‘People can see – but can’t use it’: mystery of completed East-West Rail line that has no passenger trains

The East West Rail project linking Oxford to Milton Keynes was finished in 2024. There’s just one hitch: no services The rumbling noise in the night, still enough to waken the unhabituated, is what really goads some people living in Winslow, Buckinghamshire. Freight trains running through the new station since late 2024 prove this stretch of railway is operational. But the long-promised passenger services have yet to appear – and there is no sign of any arriving soon. Welcome to East West Rai...

By Gwyn Topham Transport correspondent