be included on the Government’s investment programme for 2014 to 2019, set be announced in July.

A study by Oxford Economics last month suggested the link could generate £38m a year for the UK economy.

Mr Robertson added: “It’s true there is very little money in national coffers for big schemes of this nature. However we all feel that we have a hugely strong case for what cash is on offer.”

Even with a projected cost of up to £300m, the scheme is much cheaper than the £16bn price tag for Crossrail, or the planned £32bn high speed line from London to Birmingham.

Graham Jones, of Oxford business lobby group Rox, said: “We have always been concerned about access to the city. At the moment it is very difficult to get to Cambridge, and opening up Oxford to other areas of the country that are not that far away but difficult to get to would be very positive.”

The business case for the East-West route was recently graded “exceptionally good” by the Government, and it has won the backing of the county’s Local Enterprise Partnership.