The railway line between Bicester Town and Oxford has struggled to fulfil its potential since opening over 150 years ago. Looking to the future, there are two exciting projects that could ensure it has a future for generations to come...
East West Rail
East West Rail is a major project to establish a strategic railway connecting East Anglia with Central, Southern and Western England and has been promoted by the East West Rail Consortium since 1995. The complete East West Rail scheme comprises a rail route that will link Ipswich, Norwich and Cambridge with Bedford, Milton Keynes, Bicester and Oxford, with a spur to Aylesbury.
The Western section of the project will provide train services between Oxford and Milton Keynes, and Aylesbury and Milton Keynes. There is expected to be two trains every hour from Oxford, with one going to Milton Keynes, with a journey time of 45 minutes, and the other going to Bedford, taking around 57 minutes. There will also be an hourly train from Aylesbury to Milton Keynes.
Development work is underway on the upgrading of the track, signalling, bridges and structures and earthworks, with particular attention to the section where the railway has been closed for several years. Development work is also underway on route options between Bedford and Cambridge, which could include a direct link to Luton, Luton Airport, Stevenage and Hitchin.
It is expected that full detailed design will continue into 2010, followed by the seeking the necessary powers to construct the railway. Construction could begin in 2012 with trains running from late-2013.
For up-to-date information: East West Rail Consortium
Chiltern Railways Project Evergreen 3
In 2008, Chiltern Railways announced plans for a new Oxford to London Marylebone service via Bicester Town as part of their Evergreen 3 project. The proposal is to provide two trains every hour serving a new Water Eaton Parkway station in north Oxford, Bicester Town, Haddenham & Thame Parkway, High Wycombe and London Marylebone. Some trains would serve Islip. The journey times from Oxford are estimated to be 14 minutes to Bicester, 25 minutes to Haddenham, 39 minutes to High Wycombe and 66 minutes to Marylebone.
The East West Rail Consortium and Chiltern Railways are working together to design a railway that can meet the needs of both projects. A new track will be built to link the existing Chiltern main line to the East West Rail line, and the single track between Bicester and Oxford will be replaced with double track as far as Wolvercote. A single track will then continue into Oxford station; the other track connecting with the main line for trains that continue south of Oxford.
Bicester Town and Islip stations will be rebuilt with longer platforms and a second platform, accessible footbridge with lifts or ramps, new station buildings, extra car parking and customer information systems. A new station would be built next to the large Water Eaton Park & Ride site. At Oxford, two new platforms will be built alongside the existing platform 3 and will be accessed from a new bridge that will carry the single track over the Sheepwash Channel.
Chiltern Railways will be seeking powers from the Secretary of State later in 2009 and construction could begin in 2011 with the trains running from summer 2013.
For more information visit the Evergreen 3 website