Chiltern Oxford Link completed

[RPM]

http://www.bucksfreepress.co.uk/news/9993846.Wycombe_Oxford_rail_link_approved/

Wycombe - Oxford rail link approved

HIGH Wycombe will be linked to Oxford by rail for the first time in decades after plans for a new line were given the go-ahead today.

Chiltern Railways has been given the green light to build a new line at Bicester, which would connect Oxford with London.

This will enable Bucks residents to travel directly to Oxford for the first time since 1964, on the first new railway line to be built from the capital to a major city in 100 years.

Graham Cross, Business Development Director of Chiltern Railways said: "We are pleased to have been granted the power to proceed with this significant railway investment, which will benefit thousands of commuters and businesses in Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire.

"The Oxford to London link is the latest in a long line of innovative Chiltern-led projects to upgrade the rail infrastructure, fuelled by our understanding of rail’s potential to make a significant contribution to economic growth and prosperity."

It is hoped services will be able to run from London to Oxford from 2015 at the conclusion of a £130m project.

As part of the scheme Chiltern Railways will build new stations in Bicester and in north Oxford. The new parkway station in north Oxford will be located at Water Eaton and will be a multi-modal interchange, linking trains, buses, cars and bikes allowing passengers to avoid the congestion of central Oxford.

Bicester Town station will also be redeveloped providing a first-class gateway to the town next to the popular Bicester Village fashion outlet centre.

Concerns over the impact on wildlife delayed confirmation of the plans being given the green light.

So after much delay the second phase of Evergreen 3 has been given the go-ahead. This will involve building a new chord at Bicester, upgrading the existing Bicester Town - Oxford line to main line standard, rebuilding & enlarging Bicester Town station, providing a new Parkway station at Water Eaton, reinstating the former LNWR tracks between Oxford North Junction and Oxford and building two new platforms at Oxford.

 

[eastdyke]

http://www.bucksfreepress.co.uk/news/9993846.Wycombe_Oxford_rail_link_approved/

From the article:

... on the first new railway line to be built from the capital to a major city in 100 years.

Really?

 

[RPM]

From the article:



Really?

Stretching the point somewhat!

 

[route:oxford]

Excellent news, and about time.

Might as well put the knitting up from the very start - save service interuptions when East-West is built out.

 

[tec]

At least it will be more useful than HS2.

 

[autotank]

This is excellent news - I'm really pleased the correct decision has finally been reached. The delays has been very frustrating that a relatively small number of moaners can use the system to delay and increase the cost of a well thought out project that was always likely to proceed.

Looking forward to using the new (and hopefully cheaper) route from Oxford to London in 2015!

 

[YorkshireBear]

At least it will be more useful than HS2.

Really :roll:

Unless of course you were being sarcastic...

Good news that is is going ahead, I think parkway stations will start to really take off over the next decade.

 

[Yew]

Good news that is is going ahead, I think parkway stations will start to really take off over the next decade.

Apart from east midlands parkway!

 

[YorkshireBear]

Apart from east midlands parkway!

Yeah well thats different :/

 

[Bald Rick]

Apart from east midlands parkway!

And Coleshill...

 

[RPM]

The three really clever bits of this are:
- Water Eaton Parkway to tempt rail users with plentiful parking.
- The separate infrastructure for the last bit into Oxford so Chiltern services won't get delayed by disruption on the Oxford - Banbury line.
- The ability to take pax to Bicester Village without the bus transfer from Bicester North.

 

[Cherry_Picker]

- The ability to take pax to Bicester Village without the bus transfer from Bicester North.

The local taxi companies will disagree! Bicester Village has been an absolute goldmine for them in recent times.

It will be interesting to see how having two stations with direct connections to Marylebone will affect Bicester commuters too. I presume a lot of them will use Water Eton Parkway if they live out that way anyway (I doubt everybody who uses Bicester North to commute is from Bicester) but how the locals will react to having a split service is anybodies guess. I presume most of the trains to/from Town station will be express trains while North will retain the semi fasts and the trains to Banbury/Stratford/Birmingham, but what do you do if you are at Marylebone with your car parked at North but the next train is to Town? There is so much parking at Bicester North these days that a lot of people will still use it, but do you think that rail users will be welcome in the Village car park for Bicester Town?

 

[RPM]

how the locals will react to having a split service is anybodies guess. I presume most of the trains to/from Town station will be express trains while North will retain the semi fasts and the trains to Banbury/Stratford/Birmingham, but what do you do if you are at Marylebone with your car parked at North but the next train is to Town?

Absolutely spot on mate. I've been wondering for ages how on earth this is going to work.

 

[Buttsy]

The local taxi companies will disagree! Bicester Village has been an absolute goldmine for them in recent times.

