Oxford–Cambridge Arc

The Oxford–Cambridge Arc (formerly the Cambridge – Milton Keynes – Oxford corridor) is a notional arc of agricultural and urban land at about 80 kilometres (50 miles) radius of London, in south central England. It runs between the two English university cities of Oxford and Cambridge via Milton Keynes and other settlements in Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire, at the northern rim of the London commuter belt. It is significant only in economic geography, with little physical geography in common.

The original Oxford to Cambridge (O2C) Arc initiative was launched in 2003 by three English regional development agencies (RDAs), EEDA, EMDA and SEEDA. The aim of the initiative is to promote and accelerate the development of the unique set of educational, research and business assets and activities that characterise the area and in doing so, create an “arc” of innovation and entrepreneurial activity that would, in time, be ‘best in the field'.

In November 2017, a report for the National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) noted that "in 2014, the Gross Value Added (GVA) of the "corridor" was £90.5bn (2011 prices); by doubling housebuilding rates in the area, and delivering East West Rail and the Oxford-Cambridge Expressway, this [would] increase by £163bn to a GVA of £250bn".[1]


Industry

The Arc is a major centre of the UK's high tech manufacturing and research industries. It is serviced by four international airports (Stansted, Luton, Heathrow and Birmingham), all located just outside the Arc itself. Cranfield Airport and Cambridge Airport take executive jets. Cambridge Airport is an important centre for aircraft maintenance.

Other major industries include agriculture, tourism, construction, entertainment, education, retail and finance. A high proportion of the population commutes daily to London. Commuting and business travel within the arc is relatively difficult in the absence of important east–west infrastructure.[1][lower-alpha 1]

Future

The National Infrastructure Commission projects that the Arc will become host to major hi-tech industrial developments and will be the site to one million new homes by 2050, with Milton Keynes alone doubling in population to 500,000.[3]

To facilitate this development (and wider national infrastructure needs for outer orbital routes around London), two major projects are underway or planned. Work has begun to extend East West Rail from Bicester to the West Coast Main Line at Bletchley (Milton Keynes); onward extension to Cambridge is planned. Concurrently, detailed route options planning has begun on the Oxford-Milton Keynes phase that is to complete the Oxford-Cambridge Expressway (linking the A34 with the A14).

Universities

The Arc has a major university sector with 20,000 workers as part of the knowledge economy: Oxford University, Oxford Brookes University, Buckingham University, The Open University (HQ Milton Keynes), Cranfield University, University of Bedfordshire, the University of Cambridge, and the Anglia Ruskin University at Cambridge.

Demographics

The Arc is one of the most ethnically diverse regions of the UK. Bedford, roughly central to the Arc and with a population of 100,000, is home to native speakers of over 100 languages, a figure which rivals London, Birmingham, Leeds and Manchester. The Arc has the fastest growing population of any of the similar regions within the UK; several of the major towns, most notably Bicester and Milton Keynes, are set to double in size over the coming few decades,[4] and others, such as Cambourne, have been built from scratch since the late 1990s.

Politically, the Arc is largely a Conservative stronghold, with only the urban constituencies returning Liberal Democrat or Labour MPs.

Transport
Main articles: East West Rail and Oxford-Cambridge Expressway

The region is well served by major radial routes from London (the M40, M1, A1(M) and M11 motorways, and the West Coast Main Line, the Midland Main Line and the East Coast Main Line railways). However, routes around the arc are poor, with a disjointed and overloaded road network (A428, A421/A422 and A43) and a fragmentary railway line (remnants of the former Varsity Line).

A twice-hourly express bus service, route X5, is operated by Stagecoach UK Buses between Cambridge and Oxford, serving the more important of the settlements below en route but taking 3 hours and 40 minutes to travel the 85 miles (137 km).

In November 2017, in its report on the Arc, the NIC called for the railway line between Bicester and Bletchley to be reopened by 2023 and Bedford/Cambridge by 2030, and for the development and construction of a new grade separated dual carriageway between the M1 and Oxford by 2030, as part of the proposed Oxford-Cambridge Expressway.[1]

Major settlements

Oxfordshire

Buckinghamshire

Bedfordshire

Cambridgeshire

‡ Places served by X5 route.
† Places planned to be served by East West Rail. As of February 2020, plans for Sandy/Tempsford/St Neots services via EWR have not beed detailed.
* Places planned to be served by the Oxford Cambridge Expressway. As of February 2020, the route (if any) of the Expressway west of the M1 is undecided. Locations shown above with an asterisk are on the A421/A428 route, which is already expressway standard.

See also

References
  1. As of February 2020 the proposed Oxford–Cambridge East West Rail service runs only between Oxford and Bicester. Of the proposed Oxford to Cambridge Expressway, the existing A428 road is expressway standard (grade separated dual carriageway) only between Cambridge and the A1198; the next section to the A1 near St Neots is a typical rural road. (On 18 February 2019, Highways England announced final route selection to replace the single-carriageway section from Caxton Gibbet to the A1, with construction to begin in 2022).[2] The route resumes as an expressway between the A1 and the M1 at Junction 13. From there to the outskirts of Oxford, (as of February 2020), the route remains to be determined and may not go ahead.
  1. National Infrastructure Commission calls for major investment in transport links between Oxford and Cambridge Transport Xtra (Mark Moran), 17 November 2017
  2. "Route unveiled for major new road and junction at Black Cat". Highways England. 18 February 2019. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
  3. "Oxford to Cambridge expressway strategic study: stage 3 report" (PDF). UK Department for Transport. 28 November 2016. Retrieved 3 August 2017.
  4. xMilton Keynes set to double in size swelling population to half a million Sally Murder, Milton Keynes Citizen, 23 January 2018
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