Chiltern Oxford Link completed

67018 · 10 Sep 2013

MK Tom said:
I pretty much see nobody using it whenever I go through Bicester.

Really? Off peak, of the couple of dozen people that get off a train from Marylebone, you can often count the number of people that *don't* get on the shuttle bus on the fingers of one foot.

From what I've seen, they are looking at a variant of the S5 to provide the service to the proposed park and ride. Would be nice if it served the Town station as well to link the two, and also if the stop by North wasn't so inconveniently located. There are a few diagrams of possible town bus services in the Masterplan documents I linked to up thread.

(Dare I say it, one of the arguments against the S5 serving Town station is that it might get held up by the London Road level crossing... which takes us back to where we were a couple of pages ago!)

RailUK Forums

Cherry_Picker · 11 Sep 2013

MK Tom said:
Any rejigging of that bus would be a good idea. I pretty much see nobody using it whenever I go through Bicester. People will just use the S5 instead.

If you are referring to the shuttle bus, it's very busy. I pass through the station most days, contractual obligations and all that, and 90% of the time it is on the express trains which are fast to/from Bicester. Almost every fast Marylebone - Bicester I have worked for the past two or three years has had dozens of people get off it to head to Bicester Village. I think that the bus service is provided by Bicester Village itself, the people who drive the buses certainly aren't Chiltern staff. Chiltern might get a cut of the takings and that might be lost when the line to Town station opens but I think Chiltern are hoping that will be a drop in the ocean compared to the extra money coming in from Oxford.

As for opening the route up to passengers from the north, I'm not sure the interest is there. The people travelling to Bicester Village on the train are mostly tourists, overwhelmingly Chinese and North African tourists judging by the way they dress and how they speak. There is signage up at Bicester North in Mandarin and Arabic to cater to these people. I'm not sure how much money Bicester Village spends on advertising in China and the Arabic speaking countries but it seems to be working as there are legions of people flocking there to spend money.

Andyjs247 · 11 Sep 2013

swt_passenger said:
Not thinking big enough surely. If this was in London people would be posting suggesting an underground travelator at the very least. Or maybe a monorail or maglev?

According to Chic Outlet Shopping, Bicester Village is in London :roll:

A bit like London Oxford Airport I suppose!

Metrailway · 11 Sep 2013

Whenever I'm on a late morning off peak London - Birmingham Moor St/Snow Hill service which calls at Bicester North, it seems that at least half of the train passengers alight at Bicester North.

MK Tom · 12 Sep 2013

My personal experience is whenever I pass through Bicester or stop there on the X5 or S5, I see the black shuttle bus driving around with nobody or hardly anybody on it between North station and the Village. Perhaps I just come through at the wrong time!

67018 · 12 Sep 2013

I think the buses run to a reasonably regular timetable (so people aren't waiting ages at Bicester Village), which doesn't connect perfectly with the irregular arrival of the trains. This probably accounts for the erratic loadings and some looking emptier - as well as the occasional crowd waiting for the next bus which can make exit from the station a bit of a challenge. Not to mention the groups of people on their way home, who tend to mill around a bit before realising they have to go over the footbridge to get back to London - usually just as the train pulls in...

Eagle · 12 Sep 2013

Andyjs247 said:
According to Chic Outlet Shopping, Bicester Village is in London :roll:

And Kildare is in Dublin, while Maasmechelen is somehow simultaneously in Brussels, Antwerp and Cologne (which means it must be about 150 miles across).

CyrusWuff · 12 Sep 2013

67018 said:
I think the buses run to a reasonably regular timetable (so people aren't waiting ages at Bicester Village), which doesn't connect perfectly with the irregular arrival of the trains.

The timetable's available on the Traveline South and East site and is nominally every 10 minutes with a 7 minute running time. First bus is 0845 from Bicester North and 0855 from Bicester Village, with last buses at 2035/2045 Monday to Saturday and 1925/1935 on Sundays.

Traveline also shows a service from Banbury, operated by Tex Cars & Coaches, and serving Kings Sutton, Aynho and Ardley amongst others. 0730, 1000, 1300, 1500 and 1715 from Banbury; 08x26, 10x56, 13x56 and 15x56 from Bicester Village (on request) with a running time of approximately 50 minutes.

