The Oxford–Bicester line is a

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

line linking

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

and

Bicester Bicester ( ) is a historical market towngarden town and civil parish in the Cherwell district of northeastern Oxfordshire in Southern England that also comprises an eco town at North-East Bicester and self-build village aGraven Hill Its loca ...

in Oxfordshire,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. Opened in 1850, later becoming part of a 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 a

branch line A branch line is a phrase used in railway terminology to denote a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a main line. A very short branch line may be called a spur line. Industrial spur An industr ...

, and closed from early 2014 to late 2015 for a substantial upgrade in which it became part of a new route between Oxford and via

High Wycombe High Wycombe, often referred to as Wycombe ( ), is a market town in Buckinghamshire, England. Lying in the valley of the River Wye, Buckinghamshire, River Wye surrounded by the Chiltern Hills, it is west-northwest of Charing Cross in London, ...

. In addition, it is intended that by 2025 the original route eastwards will be restored as far as

Bletchley Bletchley is a constituent town of Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. It is situated in the south-west of Milton Keynes, and is split between the civil parishes of Bletchley and Fenny Stratford and West Bletchley. Bletchley is best know ...

allowing services to run to

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst ...

. This

East West Rail East West Rail is a major project to establish a strategic railway connecting East Anglia with Central, Southern and Western England. In particular, it plans to build (or rebuild) a line linking Oxford and Cambridge via Bicester, Milton Keyn ...

project includes a long-term plan to re-establish the route through to .

History

Opening and original operation

The line was opened in 1850 as part of the

Buckinghamshire Railway The Buckinghamshire Railway was a railway company in Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire, England that constructed railway lines connecting Bletchley, Banbury and Oxford. Part of the route is still in use today as the Oxford to Bicester Line. His ...

, which in 1879 became part of the London and North Western Railway. In the grouping of Britain's railways in 1923 the L&NWR became part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway, and in the nationalisation of Britain's railways in 1948 the LMS became part of British Railways. Both the LMS and BR ran passenger services between Oxford and Cambridge ''via'' the Buckinghamshire Railway, Marston Vale line and

Bedford and Cambridge Railway The Varsity Line (or the Oxford to Cambridge railway line) was the main railway route that once linked the English university cities of Oxford and Cambridge, operated by the London and North Western Railway. During World War II the line was ...

. This led to the Oxford - Cambridge route being informally called the

Varsity line The Varsity Line (or the Oxford to Cambridge railway line) was the main railway route that once linked the English university cities of Oxford and Cambridge, operated by the London and North Western Railway. During World War II the line was ...

20th-century closure and reopening

In 1967 British Railways withdrew OxfordCambridge services and closed the section of line between Oxford and . In 1987,

Network SouthEast Network SouthEast (NSE) was one of the three passenger sectors of British Rail created in 1982. NSE mainly operated commuter rail trains within Greater London and inter-urban services in densely populated South East England, although the net ...

restored passenger services on the Oxford section, on the initiative of Oxfordshire County Council. In 1988, Network SouthEast rebuilt and reopened Islip station, again with Oxfordshire County Council support. Since 2005, an enhanced service including Sunday services has run during the weeks before Christmas, mainly for the Bicester Village Shopping Centre adjacent to Bicester Village Station (formerly Bicester Town station). In May 2009, a partnership between

First Great Western Great Western Railway (GWR) is a British train operating company owned by FirstGroup FirstGroup plc is a British multi-national transport group, based in Aberdeen, Scotland.Oxfordshire 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.

Evergreen 3

In August 2008 Chiltern Railways announced Project Evergreen 3 to create a new passenger service between Oxford and

London Marylebone Marylebone station ( ) is a Central London railway terminus and connected London Underground station in the Marylebone area of the City of Westminster. On the National Rail network it is also known as London Marylebone and is the southern te ...

''via''

by 2012. As part of this project Chiltern Railways would double most of the line, build a new passenger station at Water Eaton to serve

Kidlington Kidlington is a major village and civil parish in Oxfordshire, England, between the River Cherwell and the Oxford Canal, north of Oxford and 7 miles (12 km) south-west of Bicester. It remains officially a village despite its size. The 20 ...

and north Oxford and build the short 'missing-link' from Bicester Town (now ), station to the

Chiltern Main Line The Chiltern Main Line is a railway line which links London () and Birmingham ( Moor Street and Snow Hill), the United Kingdom's two largest cities, by a route via High Wycombe, Bicester, Banbury, Leamington Spa and Solihull. It is one of t ...

. This was to give Oxford an alternative to Great Western Railway's rail link to

London Paddington Paddington, also known as London Paddington, is a Central London railway terminus and London Underground station complex, located on Praed Street in the Paddington area. The site has been the London terminus of services provided by the Great ...

and provide Oxford with a direct rail-link to High Wycombe for the first time since British Railways closed the Princes Risborough - Oxford section of the

Wycombe Railway The Wycombe Railway was a British railway between and that connected with the Great Western Railway at both ends; there was one branch, to . History The Wycombe Railway Company was incorporated by an act of Parliament passed in 1846. The act ...

in 1964. 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 (see below). The line was double tracked from Oxford North Junction to Bicester South Junction, upgraded for 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,Chiltern Railway's restores direct trains from High Wycombe to Oxford
'' Chiltern Railways'' (Press Release) 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, but services to Oxford started on 11 December 2016. Planning permission for the work at Oxford Station allowing the new platforms to be constructed was given on 1 December 2015.

Current services

Chiltern Railways reopened the line between the new Oxford Parkway station and Bicester on 26 October 2015. 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.Winter and Spring train times (pdf)
hilterns Railways, December 2015 The fastest trains are scheduled to take just under an hour for the whole journey. Services along the full lengths of the line from Oxford started on 11 December 2016. (The service received its ceremonial opening on the following day.) Chiltern Railways originally proposed that the journey from Oxford to London Marylebone would take 66 minutes.

Future

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 service linking Oxford with Milton Keynes,

and possibly also

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...

. The western section of this route, between Oxford and

, was approved by the Government in November 2011.East West Rail could be running by 2017
Accessed 14 December 2011 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.

References

External links

East West Rail project

Chiltern Railways Evergreen 3 Project

Oxford to Bicester Rail Action Group website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oxford-Bicester line Rail transport in Oxfordshire Bicester Line Railway lines opened in 1850 Railway lines in South East England East West Rail