Oxford railway station
Oxford City of Oxford England | |
---|---|
Coordinates | 51°45′12″N 1°16′13″W / 51.7534°N 1.2703°W |
Grid reference | SP504063 |
Managed by | Great Western Railway |
Platforms | 4 |
Other information | |
Station code | OXF |
Classification | DfT category B |
History | |
Original company | Great Western Railway |
Pre-grouping | Great Western Railway |
Post-grouping | Great Western Railway |
Key dates | |
1852 | Opened |
1971 | Rebuilt |
1990 | Rebuilt |
Passengers | |
2018/19 | 8.270 million |
Interchange | 0.504 million |
2019/20 | 8.702 million |
Interchange | 0.821 million |
2020/21 | 1.575 million |
Interchange | 0.114 million |
2021/22 | 5.013 million |
Interchange | 0.389 million |
2022/23 | 6.582 million |
Interchange | 0.514 million |
Location | |
Notes | |
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road |
Oxford railway station is a mainline
It is on the line for trains between
History
The Great Western Railway (GWR) opened to Oxford on 12 June 1844[2] with a terminus station in what is now Western Road, Grandpont. In 1845 the Oxford and Rugby Railway (ORR) began to build its line, starting from a junction at New Hinksey 0.75 miles (1.2 km) south of the GWR terminus. The junction was known as Millstream Junction, and was between the future sites of Hinksey Halt and Abingdon Road Halt, both of which were opened in 1908. The GWR took over the ORR while it was still being built, and opened the line as far as Banbury on 2 September 1850. For just over two years, trains from Oxford to Banbury started at Grandpont, and had to reverse at Millstream Junction in order to continue their journey.[3]
The ORR line included a new through station in Park End Street, so when this opened with the extension of the line from Banbury to Birmingham on 1 October 1852, the original Grandpont terminus was closed to passenger services.[2][4] The old station at Grandpont became a goods depot, but was closed completely on 26 November 1872, the day that the broad gauge tracks were removed north of Didcot. The site of the station was then sold, as was the trackbed from Millstream Junction, some 66 chains (1,300 m) in length.[5][6]
Major subsequent changes were removal of the last 7 ft 0+1⁄4 in (2,140 mm)
Planning permission was granted for the expansion to support the proposed Chiltern Railways service to London Marylebone [8] and the service was subsequently launched on 12 December 2016.[9] Meanwhile, Oxford City Council, Oxfordshire County Council and Network Rail have developed a masterplan for further development of the station.[10] Construction of an additional platform has been proposed.[11]
Flood remediation work south of the station at Hinksey saw services at the station curtailed & replaced by buses to/from Didcot Parkway in July and August 2016. This allowed the trackbed to be raised by 2 feet (0.65 m) and new culverts installed to reduce the impact of flooding from the nearby River Thames upon the railway (which has caused service interruptions on several occasions in recent years). Concurrent bridge repair work at Hanborough and signalling alterations at Banbury was also carried out over this period. The £18 million scheme was completed on 15 August 2016.[12]
The station has always been busy. In addition to current services, formerly there were others over the
It was for a time known as Oxford General station to distinguish it from the London and North Western Railway's Oxford Rewley Road terminus of the Varsity Line to Cambridge, which was adjacent and came under joint management in 1933.[citation needed] On 1 October 1951 British Railways closed Rewley Road station to passengers and transferred its services to this station.[2]
South of the station immediately west of the railway tracks is Osney Cemetery, established in 1848 just before the current station site. Nearby is the site of the former Osney Abbey.
Plans
Further expansion
In November 2009 it was announced that Oxford station would be expanded. A £10 million joint development between Network Rail and Oxfordshire County Council would create a new platform on part of the station’s long-stay car park. The new platform (south of platform 1) would allow trains to arrive and depart from the same track and reduce the need for empty trains to be shunted around the station. Currently, in busy periods trains can be kept waiting outside of the station for a platform to become available.
A new covered footbridge would also be built over Botley Road to link the station building with the new platform, replacing the existing footbridge to the car park. The new platform was to have been brought into use during 2011, and was to be part of the city and county councils' West End Area Action Plan for the western part of the city centre, which also considers other rail projects such as Evergreen 3 and the Paddington–Oxford electrification.[15]
Chiltern Railways has raised the possibility of developing a service between Oxford and the Cowley branch line.[16]
Project Evergreen 3
In August 2008
East West Rail
The Chiltern route out of Oxford is shared with the western section of East West Rail, which reuses part of the historic Varsity Line route between Oxford and Cambridge. The initial services are planned to commence in 2025,[24] calling at Winslow and Bletchley, then Milton Keynes Central or Bedford. Extension to Cambridge is planned,[25] but not scheduled.
