Chiltern Oxford Link completed

[Oxfordblues]

A visit to Water Eaton level crossing today saw the new bridge to replace it almost complete and double track laid halfway to Islip where drainage work is nearing completion. Oxford Parkway is progressing well with both platforms set to be finished some time in March. A Colas tamper was present and the down line properly aligned for a considerable distance. A heart-warming scene!

 

[swt_passenger]

Some reasonably up to date photos of Water Eaton progress on David Cooke's flickr site:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/60790501@N04/16416321469/in/photostream/

 

[midlandred]

Bicester North and Town are, practically speaking, equidistant from the town centre shopping area but you are right that Town will become much more prominent - even more so with the massive housing development planned that end of town, and if they could sort out the lousy road access it would probably be better used by people from the surrounding villages too.

There's no need to increase the planned housing allocation, given how large it already is - with another hefty load anticipated beyond then. How long are the platforms going to be at the Town station, and is there any provision to extend them? (And where do they get the stock if and when the trains fill up?).

Some information re Bicester Town station layout here

 

[HowardGWR]

Some information re Bicester Town station layout here

That plan view appears to shew the southern platform as a dead end and the line across the LC as single. That can't be right can it?

 

[The Planner]

Looks like it has been superimposed on an old plan, it is wrong.

 

[Andyjs247]

I travelled into Oxford today from Bicester by the rail replacement bus and was informed that, with effect from Monday 9th March, the RRB bus stop at Bicester Town will relocate to the existing stop on Pingle Drive opposite Bicester Village. The rest of the station site is being cleared which means the the bus stop needs to be relocated for the time being. I believe this is the same stop used by the shuttle bus from/to Bicester North.

At the moment there is no pedestrian access from the current Bicester Town bus stop in Station Approach to Bicester Village due to the building works. To get to Bicester Village / Pingle Drive bus stop on foot is probably about 20 minutes walk (its been a while since I have walked that way so I can't remember exactly). The recommended walking route from Station Approach is along London Road towards the town centre, through the Market Square, along the Causeway, down Church Lane passing the library in Old Place Yard then continuing on the footpath across Pingle Field towards Bicester Village.

Interestingly my rail ticket to Oxford today was issued from/to Bicester Village (not Bicester Town!) I hope this is just temporary to reflect the relocated bus stop and not a permanent change of name. The temporary bus stop relocation will be less convenient for many residents but will no doubt please the visitors to Bicester Village.

 

[Overload]

I travelled into Oxford today from Bicester by the rail replacement bus and was informed that, with effect from Monday 9th March, the RRB bus stop at Bicester Town will relocate to the existing stop on Pingle Drive opposite Bicester Village. The rest of the station site is being cleared which means the the bus stop needs to be relocated for the time being. I believe this is the same stop used by the shuttle bus from/to Bicester North.



At the moment there is no pedestrian access from the current Bicester Town bus stop in Station Approach to Bicester Village due to the building works. To get to Bicester Village / Pingle Drive bus stop on foot is probably about 20 minutes walk (its been a while since I have walked that way so I can't remember exactly). The recommended walking route from Station Approach is along London Road towards the town centre, through the Market Square, along the Causeway, down Church Lane passing the library in Old Place Yard then continuing on the footpath across Pingle Field towards Bicester Village.



Interestingly my rail ticket to Oxford today was issued from/to Bicester Village (not Bicester Town!) I hope this is just temporary to reflect the relocated bus stop and not a permanent change of name. The temporary bus stop relocation will be less convenient for many residents but will no doubt please the visitors to Bicester Village.

Easier way to walk to Bicester Village is London rd towards town centre, turn left to go down Priory rd. Turn left again for Priory lane, by the White cottage is a lane that takes you to the back of old place yard and then onwards to Bicester Village. Simples!

 

[RPM]

Interestingly my rail ticket to Oxford today was issued from/to Bicester Village (not Bicester Town!) I hope this is just temporary to reflect the relocated bus stop and not a permanent change of name.

I fear not. Chiltern intend to rename the station as Bicester Village. There is a fair amount of bad feeling about this in Bicester and people are alleging that Chiltern's "consultation process" on the name change was a PR exercise, carried out after the renaming decision had already been made.

 

[HowardGWR]

I fear not. Chiltern intend to rename the station as Bicester Village. There is a fair amount of bad feeling about this in Bicester and people are alleging that Chiltern's "consultation process" on the name change was a PR exercise, carried out after the renaming decision had already been made.

Surely the only organisation which could (agree to) rename a station is the owner, namely, Network Rail?

