Cherwell Valley line
Cherwell Valley line | |||
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Heavy rail | |||
System | National Rail | ||
Operator(s) | CrossCountry Great Western Railway | ||
Rolling stock | Class 165 "Networker Turbo" Class 220 "Voyager" Class 221 "Super Voyager" Class 800 "Intercity Express Train" standard gauge | ||
Operating speed | 110 mph (177 km/h) maximum | ||
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The Cherwell Valley line is the railway line between Didcot and Banbury via Oxford. It links the Great Western Main Line and the south to the Chiltern Main Line and the Midlands. The line follows the River Cherwell for much of its route between Banbury and Oxford.
Current and former stations served
- Banbury, formerly called Banbury Bridge Street
- Kings Sutton
- Former station at Aynho for Deddington
- Former station at Fritwell & Somerton
- Heyford, formerly called Lower Heyford
- Tackley
- Former station for Bletchington, previously called Kirtlington
- Former station at Kidlington previously called Woodstock Road
- Former halt at Wolvercot Platform
- Oxford
- Former halt at Hinksey
- Former halt at Abingdon Road
- Radley
- Former station at Abingdon Junction
- Culham, formerly called Abingdon Road
- Appleford
- Didcot Parkway, formerly called Didcot
The former station for Bletchingdon was always spelt "Bletchington", which is an alternative spelling for that village's toponym. The former halt at Wolvercote was called "Wolvercot Platform", with a deliberately different spelling of the village's name, to distinguish it from the London and North Western Railway's nearby Wolvercote Halt.
The line has a maximum speed of 110 mph (177 km/h).[1]
Services
Passenger services are provided by
The line carries a large and increasing volume of
Tilting
With the exception of the West Coast Main Line, this route was the only route on which domestic UK trains could tilt, something of which Virgin CrossCountry took advantage, using Class 221 Super Voyagers from 2004.[2] After Virgin CrossCountry's successor CrossCountry elected to remove the tilting equipment from its Class 221s to increase reliability and reduce costs, tilt running ceased in 2008.[3]
River Thames
The line makes three crossings of the River Thames between Oxford and Didcot:
- Osney Rail Bridge
- Nuneham Railway Bridge
- Appleford Railway Bridge
Electrification
In 1977 the Parliamentary Select Committee on Nationalised Industries recommended considering
Under plans for the
References
- ^ "Western Route Sectional Appendix December 2021 Archived 21 December 2021 at the Wayback Machine" (PDF). Network Rail. 4 September 2021. Retrieved 21 December 2021.
- ^ "Debut trip for new tilting train". BBC News. 29 April 2004.
- ISSN 0026-8356.
- ^ a b Anonymous (Winter 1979). Railway Electrification. British Railways Board (Central Publicity Unit). pp. 0–2, 8.
- ^ "Rail Electrification" (PDF). Britain's Transport Infrastructure. Department for Transport. July 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 August 2009.
- ^ "Great Western electrification: Intercity line work 'deferred'". BBC News. 8 November 2016.