Eagle · 12 Sep 2013

And there's the direct coach from London too (I can't remember how often it is though).

cjp · 13 Sep 2013

67018 said:
I forgot about the shuttle bus, and in particular the fares it charges. £4.50 for a day return: that's more than either the bus or train fare to Oxford! It might cost Chiltern money when people can go direct by train to Bicester Village, unless they can find a way to get the tourists to pay more.

As others have remarked a shuttle bus service will be used by those arriving from the North of Bicester.
If the shuttle bus route were modified to run (as now) fast westbound to Bicester Village from Bicester North for a fare of £3.00 and completing the loop eastbound returning via Bicester Town (making the footpath as bus lane) to Bicester North Station for a fare of £1.00 it would link the two Stations.
This would work both for interchange purposes and, as others have written, resolve the issue of carparking and leaving going south from Bicester North but getting a train back to Bicester Town.

joeykins82 · 13 Sep 2013

It's possible Chiltern could sell their tickets as to & from Bicester Stations with a complimentary shuttle bus or a ticket acceptance arrangement with the bus operator for valid ticket holders, or it'd be a good reason to promote the PlusBus scheme on those tickets!

Andyjs247 · 17 Sep 2013

Reports in the local media suggest that construction of the Bicester Chord will take 6 months. Not too much to see just yet, but there is now a large stockpile of ballast on site which can be seen from Launton Road. The footpath across the site has now closed (since 1st September) and according to notices is due to reopen on 30 April 2014.

Six months seems quick - I had anticipated construction would take longer - though I'm not sure if that includes time for commissioning etc. Though hopefully it would mean that the chord could be open to traffic sometime in the spring. It would obviously be convenient for the MOD traffic which would have an alternative route to Bicester from the east after the route towards Oxford closes from February.

The Planner · 17 Sep 2013

It is the reason why it has been brought forward, it shortens the diversion so they don't have to go via Calvert so much, the paths didn't work well timewise.

ironstone11 · 17 Sep 2013

Andyjs247 said:
Reports in the local media suggest that construction of the Bicester Chord will take 6 months. Not too much to see just yet, but there is now a large stockpile of ballast on site which can be seen from Launton Road. The footpath across the site has now closed (since 1st September) and according to notices is due to reopen on 30 April 2014.

See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-24107419 for a picture of a ballast delivery.

TheKnightWho · 17 Sep 2013

The journey time does seem quite competitive, actually. It's just a shame that Marylebone still isn't on the Circle Line...

JGR · 17 Sep 2013

TheKnightWho said:
The journey time does seem quite competitive, actually. It's just a shame that Marylebone still isn't on the Circle Line...

It's only a couple of minutes walk to Edgware Road or Baker Street, which have ample tube connectivity.
Adding another station on the circle line at Marylebone seems improbable to me.

Eagle · 17 Sep 2013

JGR said:
Adding another station on the circle line at Marylebone seems improbable to me.

Not least because the Circle doesn't actually go particularly near Marylebone, of course (you'd be looking at at least a 250 m long subway to connect it to the main concourse).

CyrusWuff · 17 Sep 2013

Eagle said:
And there's the direct coach from London too (I can't remember how often it is though).

Two each way a day: 0845 from Victoria Coach Station (returning at 1700 to Victoria Railway Station) and 1100 from the Royal National Hotel (returning at 1800). £25 for Adults, £20 for Children (3-15) and you have to book no later than the day before travel.

Eagle · 17 Sep 2013

And they also run taxis—sorry, "luxury chauffeur services"—from London, Heathrow or Birmingham.

67018 · 17 Sep 2013

TheKnightWho said:
The journey time does seem quite competitive, actually. It's just a shame that Marylebone still isn't on the Circle Line...

They'd be better off bunging in a subway to Baker Street, which is the way a lot of people go anyway. It would also save having to struggle down Melcombe Street (which contains every bit of obstructive street furniture ever invented) and cross two busy roads.

Eagle · 17 Sep 2013

Problem is that subways aren't something you can "bung in". It'd pretty much have to be a cut-and-cover affair (too shallow for boring, plus that's ridiculously expensive for a pedestrian walkway), which means routing it to go under existing roads and spending a long time digging them up, avoiding utility mains, and so on.

It would actually be cheaper and less disruptive to build an elevated walkway of some kind.

Cherry_Picker · 18 Sep 2013

TheKnightWho said:
The journey time does seem quite competitive, actually. It's just a shame that Marylebone still isn't on the Circle Line...

It's probably not much further from the buffer stops at Marylebone to Baker Street (and Edgware Road) than it is from the buffer stops at Paddington to the Circle Line platforms inside Paddington.

