[Pesmo]

I absolutely agree, If you want to get to Stansted and live more than about 15 miles east or west of it then you have to go via London which is crackers. There are several new towns with quite large populations immeduately to the west of Stansted and these could do with an east west line nearby.
The current East-west proposal is very much a case of doing it on the cheap and is too far north .

A line that went Oxford, Aylesbury,Dunstable, Luton airport, Stevenage,Stansted airport, Braintree would be great. The Stansted Braintree (and then to Norwich) bit was in an earlier plan and that is apparently why Stansted platforms were designed for through running rather than as a terminus. A new East West line would also have good freight potential to the container ports of Harwich/Felixtowe. Additionally you would also then have a strategic link line just North of London for all the main North south routes that could make diversions and rolling stock movements in the london area far easier

There is a long term plan to extend the A120 west to the M1 anyway so if we could have a bit of joined up thinking and do both with the same earthworks like they often do abroad there could be major cost synergies.