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£450m plan - Cowley to Oxford Parkway

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route:oxford

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From The Oxford Mail

THE cost of bringing a rail passenger service back between East Oxford and the city centre could be more than £450m.

Chiltern Railways last year announced its ambition to open the old Cowley Branch Line – currently used by BMW for freight – to passenger services by 2020.

The scheme is seen as key to tackling the city’s chronic congestion problems and would serve Oxford Parkway in Water Eaton, Oxford Station, Oxford Science Park in Littlemore and Oxford Business Park in Cowley.

It would also link East Oxford to services to London.

But rail bosses said more track space was needed between Oxford and Didcot, as well at Oxford Station.

Chiltern Railways director Graham Cross said the tracks were key to bringing back passenger services on the Cowley Branch Line, as there was not enough capacity between Oxford and Kennington, where trains would join the reopened line.

A report by Network Rail said increasing the number of tracks from two to four on the stretch would cost between £175m and £375m, with the cost of Oxford Station’s redevelopment put at £75m by councils.

Mr Cross said: “We see the Cowley Branch Line as an exciting proposition and a good answer to a lot of problems Oxford has with road congestion.

“A capacity increase would open the door for the Cowley Branch Line and allow us to run Chiltern trains between Oxford Station and Kennington junction.

“It is at the options stage at the moment, but there is a wide consensus in the rail industry that it is the right thing to do.

“Upgrade work would also be needed on the branch line itself, because at the moment it is just used by freight.”

He added the firm did not yet have cost estimates for building the new stations.

Additional costs for upgrading the branch line have also not yet been estimated.

Passenger trains stopped in 1963 after British Railways withdrew its Oxford to Princes Risborough services.

Oxfordshire County Council leader Ian Hudspeth said he was “very hopeful” the line could be resurrected.

The branch line has been included as part of the authority’s proposed new Oxford Transport Strategy for up to 2031.

Mr Hudspeth said: “The Cowley Branch Line could bring huge benefits to Oxford, because it would allow people from Bicester, Banbury and West Oxfordshire to reach East Oxford more easily.

“It is a scheme that could really open up key locations in the city, many of which can only be reached by driving at the moment.”

He added: “We will be lobbying for this as a priority with the local enterprise partnership.”

The option of increasing the number of tracks between Oxford and Didcot has been put forward in Network Rail’s Western Route Study.

It is being considered because the firm has predicted Oxford North Junction – a rail junction near Trap Grounds – will be at maximum capacity by 2019, as will Oxford Station.

The Western route study said nine trains per hour are expected to pass in each direction through Oxford by 2019, plus an additional two during peak hours. Two to three freight trains per hour are also expected.

The study said: “Any increase in the number of services... would require a comprehensive infrastructure intervention.”

One option being considered is raising the number of tracks between Oxford and Didcot from two to four, redeveloping Oxford Station to add extra platform space, and building a railway flyover at Didcot East Junction.

Network Rail said that would “potentially eliminate” capacity issues at Oxford and offer “operational flexibility”.

Spokeswoman Victoria Bradley said the firm’s final proposals would be published within the next three months.

They will be part of its wider strategy for 2019 to 2025, and will seek funding from the Office for Rail Regulation.

Oxford City Council has backed the redevelopment of Oxford Station, as well as plans for the Cowley Branch Line.

Earlier this month it suggested the route could be served by trams or light rail.

City council leader Bob Price said: “The Cowley Branch Line is one of those things that makes so much sense and has long-term benefits.

“But putting extra tracks in will cost many millions of pounds and Network Rail will have to be a key player in that.”

A Department for Transport spokesperson said: “We know how important the railway is for the economy and for passengers.

This is why we have embarked on one of the biggest programmes of modernisation on the network for a generation. We are working with local authorities and the rail industry as proposals for the Cowley branch line are developed.”

http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/12...ey_branch_line_to_new_Oxford_Parkway_station/

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Carlisle

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Always great to see routes reopened but if capacity issues demand there's no alternative to quadrupling and building Flyovers etc, then this new Cowley service is surely extremely unlikely except in the very long term as Network Rails debt/workload is big enough already isn't it ?
 