(yeah, I'm joking for comedy effect, but Marylebone is barely five minutes walk from Marylebone either Baker Street or Edgware Road)

67018 · 19 Sep 2013

Walking from Marylebone to Baker Street or Edgware Road is not far, the difference is that at Paddington (or Kings Cross/St Pancras for that matter), you don't get rained on or run over, or have to negotiate piles of rubbish waiting for collection, three lots of pavement tables, a discarded pallet and a crate of melons!

Replacement of Marylebone tube station with a link to 'Marylebone-Baker Street' might also speed up Bakerloo trains a bit and avoid peak overcrowding caused by overlapping passenger flows between the two.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Getting slightly back on topic, looks like plans are moving ahead and the consultation's now started about provision while the line is closed.

Oxford Mail said:
RAIL commuters between Oxford and Bicester will face more than a year of taking buses while the train line is revamped.

Work has already started on the £130m scheme, which will see a new railway line created to link Oxford with London Marylebone via Bicester the first scheme to link two major British cities for 100 years.

In February the line between Oxford and Bicester will close until summer 2015 and Chiltern has now set out proposals seen by the Oxford Mail for a replacement bus service along the A34.

The company is consulting on the service, which will run about 14 buses a day between Oxford and Bicester, with a stop at Islip.

Islip resident Dr Ian East, of Oxford to Bicester Rail Action Group, has raised concerns about passengers being kept in the dark over what would happen during the construction period.

He said: We are quite pleased to see they have made an announcement and started a consultation.

When it starts it is proposed that between Mondays and Thursdays the service will run between 6am and 9.50pm from Bicester and between 5.15am and 9.05pm from Oxford.

It will also run on Saturdays and Sundays, and all valid rail tickets will be accepted on the service.

Spokesman Nicola Clark declined to comment on the details but said: We are currently seeking views on the bus replacement service and have been liaising with groups including those representing passengers and the local council.

We will release full details of the final timetable in November.

Original story here http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/10683625.Rail_company_reveals_bus_plan_during_line_project/, including a photo of newly-refurbished 168219

Railcar B · 20 Sep 2013

67018 said:
When it starts it is proposed that between Mondays and Thursdays the service will run between 6am and 9.50pm from Bicester and between 5.15am and 9.05pm from Oxford.

It will also run on Saturdays and Sundays, and all valid rail tickets will be accepted on the service.

So what will happen on Fridays then?

ChilternHenry · 21 Sep 2013

Pony rides to and from oxford and bicester!

jimm · 22 Sep 2013

Railcar B said:
So what will happen on Fridays then?

Someone forgot to put in that on Friday and Saturday nights there are later trains from Oxford to Bicester Town than the Mon-Thurs 21.00, so there will be buses covering for those services.

ironstone11 · 22 Sep 2013

I have been trying to find out which parts of the Oxford - Water Eaton Parkway route are double or single track. The track access document from the ORR states that the line from Water Eaton Parkway via Wolvercot Tunnel to Woodstock Road Junction is to be double track and then single track to Oxford North Junction.

The question is, does anyone know where Woodstock Road Junction is?

WestCountry · 22 Sep 2013

ironstone11 said:
The question is, does anyone know where Woodstock Road Junction is?

It's where the Bicester line meets the Oxford-Banbury mainline.

swt_passenger · 22 Sep 2013

ironstone11 said:
I have been trying to find out which parts of the Oxford - Water Eaton Parkway route are double or single track. The track access document from the ORR states that the line from Water Eaton Parkway via Wolvercot Tunnel to Woodstock Road Junction is to be double track and then single track to Oxford North Junction.

Now that EWR has been given the go ahead, much of the online info is out of date. I suggest that the track layout at the Oxford end is yet to be decided in the light of the EWR decision, and various Chiltern 'single track' descriptions and drawings are of necessity transitional information...

The original Chiltern plans kept their route to the station fairly separate from the mainlines, with an additional single track 'behind' the DMU sidings, but that is no longer happening apparently.

The Planner · 22 Sep 2013

WestCountry said:
It's where the Bicester line meets the Oxford-Banbury mainline.

No it isn't, that is Oxford North Jn, Woodstock Road Jn is just south of the tunnel IIRC.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

swt_passenger said:
with an additional single track 'behind' the DMU sidings, but that is no longer happening apparently.

Still not 100% dead yet believe it or not.

Chiltern Oxford Link completed

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