Mayor Boris Johnson calls for ‘task force’ to take on London to Stansted rail route
Today (Friday) Mayor of London Boris Johnson and Chancellor of the Exchequor George Osborne announced plans to set a West Anglia Task Force to improve the rail route between London, Stansted and Cambridge. - Credit: Archant
Commuters could be on track for a better route to work, after the Government announced a task force to improve train connections between London, Stansted and Cambridge.
Those travelling from Audley End could profit from the plan to revamp the West Anglia line, which was announced today by George Osborne and Boris Johnson, Mayor of London.
Findings of the ‘West Anglia Task Force’ are expected in spring 2016, while results of a further report led by Network Rail on improvements to the rail link between London and Stansted should emerge this year.
Kevin Bentley, deputy chair of The London Stansted Cambridge Consortium, said:
“This provides an opportunity to combine faster and more frequent mainline services to Cambridge, Hertfordshire, Essex, Stansted plus a high frequency service within London, including Liverpool Street, Stratford and Tottenham.
“With the population along the corridor set to grow by 1.4 million in just 20 years, a more ambitious and long-term strategic approach for infrastructure investment is now necessary in order to allow high-tech businesses to grow and new housing to be unlocked.”
A spokesman for Manchester Airports Group (MAG) added:
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“We welcome today’s announcement of the establishment of a West Anglia Task Force to look at opportunities to improve connections to Stansted and Cambridge from Liverpool Street.
“Unlike other London airports, Stansted has spare runway capacity today and significant room to grow in the future. It is vital that faster rail services are delivered between London and Stansted to ensure that this potential is realised, and it is encouraging that the the Chancellor and Mayor of London recognise this.”