The Chancellor has announced a £500 million investment package to deliver growth in the Oxford to Cambridge Corridor and cement its status as a global innovation hub.

The money will be used to support communities and businesses with new jobs, homes and investment.

Up to £400 million will initially be used to kickstart development in Cambridge with affordable homes, infrastructure and business expansion.

In Oxford the Cowley Branch railway line will reopen with new stations at Littlemore and Cowley in a bid to connect people to jobs, homes and opportunity.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves said: "Oxford and Cambridge are home to the two of the best universities in the world, two of the most intensive innovation clusters in the world, and the area is a hub for globally renowned science and technology. Yet thanks to years of underinvestment, they still lack the public transport, affordable housing, and infrastructure they need. That changes under this government.

"We have massive ambitions for the Oxford-Cambridge corridor, that’s why we’re reopening the Cowley Branch railway 60 years after it closed, why we’re building more affordable housing and investing in business, and how we’ve been able to unlock £10 billion in private investment. By choosing investment and renewal over chaos and decline, we’re boosting growth and building an economy that works for working people."

Science minister and Oxford-Cambridge innovation champion, Lord Vallance, said: "These investments are a milestone, not just for the Oxford to Cambridge Corridor, but for the entire country. We are going to deliver the housing, amenities and infrastructure that businesses need to grow and that people need to flourish.

"This region has all the ingredients to be the UK’s answer to Silicon Valley or the Boston Cluster: somewhere that turns world-class innovation into economic growth the whole nation benefits from. Today is proof we’ll back the OxCam region to fulfil its enormous potential."