Morris Cowley railway station
Morris Cowley | |
---|---|
City of Oxford England | |
Grid reference | SP554035 |
Platforms | 1 |
Other information | |
Status | Disused |
History | |
Original company | Great Western Railway |
Pre-grouping | Great Western Railway |
Post-grouping | Great Western Railway Western Region of British Railways |
Key dates | |
1 February 1908[1] | Opened as Garsington Bridge Halt |
22 March 1915 | Closed |
24 September 1928 | Reopened and renamed Morris Cowley |
7 January 1963[2] | Closed to passengers |
Morris Cowley was an intermediate station on the
History
Railways around Oxford | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Garsington Bridge Halt
On 24 October 1864 the
In an attempt to stimulate
In May - June 1917, two loop
Growth of Morris Motors
By 1926,
War and post-war
During the
Passenger services withdrawn
On the basis of an estimated saving of £34,372, passenger services were withdrawn between Oxford and Princes Risborough from January 1963. Freight services remained, the principal traffic being generated from Morris Cowley which sent five daily freight trains to Oxford. From May 1967, the line between Thame and Cowley was closed, leaving Morris Cowley to take over Wheatley's coal traffic (some 2,000 tons per year). From July 1968, Cowley no longer accepted coal traffic so that the area used could be given over to the loading and unloading of cars.[14]
Preceding station | Historical railways | Following station | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Littlemore Line open, station closed |
Great Western Railway Wycombe Railway |
Horspath Halt Line closed, station closed |
Recent history
Rationalisation
Cowley signal box closed from 28 January 1982 and the signals were removed except for the Up distant. A road-rail freight transfer terminal was opened on the site of the old goods shed in May 1984 by
BMW Mini
Projected reopening
As part of its preparations for its bid to run the Chiltern Railways franchise,
Though this did not progress, Chiltern Railways announced in October 2014 that the current freight-only line be upgraded to allow passenger trains to run from Oxford station to east Oxford, linking the city centre with business parks (
In November 2017, the chancellor, Philip Hammond, allocated £300,000 to develop a study to look at how new routes, services and stations could be built in Oxfordshire. This follows after the NIC report suggested the branch line could be reopened in 2019 to a limited service.[21] This has been welcomed by Chiltern Railways who said they would work with other operators to get the line running in two years. In the NIC report it proposed 4 new stations at Iffley, Littlemore, Blackbird Leys and Cowley.[22]
In January 2024, £500,000 was allocated by Oxford City Council to create designs for stations at Littlemore and Blackbird Leys.[23]
It has been identified by Campaign for a Better Transport as a candidate for reopening.[24]
Station remains
This section is empty. You can help by adding to it. (December 2009) |
References
- ^ Butt, 1995, page 101
- ^ a b Clinker, 1978, page 65
- ^ Oppitz, 2000, page 17
- ^ Waters, 1986, p.128
- ^ Potts, 2004, page 99
- ^ a b Simpson, 2001, page 65
- ^ Potts, 2004, pages 105-106
- ^ a b c Mitchell and Smith, 2003, plate XI
- ^ Potts, 2004, page 123
- ^ Potts, 2004, page 125
- ^ Potts, 2004, page 149
- ^ Potts, 2004, page 252
- ^ Potts, 2004, page 204
- ^ Potts, 2004, pages 235 and 238
- ^ Potts, 2004, page 243
- ^ Potts, 2004, page 247
- ^ Mitchell and Smith, 2003, plate 41
- ^ "New rail links on the cards". Oxford Mail. 16 August 2000. Retrieved 25 October 2014.
- ^ Shepherd, Tom (11 April 2009). "£200m London link on track". Oxford Mail. Retrieved 25 October 2014.
- ^ a b Keown, Callum (24 October 2014). "Vision: Passenger trains could run on Cowley branch line". Oxford Mail. Retrieved 25 October 2014.
- ^ "Cowley branch line moves one step closer to reopening". Oxford Mail. 23 November 2017. Retrieved 23 November 2017.
- ^ "Cambridge, Milton Keynes and Oxford Future Planning Options Project - Final Report" (PDF). National Infrastructure Commission. November 2017. p. 57. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 January 2018.
- ^ "Cowley Branch Line railway gets £500k for station plans". BBC News. 3 January 2024. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
- ^ "The case for expanding the rail network" (PDF). Campaign for Better Transport.
Bibliography
- OL 11956311M.
- Clinker, C.R. (October 1978). Clinker's Register of Closed Passenger Stations and Goods Depots in England, Scotland and Wales 1830-1977. Bristol: Avon-Anglia Publications & Services. ISBN 0-905466-19-5.
- Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (April 2003). Branch Lines to Princes Risborough from Aylesbury, Oxford and Watlington. Midhurst, West Sussex: Middleton Press. ISBN 1-904474-05-5.
- Oppitz, Leslie (2000). Lost Railways of the Chilterns. Newbury: Countryside Books. ISBN 1-85306-643-5.
- Potts, C.R. (2004). Oxford to Princes Risborough: A GWR Secondary Route. Usk, Mon.: The Oakwood Press. ISBN 0-85361-629-9.
- Simpson, Bill (2001). A History of the Railways in Oxfordshire; Part 2: The South. Witney, Oxon: Lamplight Publications. ISBN 978-1-899246-06-9.
- Waters, Laurence (1986). Oxford. Rail Centres. London: ISBN 0-7110-1590-2.