Chiltern Oxford Link completed

[L&Y Robert]

Langford Lane Crossing (Wendlebury Halt) and Bicester Town/Village revisited yesterday (link)

At Islip there used to be an oil siding, with off-loading equipment and storage tanks, on the left of your picture no.4. Has all that gone now?

 

[Oxfordblues]

The siding at Islip has gone but the disused oil farm is still there. A local tells me there's a proposal to develop it for housing as it's a prime brownfield site less than an hour from Marylebone.

 

[The Planner]

The oil siding went many moons ago.

 

[Oxfordblues]

Tracklaying of the down line was progressing through Islip cutting and approaching the new station yesterday afternoon.

 

[Chris125]

There are a number of great new photos up on twitter courtesy of Hugh Jaegar, worth a look.

 

[fgwrich]

There are a number of great new photos up on twitter courtesy of Hugh Jaegar, worth a look.

With the NTC on the case, that track will be laid in no time then!

 

[aylesbury2]

Have there been any updates from Chiltern internally regarding ticket prices or any alterations to the provisional timetable?
We haven't heard anything for a while and the website is well out of date.

 

[varkman]

From Chiltern insider, its running late!
But timetable loaded in Trust from September 2015.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Islip Siding GF was only ever used once back in the early 70's with a test train from Southampton. Info from an Ex-Oxford area relief Signalman.
It was for Aviation fuel for RAF Upper Heyford. To keep the F-111 Bombers going!

 

[The Planner]

Depends on your definition of late (it has slipped as you say), it is still due by the timetabled date of services.

 

[jimm]

Update on the Bicester station renaming situation from Obrag.

http://www.obrag.org.uk/589/renaming-bicester-town-station-cont/

 

[The Planner]

Station Change is a regulatory process, basically consulting operators and stakeholders (which is NOT everyone, mainly PTEs, Dft, ORR, I very much doubt OBRAG are considered a stakeholder) and allowing them to disagree or to ratify the proposal. Network Change and Vehicle Change is also similar. I have mentioned this previously, if Chiltern cough up for the cost of changing the name so NR are covered I suspect there is no reason for NR to say no to it.

 

[CyrusWuff]

The PDF of the Chiltern Summer timetable shows it as Bicester Village for the replacement bus service...

 

[Andyjs247]

Station Change is a regulatory process, basically consulting operators and stakeholders (which is NOT everyone, mainly PTEs, Dft, ORR, I very much doubt OBRAG are considered a stakeholder) and allowing them to disagree or to ratify the proposal. Network Change and Vehicle Change is also similar. I have mentioned this previously, if Chiltern cough up for the cost of changing the name so NR are covered I suspect there is no reason for NR to say no to it.

I don't believe that renaming the station is a done deal - it is clear that the change has not been agreed with stakeholders nor does it have popular support. Was it discussed with the councils involved with the East West Rail consortium or for that matter Oxfordshire County Council as the Highways Authority responsible for signage? (The works being carried out now to facilitate Chiltern Railways' Oxford - Marylebone service are being progressed with Phase 1 of East West Rail - Western Section).

Whether or not OBRAG are considered a stakeholder I do not know. However I suspect that Chiltern Railways may have acted beyond the scope of the franchise agreement with the renaming. That will be down to DfT/ORR to determine I suppose but probably not much will happen (or be seen to happen) at the moment due to the impending general election.

I have raised similar concerns as OBRAG with our local councillors (along with concerns about relocation of the Rail Replacement buses) and I know that the Town Council has already raised objections with Chiltern Railways.

There is also a petition on Change.org against the renaming of Bicester Town station started by a local resident and which has over 500 signatures already.

Please feel free to sign if you feel the renaming is inappropriate - see here.

 

[The Planner]

I very much doubt the ORR or DfT will get involved on the face of it unless they are lobbied or pressured from within. It will be a political and PR decision over an operating one. The Station Change procedure itself is unlikely to have an issue in my opinion.

 

[jimm]

The PDF of the Chiltern Summer timetable shows it as Bicester Village for the replacement bus service...

That's because, as I think was already pointed out above, the bus service is actually running from Bicester Village... the station area is a building site.

http://www.chilternrailways.co.uk/content/information-passengers

Station Change is a regulatory process, basically consulting operators and stakeholders (which is NOT everyone, mainly PTEs, Dft, ORR, I very much doubt OBRAG are considered a stakeholder) and allowing them to disagree or to ratify the proposal. Network Change and Vehicle Change is also similar. I have mentioned this previously, if Chiltern cough up for the cost of changing the name so NR are covered I suspect there is no reason for NR to say no to it.

Obrag is considered a stakeholder, being one of the local rail user groups, and, more to the point, so are the local councils and politicians, who aren't going to do much for their popularity in the town of Bicester if they say nothing about this.

If it is decided that a survey carried out on Chiltern's behalf constitutes the "relevant stakeholder support" mentioned in DfT"s letter to Obrag, then you may well be right that this will just be steamrollered through. If, on the other hand, someone points out that those attending Chiltern's hastily-arranged public 'consultation' meeting were opposed, as are Tony Baldry and councillors and the user group, then it may not be. And Network Rail is clearly taking its time over deciding its position.

 

[The Planner]

Station Change obviously works slightly differently to the other processes then, certainly with the other ones councils etc get nowhere near them.

