East West Rail compared to Zig Zag Hill road in Dorset

The twists and turns of a major planned track between Oxford and Cambridge compete with Zig Zag Hill near Shaftesbury, according to a Tory MP.

Richard Fuller, MP for North East Bedfordshire, claimed the proposed section of the East West Rail line was “full of twists and turns, and ups and downs” not unlike the B3081 in north Dorset.

A 2006 study by the former Dorset County Council revealed that 54 per cent of the B3081’s surface was of “poor quality”.

Zig Zag Hill near Shaftesbury. Image: Google

The study also found by driving at 30mph on the road, drivers would experience the same lateral forces as if they were on a rollercoaster.

In 2021, motoring experts LeaseCar.uk named Zig Zag Hill as one of the roads around the UK that most “resembles a roller coaster” and described it as “the bendiest one-mile stretch of road in the UK”.

In a Westminster Hall debate, Mr Fuller said: “East West Rail, the route chosen is so full of twists and turns and ups and downs, it surely competes with what is probably our country’s bendiest road – I am not sure if the minister knows this, the B3081 at Cann Common in Dorset, that ‘twists and turns more than many an Alpine climb’.

Richard Fuller MP during Prime Minister's Questions. (Image: UK Parliament/Roger Harris)

“Words that could be transposed to the route chosen by East West Rail.

“Back when governments and other people knew how to build railways in the Victorian age, of course they chose a straighter, less hilly route.”

In 2019, sections of Zig Zag Hill were closed for two weeks to allow for upgrades. At the time, the council said the hill needed extensive resurfacing as its tight bends had deteriorated.

East West Rail will be a train line directly connecting Oxford and Cambridge. Expected to cost more than £5bn, planners intend the line to be fully operational by 2030.