 

[RPM]

Surely the only organisation which could (agree to) rename a station is the owner, namely, Network Rail?

Presumably they have agreed, yes.

 

[The Planner]

If Chiltern have stumped up the cash for us to change all the relevant systems then it is really neither here or there to us.

 

[route:oxford]

Interestingly my rail ticket to Oxford today was issued from/to Bicester Village (not Bicester Town!)

This is good news. It is very helpful to the travelling public to have stations named after a clearly identifiable and understandable location.

There is a national precendent for stations to be named after a commercial location:-

Heathrow 1,2,3
Heathrow 4
Heathrow 5
Gatwick
Birmingham International
IBM Halt
Rowntree Halt

I'm sure there are more...
Meadowbank Stadium

 

[RPM]

This is good news. It is very helpful to the travelling public to have stations named after a clearly identifiable and understandable location.

There is a national precendent for stations to be named after a commercial location:-

Heathrow 1,2,3
Heathrow 4
Heathrow 5
Gatwick
Birmingham International
IBM Halt
Rowntree Halt

I'm sure there are more...
Meadowbank Stadium

I agree there are plenty of precedents and Chiltern are entitled to make a commercial decision on what name they want to give to the station. I think the objection that Bicester residents have is that they resent the town being defined by the retail outlet.

 

[CyrusWuff]

I can confirm that Bicester Town is now showing as Bicester Village in retail systems...but the "original" Bicester Village (NLC H921) is still there as well for the bus link from Bicester North. I fail to see any way in which this could possibly end badly.

London Terminals - Bicester Village (former Bicester Town) Off-Peak Day Return : £24.80 (intended to be via Oxford)
London Terminals - Bicester Village (via Bicester North) Off-Peak Return : £32.00

Just saying!

 

[jimm]

This is good news. It is very helpful to the travelling public to have stations named after a clearly identifiable and understandable location.

There is a national precendent for stations to be named after a commercial location:-

Heathrow 1,2,3
Heathrow 4
Heathrow 5
Gatwick
Birmingham International
IBM Halt
Rowntree Halt

I'm sure there are more...
Meadowbank Stadium

Stations that in most cases were set up to serve said location and for no other purpose - whereas what you are talking about at Bicester is what will be the town of Bicester's principal mainline station. And what about all the members of the travelling public who want to go to the town of Bicester, not a shopping centre? Will it be helpful to them?

PS: Birmingham International isn't a very good example. It was opened in 1976 in conjunction with the National Exhibiton Centre at a time when the airport was still using its old terminal on the far side of the runway and did not have international in its name, which only appeared in the late 1980s. And international was dropped from the airport name in 2011, though the other week a local MP said he wanted it to be called Shakespeare International instead of boring old Birmingham Airport... so ample scope for confusion there.

 

[CarltonA]

Quote from NRE: "Travel by Leaving From Platform To Arriving Platform Duration Additional info
Train 09:45 London Marylebone [MYB] 1 Bicester North [BCS]
10:29 1 0h 44m
Calling points Arrives Departs
High Wycombe [HWY] 10:08 10:09

Chiltern Railways service from London Marylebone to Banbury show calling points
Walk 10:32 Bicester North [BCS] Bicester Town [BIT]
10:57 0h 25m"

NRE still showing Bicester Town for now anyway

 

[HowardGWR]

And international was dropped from the airport name in 2011, though the other week a local MP said he wanted it to be called Shakespeare International instead of boring old Birmingham Airport... so ample scope for confusion there.

Oh no, they won't go away will they?

Gillespie Road was renamed Arsenal. I think most residents would not have minded that ( I don't think they would have been too keen on Emirates).

 

[Andyjs247]

I can confirm that Bicester Town is now showing as Bicester Village in retail systems...but the "original" Bicester Village (NLC H921) is still there as well for the bus link from Bicester North. I fail to see any way in which this could possibly end badly.

London Terminals - Bicester Village (former Bicester Town) Off-Peak Day Return : £24.80 (intended to be via Oxford)
London Terminals - Bicester Village (via Bicester North) Off-Peak Return : £32.00

Just saying!

I'm just wondering if it will all get renamed again if a "Bicester Stations" group is created for ticketing purposes. Is this likely and if so when would such a decision be taken?

I should also mention that Chiltern were providing leaflets showing the revised bus stops. The heading on the leaflet is still "Bicester Town - Islip - Oxford line" so perhaps no decision has been taken at least officially yet. The arrivals and departures screen at Oxford still showed "Bicester Town" also. But it does seem odd if only a partial fait a accompli nonetheless. It's clear what Chiltern want to happen.

