A new report presented at Labour conference says the OxCam corridor’s research strengths are undermined by poor transport, high rents and fragmented local governance; authors call for East West Rail, devolution and accelerated housing and grid connections.
Transport is the biggest constraint: public transport travel between Oxford and Cambridge takes three-and-a-half hours, far above an easily commutable 45 minutes.
Report authors recommend East West Rail as the backbone, faster implementation of announced policies (devolution, local government reorganisation), and planning and grid improvements.
Local leaders want directly elected mayors and greater strategic powers over housing, transport and workforce development to unlock corridor benefits.
# What the report found
# Transport delays and connectivity The report highlights transport as the main barrier. It says public transport between Oxford and Cambridge currently takes about three-and-a-half hours. The study contrasts that with an "easily commutable" benchmark of 45 minutes, which would allow daily movement of workers and better integration of businesses across the corridor.
Authors argue East West Rail must form the corridor's backbone, noting trains are not yet running between Oxford and Milton Keynes. They also warn that recent cancellations of major road projects mean transport investment is moving backwards rather than forwards.
# Housing and commercial space pressures Affordability is a significant problem. The report states rents in the corridor cost on average 25% of local incomes, which it contrasts with a 15% figure for San Francisco Bay Area clusters. Limited affordable housing and commercial space make it harder to retain graduates, entrepreneurs and firms.
Oxford City Council's Labour leader Susan Brown is quoted describing housing as critical to both economic growth and local residents. She notes the council has become a major developer, building shared-ownership, affordable-rent and council homes.
# Governance and the case for devolution Local fragmentation is presented as a practical impediment. Labour MP Callum Anderson (Buckingham and Bletchley) told the conference that directly elected mayors are needed to take a strategic view across housing, infrastructure, transport and workforce development.
Jeegar Kakkad, a co-author of Scaling OxCam, said national and local policy must speed up. He called for acceleration of already announced measures—local government reorganisation, devolution and investment—rather than further pauses and reviews that add delay.
# Infrastructure beyond transport
# What proponents want next Recommendations presented include making East West Rail the corridor's transport spine, simplifying national government involvement, pushing planned local government changes through more quickly, and prioritising housing and grid capacity to reduce cost pressures that push people away.
# Immediate political context The report was launched at Labour's conference in Liverpool and comes amid local calls for faster mayoral devolution in the Thames Valley and continuing debate about major transport projects and housing delivery in Oxfordshire and surrounding counties.
# Bottom line
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