The Oxford–Bicester line is a railway line linking Oxford and Bicester in Oxfordshire, England. Opened in 1850, later becoming part of a through route to Cambridge, it closed in 1967 along with much of the rest of the original line. The section between Oxford and Bicester was reopened in 1987 as a branch line, and closed from early 2014 to late 2015 for a substantial upgrade in which it became part of a new route between Oxford and London Marylebone via High Wycombe. In addition, it is intended that by 2025 the original route eastwards will be restored as far as Bletchley allowing services to run to Bedford.[1][2] This East West Rail project includes a long-term plan to re-establish the route through to Cambridge.
In May 2009, a partnership between First Great Western and Oxfordshire County Council rebranded and relaunched the line as The Bicester Link. On 22 May 2011, Chiltern Railways took over all passenger operations on the line. The line closed for upgrades in February 2014, instead running a replacement bus service about 15 times a day.
Work on Evergreen 3 commenced with the closing of the line in February 2014. The works included complete reconstruction of the line to modern standards, with new track, signalling and bridges, and the infrastructure improvements ready for 'East West Rail' services (see below). The line was double tracked from Oxford North Junction to Bicester South Junction, upgraded for 100 mph (160 km/h) operation and prepared for electrification. Between Oxford station and Oxford North Junction the line uses the former 'Jericho' line, bi-directionally. A new 1 km chord has also been built at Bicester (from Bicester Gavray Junction, linking with the Chiltern main line at Bicester South Junction) and 37 level crossings have been eliminated.
Chiltern Railways commenced driver training on the upgraded line in September 2015, and the line between the new Oxford Parkway and Bicester Village stations reopened on 26 October 2015,[4] with two trains per hour running between London Marylebone and Oxford Parkway. It was originally planned these would be extended to Oxford in March 2016,[5] but services to Oxford started on 11 December 2016.[6][7] Planning permission for the work at Oxford Station allowing the new platforms to be constructed was given on 1 December 2015.[8]
Current servicesedit
Chiltern Railways reopened the line between the new Oxford Parkway station and Bicester on 26 October 2015.[4] The timetable for December 2015 to May 2016 has two trains per hour between Oxford Parkway and London Marylebone, all of which stop at Bicester Village but only a few at Islip.[9] The fastest trains are scheduled to take just under an hour for the whole journey.[9] Services along the full lengths of the line from Oxford started on 11 December 2016.[6] (The service received its ceremonial opening on the following day.)[7] Chiltern Railways originally proposed that the journey from Oxford to London Marylebone would take 66 minutes.[10]
In addition to allowing new services between Oxford and London via the Chiltern route, the Evergreen 3 project formed the first phase of the "East West Rail" project that is to see a new 100 mph (160 km/h) service linking Oxford with Milton Keynes, Bedford and possibly also Cambridge.[11] The western section of this route, between Oxford and Bedford, was approved by the Government in November 2011.[12] In his budget of November 2017, the chancellor, Philip Hammond, allocated further funding to open the western section by 2024 via a new company, the East West Railway Company, which was established in December 2017.[1][2]
Referencesedit
^ ab"Chancellor accepts East West Rail targets and strengthens plans with extra cash". www.railtechnologymagazine.com.
^ ab"Transport Secretary officially launches East West Railway Company at Bletchley Park". East West Main Line Partnership. 14 December 2017. Retrieved 25 October 2021.
^East West Rail could be running by 2017 Accessed 14 December 2011
External linksedit
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Oxford to Bicester Line.
East West Rail project
Oxford to Bicester Rail Action Group website
Oxford to Bicester, Banbury and Worcester, Description of line
May 07, 2024
oxford, bicester, line, railway, line, linking, oxford, bicester, oxfordshire, england, opened, 1850, later, becoming, part, through, route, cambridge, closed, 1967, along, with, much, rest, original, line, section, between, oxford, bicester, reopened, 1987, b. The Oxford Bicester line is a railway line linking Oxford and Bicester in Oxfordshire England Opened in 1850 later becoming part of a through route to Cambridge it closed in 1967 along with much of the rest of the original line The section between Oxford and Bicester was reopened in 1987 as a branch line and closed from early 2014 to late 2015 for a substantial upgrade in which it became part of a new route between Oxford and London Marylebone via High Wycombe In addition it is intended that by 2025 the original route eastwards will be restored as far as Bletchley allowing services to run to Bedford 1 2 This East West Rail project includes a long term plan to re establish the route through to Cambridge Oxford Bicester lineA Class 165 DMU leaves Wolvercote Tunnel heading towards Oxford OverviewStatusOperationalOwnerNetwork RailLocaleOxfordshireSouth East EnglandStations3ServiceTypeHeavy railSystemNational RailServices1Operator s Chiltern RailwaysHistoryOpened1850TechnicalNumber of tracksTwoCharacterRuralTrack gauge1 435 mm 4 ft 8 1 2 in standard gaugeOperating speed100 mph 160 km h Route map Click to expand vteOxford Bicester line Legend East West Railto Bletchley opening 2023 Bicester South Junction Chiltern Main Lineto Banbury to High Wycombe Bicester chord Gavray Junction B4100 London Road Bicester Village A41 Bicester Military Railway Langford Lane Wendlebury Halt M40 Charlton Halt Oddington Halt Islip B4027 Kidlington Road Mill Lane River Cherwell occupation bridge Oxford Parkway A4165 Oxford Road Halt Oxford Road JunctionBuckinghamshire Junction Railway Wolvercote Tunnel Wolvercote Halt Oxford Canal Cherwell Valley lineto Banbury Oxford North Junction Port Meadow Halt Sheepwash Channel Railway Bridgeand Rewley Road Swing Bridge Oxford Rewley Road Oxford Cherwell Valley lineto Didcot Parkway Contents 1 History 1 1 Opening and original operation 1 2 20th century closure and reopening 1 3 Evergreen 3 2 Current services 3 Future 4 References 5 External linksHistory editOpening