Chiltern Railways Announces Plans for New Train Line to Oxford

New reports now show that Chiltern Railways has just announced its plans to build a new rail link from London’s Marylebone station to Oxford. This project, which is scheduled to be compete by 2013, will involve 0.5 miles of new track to enable the Oxford connection, linking existing lines at Bicester.

The line, which is still subject to Transport and Works Act approval, will be the first new rial link from London to a major British city since the Bicester cutoff was opened in 1910. Thus, this is a line that many people feel is well overdue.

The new link will go right into Water Eaton Parkway in North Oxford, which is an integrated transport hub linked to the A34, A40, and Oxford city center. The new link is also part of a £250 million development plan for Chiltern. This development will include an upgrade of the Chiltern Railway route between Marylebone and Birmingham. More than 50 miles of track will be upgraded to 100 miles per hour running capability.

This new improvement should be able to increase journey times by as much as 20 percent, from 2011. One example is Birmingham Moor Street to London Marylebone will only take 100 minutes. This is being compared to its current 128 minute runtime. Thus, this route would be about 30 minutes quicker, which would really add up to people who use the route a lot.

A chairman for Chiltern Railways, Adrian Shooter, said that this is the biggest passenger rial project for several generations not to call on the taxpayer for support. Thus, this is one project that a lot of people are putting their support behind.