It will be interesting to see how having two stations with direct connections to Marylebone will affect Bicester commuters too. I presume a lot of them will use Water Eton Parkway if they live out that way anyway (I doubt everybody who uses Bicester North to commute is from Bicester) but how the locals will react to having a split service is anybodies guess. I presume most of the trains to/from Town station will be express trains while North will retain the semi fasts and the trains to Banbury/Stratford/Birmingham, but what do you do if you are at Marylebone with your car parked at North but the next train is to Town? There is so much parking at Bicester North these days that a lot of people will still use it, but do you think that rail users will be welcome in the Village car park for Bicester Town?

My understanding of the service pattern is that the Oxford services are intended to be extensions of the High Wycombe semi-fasts rather than replacing existing services towards Brum.

 

[route:oxford]

Absolutely spot on mate. I've been wondering for ages how on earth this is going to work.

It's not exactly a tough decision.

It's a brisk 15 minute walk between the two stations. All things being equal if the first train will reach a Bicester station more than 16 minutes before the next train then go for the first train. If the next train (going to the preferred station) is expected to arrive 15 minutes or less after the first train , then wait.

If time is of the essence, consider taking the first fast train and grab a taxi...

 

[Cherry_Picker]

My understanding of the service pattern is that the Oxford services are intended to be extensions of the High Wycombe semi-fasts rather than replacing existing services towards Brum.

Where did you see that? The Evergreen 3 proposals state the trains will do Marylebone - High Wycombe - Bicester - (Islip) - Water Eaton - Oxford.

They say 66 mins MYB - Oxford and 58 mins MYB - Water Eaton. That simply isnt possible if you extend semi fasts which are 43-45 minutes between MYB and HWY, and quite why you would spend all that money on a new route then do everything to put the new potential passengers off using it by giving them a slow service is beyond me.

As far as I can see the Oxford trains will all be 168s, and they will all be fast. I would imagine there is also a decent High Wycombe - Oxford market too given the proximity of the two towns.

 

[jimm]

The local taxi companies will disagree! Bicester Village has been an absolute goldmine for them in recent times.

It will be interesting to see how having two stations with direct connections to Marylebone will affect Bicester commuters too. I presume a lot of them will use Water Eton Parkway if they live out that way anyway (I doubt everybody who uses Bicester North to commute is from Bicester) but how the locals will react to having a split service is anybodies guess. I presume most of the trains to/from Town station will be express trains while North will retain the semi fasts and the trains to Banbury/Stratford/Birmingham, but what do you do if you are at Marylebone with your car parked at North but the next train is to Town? There is so much parking at Bicester North these days that a lot of people will still use it, but do you think that rail users will be welcome in the Village car park for Bicester Town?

With two trains an hour to Oxford and two an hour to Birmingham, you wouldn't have much of a wait at Marylebone for a train to Bicester North. Much of the basic structure needed to fit the Oxford services into the timetable has been put in place since the launch of the Mainline timetable last year and subsequent revisions, which are intended to create a regular repeating pattern of departure times through the day

The idea people will bother with walking across the town in any great number is stretching credibility. And the Bicester Village shuttle buses to/from North will likely continue in some form anyway, as people come down from the West Midlands to shop, as well as travel up from London.

I'm sure regular users will adapt to going to whichever Bicester station suits their journey best, and also remember the times for the train they want, as crossing the town by road to get to North station can be a bit of drag at busy times due to the limitations of the road network and congestion, so I'd expect a north-south split between the two, depending on where people live in and around Bicester. Probably just as well that this will be the case, as North, even with a deck added to much of the car park, can't cope with much more growth anyway.

Water Eaton is very firmly aimed at commuters from the north and east of Oxford, along with Kidlington, who currently have a cross-town journey to get to Oxford station or to the Thornhill park-and-ride to pick up an M40 express coach. There may be some transfer from Bicester if it's a quicker drive to Water Eaton for some people but Chiltern need to get lots of new passengers on their trains to make this pay.

Oxford services are intended to be 168s, with more loco+mk3 sets to free the 168s from Birmingham duties.

 

[Philip Elliott]

I believe the Oxford services will replace the current Banbury terminators. As a result there will only be 1 service north per hour from Bicester Also anyone from Hadenham will need to double back at Risborough or walk between stations at Bicester if they want to go to Oxford.

 

[barrykas]

And here's the Chiltern Press Release. Nothing on the D(a)fT site as yet:

Chiltern Railways given green light to build new rail line between Oxford and London

Date:18 Oct 2012 15:45

• First new rail route between London and a major British city in 100 years
• New line will drastically improve rail capacity between the two cities
• Thousands of Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire commuters set to benefit

Chiltern Railways has been given the green light to build a groundbreaking new rail line between Oxford and London. The Secretary of State for Transport under the Transport and Works Act granted permission for Chiltern to start work on the line; the first new rail link between London and a major British city for 100 years. The groundbreaking £130m project will result in the train company running services between London Marylebone and Oxford from 2015. This work brings Chiltern’s total investment in the line to £600 million since the start of their franchise.

The new line will benefit thousands of commuters at a time when rail traffic is rising into London Paddington and there are frequent reports of road transport gridlock on the A34. The news will also be welcomed by Thames Valley businesses with two London to Oxford trains each way every hour, providing fast frequent links to London and Buckinghamshire.