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higthomas

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Although there is some (admittedly rather long term) talk of some form of quadrupling/dynamic passing loops between Oxford and Didcot; so if that were to happen then this would suddenly become more sensible.
 

WatcherZero

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That £250-450m estimate excludes the cost of the stations other than £75m to expand Oxford Station O.o
 

TheKnightWho

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Always great to see routes reopened but if capacity issues demand there's no alternative to quadrupling and building Flyovers etc, then this new Cowley service is surely extremely unlikely except in the very long term as Network Rails debt/workload is big enough already isn't it ?

NR's debt will keep growing until the economy's growing strongly again. As much as the government bangs on about austerity, we've actually seen very little of it in the places that count such as infrastructure, and far too much of it in places that save very little actual money. This is because the government knows full-well that austerity in a weak economy is a beginner-level error in economics.

This is why the Tories invest in electrification where Labour didn't - because Labour didn't need to spend its way out of a crisis.
 

bluenoxid

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It sounds like an excuse to load enhancements to the rail network on to a reopening. I understand it is needed to deliver enhancements but four trackin a substantial part of the rail network seems to be pushing reasonable.

Would four tracking in this area not end up being done anyway in the next control period
 

Andyjs247

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It sounds like an excuse to load enhancements to the rail network on to a reopening. I understand it is needed to deliver enhancements but four trackin a substantial part of the rail network seems to be pushing reasonable.

Would four tracking in this area not end up being done anyway in the next control period

On the surface £450m+ for reopening the Cowley branch line seems astronomical. To put it in context it's over three times the cost of Chiltern's Oxford-Bicester-Marylebone link and half the cost of remodelling Reading. It's also more than the whole East West Rail Western Section...

I'm sure capacity enhancements through Oxford will be required, however the sums don't add up. Reopening to Cowley seems a non-starter I'm afraid, unless the cost is much more sensible. Does Network Rail want Cowley to reopen or are these just silly prices?
 
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TheKnightWho

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It seems really odd that they're considering this now, when presumably this would be by far the most expensive part of reopening towards Princes Risborough - a much faster route to London for Chiltern than via Bicester. Why didn't they go for this in the first place?

I understand that EWR made the economics of a Bicester chord very good, but if they want to do going to do both anyway they might as well get the best end result...
 

route:oxford

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It seems really odd that they're considering this now, when presumably this would be by far the most expensive part of reopening towards Princes Risborough - a much faster route to London for Chiltern than via Bicester. Why didn't they go for this in the first place?

I understand that EWR made the economics of a Bicester chord very good, but if they want to do going to do both anyway they might as well get the best end result...

They did look at this route initially.

From memory...

The old tunnel is in a poor state of repair and is now a bat sanctuary.
A street called "Beeching Way" was built on the former route
Some parts of the route through Wheatley have been built on.
It would need two major bridges. One over the A40 and one over the M40.


The Green Party are now demanding a station to serve the people of Cowley Marsh if this goes ahead.

No mention of quite how they anticipate this would be done.
 

The Planner

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You would also need to re-bridge the river Thame at Wheatley as well as skirt Oxford services as they were built on the track bed. Houses are built on Tiddington station too. We have done this one before though, absolute non starter.
 

Andyjs247

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It seems really odd that they're considering this now, when presumably this would be by far the most expensive part of reopening towards Princes Risborough - a much faster route to London for Chiltern than via Bicester. Why didn't they go for this in the first place?

I understand that EWR made the economics of a Bicester chord very good, but if they want to do going to do both anyway they might as well get the best end result...

Actually it was the other way round. Chiltern got approval for the Bicester chord before East West Rail was on the cards and it probably helped the case for EWR. Now that the western section of EWR is happening there have been further enhancements beyond what Chiltern required for 2tph between Oxford and Marylebone. Line speed via Bicester is or will be mostly 100mph; I doubt you'd achieve that via Thame without even greater expense. So although further, it's probably not much slower. In short, going via Bicester made business sense. The potential of Oxford Parkway vs Oxford Business Park + Science Park is probably greater too.
 

The Planner

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Indeed that is the case, the original Bicester to Oxford upgrade consisted of a fair bit of single track until E-W came along.
 
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