Services
Great Western Railway run two fast trains per hour to
Chiltern Railways run two fast trains per hour to
CrossCountry run trains twice per hour to
Railways around Oxford | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Preceding station | National Rail | Following station | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Banbury or Tackley |
Chiltern Railways Stratford-upon-Avon – Oxford Limited Service[c] |
Terminus | ||
Oxford Parkway | Chiltern Railways London Marylebone - Oxford |
Terminus | ||
Banbury | Manchester – Bournemouth
|
Reading | ||
Newcastle – Reading and beyond
|
||||
Hanborough or Terminus |
Great Western Railway Cotswold Line |
London Paddington
| ||
Tackley or Terminus |
Cherwell Valley Line
|
Radley | ||
Future services | ||||
Oxford Parkway | East West Rail Oxford - Bedford or Milton Keynes Central |
Terminus | ||
Historical railways | ||||
Wolvercot Platform Line open; station closed |
Great Western Railway Great Western Main Line |
Hinksey Halt Line open; station closed |
See also
- Oxford Down Carriage Sidings, to the north of the station
Notes
- ^ The other is Oxford Parkway, near Kidlington
- ^ The recently published Lost Railways of Oxfordshire[13] gives information on all three of these services and The Woodstock Branch[14] gives an overview of how the service to Oxford changed over the line's life.
- ^ Currently one train per weekday from Stratford-upon-Avon to Oxford which returns as a stopping service to Banbury.[26]
References
- ^ "Office of Rail & Road".
- ^ ISBN 1-85260-508-1. R508.
- ^ MacDermot, E.T. (1927). History of the Great Western Railway, vol. I: 1833–1863. Paddington: Great Western Railway. p. 300.
- ^ MacDermot 1927, pp. 322, 324–327
- ^ Cooke, B.W.C., ed. (November 1957). "The Why and the Wherefore: Original Station at Oxford". The Railway Magazine. 103 (679). Westminster: Tothill Press: 816.
- ^ MacDermot, E.T. (1931). History of the Great Western Railway, vol. II: 1863–1921. Paddington: Great Western Railway. pp. 65–66, 599.
- ISSN 0033-8923.
- ^ "Oxford City planning approval". Oxford City Council planning. Oxford City Council. Retrieved 24 January 2016.
- ^ "Press release 20 Jan 2016". Press Releases Chiltern Railways. Chiltern Railways. Retrieved 24 January 2016.
- ^ "Masterplan". Oxford Station masterplan. Oxford City Council. Retrieved 24 January 2016.
- ^ "Plans for NEW platform, toilets and shops at Oxford Train Station". Oxford Mail. Retrieved 10 November 2021.
- ^ "Network Rail to carry out flood alleviation work to improve railway reliability for passengers". Press release. Network Rail. 26 July 2016. Retrieved 1 August 2016.
- ISBN 978-1-84674-110-4.
- ISBN 978-0-902888-23-4.
- ^ Little, Reg (26 November 2009). "Grand plans for Oxford's train station". The Oxford Times. Oxford: Newsquest (Oxfordshire) Ltd. pp. 1, 3.
- ^ "Chiltern railways to Cowley". Two new railway stations planned for Oxford. rail.co.uk. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
- ^ "Closure of Oxford to Bicester". Future engineering work. Network Rail. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
- ^ "Oxford-Marylebone service delayed until December".
- ^ "Chiltern's Oxford city centre-London services pushed to December".
- ^ "1Y03 0743 Oxford to London Marylebone". Realtime Trains. swlines Ltd. Archived from the original on 20 December 2016. Retrieved 11 December 2016.
- ^ "Chiltern Railways Timetable from December 11" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 December 2016. Retrieved 11 December 2016.
- ^ "Oxford to Marylebone track now complete"Network Rail Media Centre press release 21 September 2016; Retrieved 22 September 2016.
- ^ a b "East West Rail Bedford to Cambridge Preferred Route Option Report" (PDF). East West Rail. 30 January 2020. Archived (PDF) from the original on 12 July 2021. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
- ^ "East West Rail track-laying between Bicester and Bletchley nears completion". Milton Keynes Citizen. 20 December 2023.
- ^ Bedford and Cambridge Route Option Consultation: Have Your Say – East West Rail Ltd., 28 January 2018
- ^ "December 2015 Timetable" (PDF). Winter and Spring Train Times. Chiltern Railways. Retrieved 24 January 2016.
Bibliography
- Vaughan, Adrian (1994). The Heart of the Great Western. Great Addington: Silver Link Publishing. ISBN 1-85794-026-1.
- Waters, Laurence (1986). Rail Centres: Oxford. ISBN 0-7110-1590-2.