| Oxford–Bicester line | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 AClass 165 DMU leaves Wolvercote Tunnel, heading towardsOxford. | |||
| Overview | |||
| Status | Operational | ||
| Owner | Network Rail | ||
| Locale | Oxfordshire South East England | ||
| Stations | 3 | ||
| Service | |||
| Type | Heavy rail | ||
| System | National Rail | ||
| Services | 1 | ||
| Operator(s) | Chiltern Railways | ||
| History | |||
| Opened | 1850 | ||
| Technical | |||
| Number of tracks | Two | ||
| Character | Rural | ||
| Track gauge | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in)standard gauge | ||
| Operating speed | 100 mph (160 km/h) | ||
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TheOxford–Bicester line is arailway line linkingOxford andBicester inOxfordshire,England. Opened in 1850, later becoming part ofa through route to Cambridge, it closed in 1967 along with much of the rest of the original line. The section between Oxford and Bicester was reopened in 1987 as abranch line, and closed from early 2014 to late 2015 for a substantial upgrade in which it became part of a new route between Oxford andLondon Marylebone viaHigh Wycombe. In addition, it is intended that by 2025 the original route eastwards will be restored as far asBletchley allowing services to run toBedford.[1][2] ThisEast West Rail project includes a long-term plan to re-establish the route through toCambridge.
The line was opened in 1850 as part of theBuckinghamshire Railway, which in 1879 became part of theLondon and North Western Railway. In thegrouping of Britain's railways in 1923 the L&NWR became part of theLondon, Midland and Scottish Railway, and in thenationalisation of Britain's railways in 1948 the LMS became part ofBritish Railways. Both the LMS and BR ran passenger services between Oxford and Cambridgevia the Buckinghamshire Railway,Marston Vale line andBedford and Cambridge Railway. This led to the Oxford - Cambridge route being informally called theVarsity line.
In 1967British Railways withdrew Oxford – Cambridge services and closed the section of line between Oxford andBletchley.[citation needed] In 1987,Network SouthEast restored passenger services on the Oxford – Bicester Town section, on the initiative ofOxfordshire County Council.[citation needed] In 1988, Network SouthEast rebuilt and reopenedIslip station, again with Oxfordshire County Council support.[citation needed]
Since 2005, an enhanced service including Sunday services has run during the weeks before Christmas, mainly for theBicester Village Shopping Centre adjacent to Bicester Village Station (formerly Bicester Town station).
In May 2009, a partnership betweenFirst Great Western andOxfordshire County Council rebranded and relaunched the line as The Bicester Link. On 22 May 2011,Chiltern Railways took over all passenger operations on the line. The line closed for upgrades in February 2014, instead running a replacement bus service about 15 times a day.
In August 2008Chiltern Railways announced Project Evergreen 3 to create a new passenger service between Oxford andLondon MaryleboneviaHigh Wycombe by 2012. As part of this project Chiltern Railways would double most of the line, build a newOxford Parkway passenger station atWater Eaton to serveKidlington and north Oxford and build the short 'missing-link' from Bicester Town (nowBicester Village), station to theChiltern Main Line. This was to give Oxford an alternative toGreat Western Railway's rail link toLondon Paddington and provide Oxford with a direct rail-link to High Wycombe for the first time since British Railways closed thePrinces Risborough - Oxford section of theWycombe Railway in 1964.[3]
Work on Evergreen 3 commenced with the closing of the line in February 2014. The works included complete reconstruction of the line to modern standards, with new track, signalling and bridges, and the infrastructure improvements ready for 'East West Rail' services (seebelow). The line was double tracked from Oxford North Junction to Bicester South Junction, upgraded for 100 mph (160 km/h) operation and prepared for electrification. Between Oxford station and Oxford North Junction the line uses the former 'Jericho' line, bi-directionally. A new 1 km chord has also been built at Bicester (from Bicester Gavray Junction, linking with the Chiltern main line at Bicester South Junction) and 37 level crossings have been eliminated.
Chiltern Railways commenced driver training on the upgraded line in September 2015, and the line between the new Oxford Parkway and Bicester Village stations reopened on 26 October 2015,[4] with two trains per hour running between London Marylebone and Oxford Parkway. It was originally planned these would be extended to Oxford in March 2016,[5] but services to Oxford started on 11 December 2016.[6][7] Planning permission for the work atOxford Station allowing the new platforms to be constructed was given on 1 December 2015.[8]
Chiltern Railways reopened the line between the newOxford Parkway station and Bicester on 26 October 2015.[4] The timetable for December 2015 to May 2016 has two trains per hour between Oxford Parkway and London Marylebone, all of which stop at Bicester Village but only a few at Islip.[9] The fastest trains are scheduled to take just under an hour for the whole journey.[9] Services along the full lengths of the line from Oxford started on 11 December 2016.[6] (The service received its ceremonial opening on the following day.)[7] Chiltern Railways originally proposed that the journey from Oxford to London Marylebone would take 66 minutes.[10]
In addition to allowing new services between Oxford and London via the Chiltern route, the Evergreen 3 project formed the first phase of the "East West Rail" project that is to see a new 100 mph (160 km/h) service linking Oxford withMilton Keynes,Bedford and possibly alsoCambridge.[11] The western section of this route, between Oxford andBedford, was approved by the Government in November 2011.[12] In his budget of November 2017, the chancellor, Philip Hammond, allocated further funding to open the western section by 2024 via a new company, the East West Railway Company, which was established in December 2017.[1][2]
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