and original operation edit The line was opened in 1850 as part of the Buckinghamshire Railway which in 1879 became part of the London and North Western Railway In the grouping of Britain s railways in 1923 the L amp NWR became part of the London Midland and Scottish Railway and in the nationalisation of Britain s railways in 1948 the LMS became part of British Railways Both the LMS and BR ran passenger services between Oxford and Cambridge via the Buckinghamshire Railway Marston Vale line and Bedford and Cambridge Railway This led to the Oxford Cambridge route being informally called the Varsity line 20th century closure and reopening edit In 1967 British Railways withdrew Oxford Cambridge services and closed the section of line between Oxford and Bletchley citation needed In 1987 Network SouthEast restored passenger services on the Oxford Bicester Town section on the initiative of Oxfordshire County Council citation needed In 1988 Network SouthEast rebuilt and reopened Islip station again with Oxfordshire County Council support citation needed Since 2005 an enhanced service including Sunday services has run during the weeks before Christmas mainly for the Bicester Village Shopping Centre adjacent to Bicester Village Station formerly Bicester Town station In May 2009 a partnership between First Great Western and Oxfordshire County Council rebranded and relaunched the line as The Bicester Link On 22 May 2011 Chiltern Railways took over all passenger operations on the line The line closed for upgrades in February 2014 instead running a replacement bus service about 15 times a day Evergreen 3 edit Main article Chiltern Railways Evergreen 3 In August 2008 Chiltern Railways announced Project Evergreen 3 to create a new passenger service between Oxford and London Marylebone via High Wycombe by 2012 As part of this project Chiltern Railways would double most of the line build a new Oxford Parkway passenger station at Water Eaton to serve Kidlington and north Oxford and build the short missing link from Bicester Town now Bicester Village station to the Chiltern Main Line This was to give Oxford an alternative to Great Western Railway s rail link to London Paddington and provide Oxford with a direct rail link to High Wycombe for the first time since British Railways closed the Princes Risborough Oxford section of the Wycombe Railway in 1964 3 Work on Evergreen 3 commenced with the closing of the line in February 2014 The works included complete reconstruction of the line to modern standards with new track signalling and bridges and the infrastructure improvements ready for East West Rail services see below The line was double tracked from Oxford North Junction to Bicester South Junction upgraded for 100 mph 160 km h operation and prepared for electrification Between Oxford station and Oxford North Junction the line uses the former Jericho line bi directionally A new 1 km chord has also been built at Bicester from Bicester Gavray Junction linking with the Chiltern main line at Bicester South Junction and 37 level crossings have been eliminated Chiltern Railways commenced driver training on the upgraded line in September 2015 and the line between the new Oxford Parkway and Bicester Village stations reopened on 26 October 2015 4 with two trains per hour running between London Marylebone and Oxford Parkway It was originally planned these would be extended to Oxford in March 2016 5 but services to Oxford started on 11 December 2016 6 7 Planning permission for the work at Oxford Station allowing the new platforms to be constructed was given on 1 December 2015 8 Current services editChiltern Railways reopened the line between the new Oxford Parkway station and Bicester on 26 October 2015 4 The timetable for December 2015 to May 2016 has two trains per hour between Oxford Parkway and London Marylebone all of which stop at Bicester Village but only a few at Islip 9 The fastest trains are scheduled to take just under an hour for the whole journey 9 Services along the full lengths of the line from Oxford started on 11 December 2016 6 The service received its ceremonial opening on the following day 7 Chiltern Railways originally proposed that the journey from Oxford to London Marylebone would take 66 minutes 10 Future editMain article East West Rail In addition to allowing new services between Oxford and London via the Chiltern route the Evergreen 3 project formed the first phase of the East West Rail project that is to see a new 100 mph 160 km h service linking Oxford with Milton Keynes Bedford and possibly also Cambridge 11 The western section of this route between Oxford and Bedford was approved by the Government in November 2011 12 In his budget of November 2017 the chancellor Philip Hammond allocated further funding to open the western section by 2024 via a new company the East West Railway Company which was established in December 2017 1 2 References edit a b Chancellor accepts East West Rail targets and strengthens plans with extra cash www railtechnologymagazine com a b Transport Secretary officially launches East West Railway Company at Bletchley Park East West Main Line Partnership 14 December 2017 Retrieved 25 October 2021 New rail link is capital idea Oxford Mail a b Chiltern Railway s restores direct trains from High Wycombe to Oxford Chiltern Railways Press Release Chiltern starts driver training on Oxford link International Railway Journal 29 September 2015 a b Chiltern Railways Timetable from 11th December PDF Archived from the original PDF on 3 December 2016 a b Chiltern Oxford Launch Chiltern Railways News Chiltern Railways Archived from the original on 16 May 2016 Retrieved 20 January 2016 Oxford Station planning permission PDF City Development Planning Control Oxford City Council Retrieved 8 January 2016 permanent dead link a b Winter and Spring train times pdf Chilterns Railways December 2015 Evergreen 3 Journey Times Chiltern Evergreen3 FAQs Chiltern Railways Retrieved 20 January 2016 MK rail link plan on track The Oxford Times East West Rail could be running by 2017 Accessed 14 December 2011External links edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Oxford to Bicester Line East West Rail project Chiltern Railways Evergreen 3 Project Oxford to Bicester Rail Action Group website Oxford to Bicester Banbury and Worcester Description of line Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Oxford Bicester line amp oldid 1149303253, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