According to the Spring 2015 Update leaflet the bus stop was supposed to have moved to Bicester Village last Monday 2nd March. Personally I think the rail replacement bus stop should be located as close to the original location it is supposed to serve, not moved a 20 minute walk away. Sending the bus to the Village risks it getting further delayed and held up in additional traffic. A better compromise would be to send the bus to Market Square to turn round. Was this looked into at all I wonder?

 

[Buttsy]

It wouldn't be a surprise to Oxfordshire residents to have another of its stations renamed to try to sell one of its benefits - Didcot was renamed in the 80s to Didcot Parkway at the behest of the town's residents to encourage people to drive to the massive car park that exists, rather than reflect the town.

 

[jimm]

It wouldn't be a surprise to Oxfordshire residents to have another of its stations renamed to try to sell one of its benefits - Didcot was renamed in the 80s to Didcot Parkway at the behest of the town's residents to encourage people to drive to the massive car park that exists, rather than reflect the town.

I'm not sure about that - the name was changed when the new station building and car park opened in the 1980s, so I'd imagine it was BR's doing.

The current town council wants Parkway removed from the station name, on the grounds that people think the station is nowhere near the town centre - precisely because it is called Parkway.

 

[varkman]

Sadly Bicester Town or Bicester London Rd as is was when Closed in the 60's. Is Dead.....
Chilterns are a service for all the visitors to The Village at Bicester and really nothing else! I am afraid to say BIG MONEY is the name of the game!!!
Evergreen Three is all about Money off the back of the Village and hopefully East/west if it ever happens. Bl##dy Americans take over a little corner of Oxfordshire once again!
Link http://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...s-650-million-outlet-spending-in-china-europe
Bicester was a little town in which i was born and bred......

 

[ironstone11]

Sadly Bicester Town or Bicester London Rd as is was when Closed in the 60's. Is Dead.....

From the Bicester Village website:-

Useful information: Select Bicester Village when purchasing rail tickets and the price will include the shuttle bus journey.

Although this refers to travel via Bicester North, as we have seen in other posts, the name is already programmed into the system.

 

[jimm]

Sadly Bicester Town or Bicester London Rd as is was when Closed in the 60's. Is Dead.....
Chilterns are a service for all the visitors to The Village at Bicester and really nothing else! I am afraid to say BIG MONEY is the name of the game!!!
Evergreen Three is all about Money off the back of the Village and hopefully East/west if it ever happens. Bl##dy Americans take over a little corner of Oxfordshire once again!
Link http://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...s-650-million-outlet-spending-in-china-europe
Bicester was a little town in which i was born and bred......

I think you'll find that Chiltern has been making a lot of money on the back of Bicester Village pretty much since the day it opened. Being able to drop people at the gate rather than catching the shuttle bus from North being about the only difference the new line will make. Evergreen3 is about getting a slice of the Oxford-London commuter market and it was going to happen whether or not the Government eventually woke up to the possibilities of East-West.

AS for the name, let's wait and see. The people of Bicester are pretty fed up with Bicester Village messing up their lives with traffic chaos during sales, despite endless promises that it will be better next time. I doubt they will take any more kindly to Chiltern riding roughshod over the town's identity.

 

[giblets]

AS for the name, let's wait and see. The people of Bicester are pretty fed up with Bicester Village messing up their lives with traffic chaos during sales, despite endless promises that it will be better next time. I doubt they will take any more kindly to Chiltern riding roughshod over the town's identity.

On the other hand a station clearly associated with the 'village' may help drive people to take the train (no pun intended), especially now it is much easier from central oxford and elsewhere, no need for the extra bus.

 

[HowardGWR]

Sadly Bicester Town or Bicester London Rd as is was when Closed in the 60's. Is Dead.....
Chilterns are a service for all the visitors to The Village at Bicester and really nothing else! I am afraid to say BIG MONEY is the name of the game!!!
Evergreen Three is all about Money off the back of the Village and hopefully East/west if it ever happens. Bl##dy Americans take over a little corner of Oxfordshire once again!
Link http://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...s-650-million-outlet-spending-in-china-europe
Bicester was a little town in which i was born and bred......

I thought chiiltern was owned by Germany.

 

[67018]

AS for the name, let's wait and see. The people of Bicester are pretty fed up with Bicester Village messing up their lives with traffic chaos during sales, despite endless promises that it will be better next time. I doubt they will take any more kindly to Chiltern riding roughshod over the town's identity.