 

[Andyjs247]

Station Change obviously works slightly differently to the other processes then, certainly with the other ones councils etc get nowhere near them.

To be honest I don't know much about Station Change and the process involved. What I could find from ORR was not particularly clear though - it mainly referred to things like changes to the buildings and facilities (e.g. like seating or canopies) or access. Relatively trivial and not really something that councils would need to get involved with IMO. It also seems as if ORR mostly wouldn't care to scrutinise this process either.

However something as fundamental as station renaming is not as simple as replacing one station sign with another. It is far more wide ranging than that, and really deserves proper scrutiny. It should not be decided on a whim by one party without proper consultation and relevant stakeholder agreement.

Incidentally, as far as I know, Bicester Village hasn't been pushing this change (although I don't suppose they particularly object either). Renaming seems to be driven by Chiltern - who have perhaps also taken advantage of the political timetable. In short they are not being held to account properly because any difficult or controversial decisions will be deferred now since we have no MPs etc and the press have to be extra careful about what they can report. In the meantime they move the Rail Replacement Bus and sell tickets from Bicester Village and hope nobody notices...

 

[route:oxford]

However something as fundamental as station renaming is not as simple as replacing one station sign with another. It is far more wide ranging than that, and really deserves proper scrutiny. It should not be decided on a whim by one party without proper consultation and relevant stakeholder agreement.

I'm sure there wasn't this much fuss the last time the station changed name.

 

[aylesbury]

Don't know what all the fuss is about, Bicester Village is the only reason to go to Bicester so why not persuade people to travel there by train. The people of Bicester are getting a brand new station and new train services so they should be pleased.

 

[Andyjs247]

I'm sure there wasn't this much fuss the last time the station changed name.

Presumably because the suggestion then was quite sensible.

 

[67018]

Don't know what all the fuss is about, Bicester Village is the only reason to go to Bicester so why not persuade people to travel there by train. The people of Bicester are getting a brand new station and new train services so they should be pleased.

Not the *only* reason to go to Bicester. A colleague just this morning told me how impressed she was that you could get your car cleaned for just £7 at Tesco's. Well worth a visit...

But, you're right, there's no evidence yet of riots in the streets.

I suspect a lot of the complaints are a proxy for general dissatisfaction with the way the town is changing - it's character in a few years will be very different to, say, 20 years ago and it's not surprising if some people don't like it.

 

[ironstone11]

The BBC2 programme "The Trouble with our Railways" shown at 21:00 on Thur. 29 April 2015 featured a section on the Oxford Link.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b05sz83j/nick-and-margaret-the-trouble-with-our-trains at 45m:55s

The commentor, Margaret Mountford of "The Apprentice" fame stated that the

The new service will begin running next Spring.

Is anybody able to confirm or deny this statement?

 

[swt_passenger]

Is anybody able to confirm or deny this statement?

That's simply reflecting the public opening date for the whole line (spring 2016) that's been repeated in various Chiltern statements since the decision was made (in early 2013?) to partially open as far as the Parkway station in autumn 2015.

Whether or not NR can achieve that will probably be clarified next January or February when a sudden 'unexpected delay' will be announced?

 

[RPM]

The official opening date for Bicester - Oxford Parkway was officially announced (internally) today. I'm not sure if the information has been passed for public consumption yet so I won't reveal the exact date now, but it is indeed this autumn, a few weeks later than originally envisaged. There will be a period of staff training and shadow running between the engineers' handover and the commencement of public services.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Don't know what all the fuss is about, Bicester Village is the only reason to go to Bicester so why not persuade people to travel there by train. The people of Bicester are getting a brand new station and new train services so they should be pleased.

They aren't getting that many new train services. The current Bicester North terminators are being moved to Bicester Village/Town, splitting their service between 2 stations, which for anyone who has to drive to the station (I'd think most of its users) is far less convenient.

And despite North's name, it is right in the middle of the built up area, so is convenient to far more people than Town.

Yes, they get a train to Oxford, but they already had one, and goodness knows how many buses as well.

 

[The Planner]

Its on the BBC apparently, late October now.

 

[RPM]

Ah yes, I see it has now been announced publically. 26th October 2015. Training & practice running to commence during September.

 

[The Planner]

Was going to say, actual signalling commisioning is still on the first weekend of September?

 

[67018]

They aren't getting that many new train services. The current Bicester North terminators are being moved to Bicester Village/Town, splitting their service between 2 stations, which for anyone who has to drive to the station (I'd think most of its users) is far less convenient.

And despite North's name, it is right in the middle of the built up area, so is convenient to far more people than Town.

Yes, they get a train to Oxford, but they already had one, and goodness knows how many buses as well.

The split between stations is a bit of a pain in the backside, especially if they keep to the draft timetable which left some gaps at North, but the big win is the improvement to the Oxford service. The previous service was pretty infrequent and painfully slow - many journeys were quicker by bus after factoring in the bus stops being closer to where you wanted to go at both ends. The new, faster and more frequent service is not only good for getting to Oxford but opens up much easier opportunities for onward travel.

The current Bicester North terminators are pretty useless for actually getting to and from Bicester, as they almost invariably only get in a minute or two before the next fast train.

Also, if it takes some of the Bicester Village traffic off the roads, many people will be delighted!

 

[Andyjs247]

I had heard first trains will run 10th September now - presumably this will be to commission signalling and driver training. Start of public service on 26 October - just heard it on local radio.