As part of the project, Chiltern Railways will build new stations in Bicester and in north Oxford. The new parkway station in north Oxford will be located at Water Eaton and will be a multi-modal interchange, linking trains, buses, cars and bikes allowing passengers to avoid the congestion of central Oxford. Bicester Town station will also be redeveloped providing a first-class gateway to the town next to the popular Bicester Village fashion outlet centre.

Graham Cross, Business Development Director of Chiltern Railways said: “We are pleased to have been granted the power to proceed with this significant railway investment, which will benefit thousands of commuters and businesses in Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire. The Oxford to London link is the latest in a long line of innovative Chiltern-led projects to upgrade the rail infrastructure, fuelled by our understanding of rail’s potential to make a significant contribution to economic growth and prosperity.”

The recently announced East West Rail project will also benefit from Chiltern’s new line from Oxford to London with both routes using the line between Oxford and Bicester. Chiltern Railways will now work in partnership with the East West Rail team to determine a joint project approach.

Ends

 

[The Planner]

Also anyone from Hadenham will need to double back at Risborough or walk between stations at Bicester if they want to go to Oxford.

Id be very surprised if there was a surpressed demand for that anyway as Aylesbury is the closer shopping option or Wycombe. The main market there is prime commuter belt judging by the size of the car park.

 

[Andyjs247]

Id be very surprised if there was a surpressed demand for that anyway as Aylesbury is the closer shopping option or Wycombe. The main market there is prime commuter belt judging by the size of the car park.

Wouldn't commuters from Haddenham wanting to get to Oxford or Aylesbury just get the 280 bus?

 

[Eagle]

Also anyone from Haddenham will need to double back at Risborough or walk between stations at Bicester if they want to go to Oxford.

Or they could just change at Banbury (like they do nowadays), which is probably quicker.

 

[PhilipW]

Are all level crossings and farm/foot crossings being replaced as part of the scheme as they are not favoured at all with new railways ?

 

[Buttsy]

Are all level crossings and farm/foot crossings being replaced as part of the scheme as they are not favoured at all with new railways ?

Having seen the plans a couple of years back, there are a lot of path and farm track diversions over Otmoor in order to limit the number of new footbridges over the line because some of the footpaths are merging at 2 or 3 bridges.

 

[The Planner]

Wouldn't commuters from Haddenham wanting to get to Oxford or Aylesbury just get the 280 bus?

More than likely, seeing as it gets you to the City Centre without having to walk from the station.

 

[Waddon]

I'm assuming that the go ahead now means that the whole alignment from the beginning will be double track with electrification clearance, as would be required when East-West is running, and not just the stripped down Evergreen 3 proposals as originally planned, with those long single track sections, single platform at Islip, etc?

 

[tbtc]

My understanding of the service pattern is that the Oxford services are intended to be extensions of the High Wycombe semi-fasts rather than replacing existing services towards Brum.

That's what I'd heard too - in which case they should be slower for Bicester - London journeys than the current Birmingham services are (if that makes a difference for commuters)

 

[jimm]

Id be very surprised if there was a surpressed demand for that anyway as Aylesbury is the closer shopping option or Wycombe. The main market there is prime commuter belt judging by the size of the car park.

Actually a lot of people living around Thame and Haddenham commute into Oxford for work, so a direct train would make plenty of sense. And for those of you saying that people will just get the Arriva 280 bus as they do now, take a look at the timetable first.

Due to rush-hour traffic conditions around Oxford, even those 280s which bypass Wheatley are allowed almost an hour from Thame (and 15 minutes more from Haddenham) to reach the centre of Oxford. Set that against 14 or 15 minutes on a train from Haddenham & Thame to Bicester and 14 more on into Oxford and the potential for rail to grab a slice of the action is obvious, even if it looks a long way round to make the journey.

Oxford's road traffic is why commuting in and out of the city on all the existing rail routes (even the current low-speed Bicester service since the recent increase in frequency made it a reasonable option again) is growing fast. Chiltern's eyes are firmly fixed on London commuters but a 14-minute journey time means that in conjunction with East West services, they stand to clean up on Bicester-Oxford commuting as well.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Having seen the plans a couple of years back, there are a lot of path and farm track diversions over Otmoor in order to limit the number of new footbridges over the line because some of the footpaths are merging at 2 or 3 bridges.

If anyone wants to see plans, paperwork from the public inquiry, etc, it's all here

http://www.chiltern-evergreen3.co.uk/index.php/document-downloads

 

[bailey65]

It's always good to see any expansion of the rail network this would also be a good diversionary route during engineering work or disruption on the paddington line.

 

[anthony263]

It's always good to see any expansion of the rail network this would also be a good diversionary route during engineering work or disruption on the paddington line.

yes especially when we see the wires being put up on the GWML.

However we have to ask will the east west route actually be cleared for IEP?