It would be more accurate to say a small but vocal minority of the people of Bicester are against Bicester Village, appearing to ignore the lack of travel chaos over Christmas after a new traffic management company was engaged. Another, quieter, minority are probably very happy to have it on their doorstep. Both minorities are outnumbered by people who don't give a monkey's.

Calling the station Bicester Village is hardly the world's biggest disaster; the locals are still going to be able to find it after all. And the town's identity can't be up to much if it's threatened by a station renaming.

 

[jimm]

It would be more accurate to say a small but vocal minority of the people of Bicester are against Bicester Village, appearing to ignore the lack of travel chaos over Christmas after a new traffic management company was engaged. Another, quieter, minority are probably very happy to have it on their doorstep. Both minorities are outnumbered by people who don't give a monkey's.

Calling the station Bicester Village is hardly the world's biggest disaster; the locals are still going to be able to find it after all. And the town's identity can't be up to much if it's threatened by a station renaming.

Okay then, never mid what the locals think/have to put up with. Never mind if someone dies when an ambulance or fire crew can't get through or is delayed (and response times most certainly have suffered in Bicester in the past due to Bicester Village-induced chaos)

Let commercial interests run riot, sell the 'naming rights' to the planet... though on reflection we've got Google Earth already.

Bring on Oxford University station (with a nice city attached), Milton Park (actually Didcot but business estates are so much more important than towns these days), Cotswold Parkway (Charlbury but Cotswold is so much more tourist-friendly, isn't it?), Coffee Central (anyone who has ever visited Banbury will understand)...

 

[67018]

Okay then, never mid what the locals think/have to put up with. Never mind if someone dies when an ambulance or fire crew can't get through or is delayed (and response times most certainly have suffered in Bicester in the past due to Bicester Village-induced chaos)

Let commercial interests run riot, sell the 'naming rights' to the planet... though on reflection we've got Google Earth already.

Bring on Oxford University station (with a nice city attached), Milton Park (actually Didcot but business estates are so much more important than towns these days), Cotswold Parkway (Charlbury but Cotswold is so much more tourist-friendly, isn't it?), Coffee Central (anyone who has ever visited Banbury will understand)...

Now I've heard it all. Somehow, renaming a station is going to cause tragic deaths due to delayed emergency services.

If they were renaming the station 'Emirates London Bicester Village' or some such nonsense I'd agree with you. But 'Bicester Village' is hardly wildly inappropriate given the location. It's in Bicester, next to the 'Village' shopping place.

To my knowledge there are no proposals to rename those other stations you mentioned. Although if the shopping centre stumped up the requisite cash to get Banbury renamed 'Banbury Castle Quay', would anyone really suffer?

The locals don't have to use the new name after all - I still refer to Surrey Docks station despite its docklands-inspired renaming being a couple of decades old now.

 

[The Ham]

Now I've heard it all. Somehow, renaming a station is going to cause tragic deaths due to delayed emergency services.

If they were renaming the station 'Emirates London Bicester Village' or some such nonsense I'd agree with you. But 'Bicester Village' is hardly wildly inappropriate given the location. It's in Bicester, next to the 'Village' shopping place.

To my knowledge there are no proposals to rename those other stations you mentioned. Although if the shopping centre stumped up the requisite cash to get Banbury renamed 'Banbury Castle Quay', would anyone really suffer?

The locals don't have to use the new name after all - I still refer to Surrey Docks station despite its docklands-inspired renaming being a couple of decades old now.

Also, there is the argument, which loads of places would like to be able to use the word village to make their settlement sound nicer by implying that is was a village even if it is a town (or should really be classed as a town).

 

[jimm]

Now I've heard it all. Somehow, renaming a station is going to cause tragic deaths due to delayed emergency services.

You know perfectly well what I meant - I was referring to your dismissive attitude towards the concerns of people in the town about the idea of renaming the station and their views on Bicester Village-related traffic chaos, which you seem to think was all magically solved after last Christmas - this after umpteen years of broken promises to do better next time. When they do better again at the end of this year and for as many years as they have been getting it wrong up until now, then people might start to believe them.

If they were renaming the station 'Emirates London Bicester Village'

Don't give them ideas... and it's probably only matter of time if Chiltern are allowed to get away with the first step. After all, we've already got London Oxford Airport just down the road.

To my knowledge there are no proposals to rename those other stations you mentioned.

You don't say...

The locals don't have to use the new name after all - I still refer to Surrey Docks station despite its docklands-inspired renaming being a couple of decades old now.

Okay, Bicester London Road it is then (even if it won't be in any ticketing system)... And surely you should be calling it Deptford Road, not the newfangled Surrey Docks?