East West Rail said more than 1,000 feedback forms have already been submitted in its final route-wide consultation, with more than 1,700 people attending events in person and online since the process opened last month.

The company is now urging people to use the remaining consultation events before the exercise closes on 9 June, as it prepares to submit a Development Consent Order application in 2027. David Hughes, chief executive of East West Railway Company, said he hoped people would take the opportunity to learn more about the project, attend one of the remaining events and share their views so the team can shape its final designs.

The consultation covers 15 events and comes as the railway company updates its plans for the line. Those revisions include an accelerated construction programme intended to deliver benefits to communities sooner, along with a service plan that would support up to five trains an hour. The proposal also shifts from four-car to five-car trains, reflecting increased demand expected from the new Universal resort being built.

That makes this stage of the project more than a routine public engagement exercise. The company is still asking for feedback on the route-wide design, but it is also signalling what the railway is likely to look like in operation, and how quickly it wants to get there. The combination of faster build plans and larger trains shows the scheme is being shaped not only by local consultation but by the demand forecasts attached to a major new destination on the route.

For passengers and communities along the line, the immediate question is whether the latest design and service assumptions will hold after this consultation closes. East West Rail has set out its timetable: comments before 9 June, a consent application in 2027, and a push to keep attendance high at the remaining events. Hughes has made clear the company wants the final version of the railway to be shaped by the response it gets now.