Mott MacDonald and WSP appointed as construction design and management principal designer for East West Rail

Mott MacDonald, in partnership with WSP (MWJV), has been appointed as principal designer for the East West Rail project.

Plans for East West Rail (EWR) — which will connect Oxford, Milton Keynes, Bedford and Cambridge — continue to progress at pace after the government committed to delivering the railway in full in the Autumn Budget.

MWJV’s appointment as principal designer (PD) underlines East West Railway Company’s (EWR Co) commitment to safety, collaboration and excellence in project delivery and will help drive forward the next scheme development phase of the programme to build a new railway between Oxford and Cambridge.

Credit: East West Railway Company

The appointment builds on Mott MacDonald and WSP’s role as the project’s joint technical partner. Together, since 2022 they have supported EWR Co to deliver a number of key milestones, including its recent public consultation which saw record engagement with over 5,200 attendees at 16 in-person events along the route.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves outlined her support for EWR in a keynote speech last month, including allowing a new station at Tempsford to be fast-tracked as part of plans to boost growth along the Oxford-Cambridge corridor. She also discussed the broader vision for the Oxford-Cambridge corridor, including the potential for new housing developments and improved transport links to stimulate economic growth.

As PD, MWJV will lead key responsibilities under the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 (CDM). These include planning, managing and monitoring pre-construction activities to ensure the highest safety and efficiency standards during design and survey phases.

James Robertson, Mott MacDonald East West Rail portfolio lead, said: “We are delighted to continue our partnership with East West Railway Company on this locally and nationally significant project. Having partnered with WSP as the project’s joint technical partner, we are deeply invested in ensuring East West Rail is a catalyst for growth, while connecting communities and driving economic development along the Oxford-Cambridge growth corridor. This project embodies our commitment to excellence and innovation in infrastructure design and development”.

MWJV will provide the technical and management resources to support EWR Co as it prepares to apply for a development consent order (DCO). This includes preliminary engineering and systems design, environmental assessment and management of the statutory processes. A successful DCO would then authorise EWR Co to build the new infrastructure required to deliver EWR.

Key benefits of this approach for EWR include:

• Clearer accountability: With MWJV managing and monitoring the design process, EWR can more effectively oversee what is being delivered and where.
• Improved safety and design integrity: MWJV’s role reduces the risk of creating infrastructure that is unsafe or unfit for purpose, ensuring projects are safe to maintain and use, and lowering long-term costs associated with correcting errors.
• Enhanced scrutiny and adaptability: The appointment allows EWR to scrutinise sticking points more easily, incorporate feedback from stakeholders and mitigate environmental impacts more readily.
• Better risk assessment: EWR Co can perform more effective risk assessments throughout the design process, ensuring proactive identification and resolution of potential issues.