The U.K.’s National Infrastructure Commission called on the government to press ahead with the reinstatement of a rail line between the university cities of Oxford and Cambridge and for the building of tens of thousands of new homes along the route to maximize its economic potential. “The corridor connecting Cambridge, Milton Keynes and Oxford could be Britain’s Silicon Valley—a globally recognized center for science, technology and innovation,” the commission’s deputy chairman, John Armitt, said in an e-mailed statement. “This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity—we must grab it with both hands.” The commission, set up a year ago by the then chancellor of the exchequer, George Osborne, called on the government to spend an immediate 100 million pounds ($120 million) on work to ensure the reopening of the western section of the rail link from Oxford to Bedford by 2024. It said local and national government departments and agencies should cooperate on a strategic housing plan for the route. The 67-mile (108-kilometer) line between Oxford and Cambridge was closed in 1967, meaning the only reliable route by public transportation is via London. House prices in the two cities in comparison to earnings are 50 percent higher than the national average. The commission made its recommendations a week before Chancellor Philip Hammond delivers his end-of-year fiscal statement to Parliament. He’s pledged to make “carefully targeted” investment announcements.