Latest News and Events

I recently had the opportunity to address the Public Inquiry into the next stage of the East West Rail project.

Having personally been involved in this project for nearly 20 years it's great to see progress being made in securing the powers necessary to begin work on linking Bicester with Bletchley/Milton Keynes and beyond to Bedford, along with the restoration of the connection to/from Aylesbury. 

The opening of the first …

A Milton Keynes-based start-up ​has won a national award for its work with England's Economic Heartland.

Immense Simulations won the Smart Cities UK Transport Award for its development of a prototype policy decision support tool, enabling a strategic and accessible approach to transport modelling at a large scale.

Martin Tugwell, Programme Director at EEH, said: "Growth in our region is truly transformational in nature, requiring an approach which eschews the …

Sub-national transport bodies (STBs) should play a key role in informing the Rail Review, according to England's Economic Heartland.

As the call for evidence launched earlier this month, the STB for the Oxford-Milton Keynes-Cambridge growth corridor and surrounding areas said it was disappointed that a representative from the region is not included on the review panel, given Government has made delivering economic growth in the region a national priority.

On …

This December has seen me spending time with major high street retailers, supermarkets and businesses – only I wasn't buying any Christmas shopping.

Wednesday, December 5 marked the first major piece of engagement for England's Economic Heartland's Freight Study.

In recognition of the critical role the freight and logistics sector plays in the Heartland's economy,we invited around 30 major players to a workshop in Milton Keynes to share their thoughts …

Responding to the Government guidance regarding the Major Road Network, Mayor Dave Hodgson, chair of England's Economic Heartland's Strategic Transport Forum, said: "There is much in this announcement to welcome, including the role that sub-national transport bodies such as England's Economic Heartland will play in setting out regional investment priorities.

"Our work on the MRN investment pipeline is already underway and will be a key part of our draft Transport …

Realising the Heartland's economic potential will need investment in our road network. 

But what kind of investment should we be making if we are also looking to achieve environmental net gain?

This question comes into focus when considering the proposed new road linking west of Oxford to Milton Keynes as part of the Oxford to Cambridge expressway.  Because whilst there is no dispute about the need for improved east-west connectivity, …

In 1985, the film 'Back to the Future' imagined life in 2015.  Thirty years later, some predictions turned out to be accurate: automation of services; the use of biometrics; and virtual reality eyewear. However, our skies aren't full of flying cars and the uptake of hoverboards hasn't been quite so widespread.

Clearly, trying to predict the future is filled with challenges. Yet in the world of strategic infrastructure planning, it …

Last week I attended the Chartered Institute of Highways and Transportation's very first Young Professional's Conference in Leeds.

After grappling with Leeds' sub-zero weather conditions on the walk to the conference, (insert joke about being southern here) I was soon thawing from the energy that greeted me in the foyer. The patter and buzz generated by the cohort of younger transport professionals reassured me I was amongst friends and likeminded …

Naively, when I set about authoring Buckinghamshire County Council's Freight Strategy in 2017, I didn't expect the subject of hauling goods around in containers and trailers to resonate with people… how wrong I was.

In total, more than 1,000 people engaged in the development of the strategy. To put this in context, the online survey I setup to collect feedback on the document itself received more responses than the total …