Chiltern Railways launches Oxford link

[The Stationmaster]

Well I have been and I have sampled it.

 

If you are thinking of doing it first of all - should you approach it from that end - be very wary of the connecting 'bus times shown on National Rail Inquiries (and the departure indicators at Oxford station).  The departure times seem ok but the journey time is an interesting work of optimistic fiction, I got the impression that Oxford's traffic has got worse than ever.  Be mindful too that at Parkway the 'bus does not stop at the station but at the long established Park & Ride stop which is connected to the station by just about the most indirect route they could think of and you need to allow at least 5 minutes for a brisk walk to get to the train on the far platform.

 

However that time assumes that if you don't have a ticket which doesn't work the barriers the bloke responsible for them is actually there and hasn't gone walkabout like he had today.

 

The station building - quite nice - is on the Downside which is logical as that is the car park side but there isn't much shelter on either of the platforms and today wasn't really the day to establish that particular shortcoming.  Regrettably today's experience suggests the station is either staffed by incompetents or they have very little idea of how to run a station.  Thus the 12.17 was being advertised on the numerous screens to be departing at times which gradually stretched forwards from 12.24 to 12.32, a 165 unit rain in at about 12.24, all the people on the platform got in and made themselves comfortable - then a Driver came through to (very politely) turf us all out as 'this is a training train'  (clearly a road learner judging by the number in the cab when it actually left).  A 168 then arrived - also advertised as the 12.17 departure which it actually was - leaving 22 minutes late, made worse by what could best be described as a total lack of urgency on the part of the traincrew or the several Chiltern Trains people who had by then appeared on the platform.

 

However that sort of thing, and lack of covered waiting shelter, apart it isn't a bad station and the footbridge steps don't involve the sort of mountaineering found on many new footbridges; it also has passenger lifts of course.

 

Plenty of small stone on the Banbury Road dump so it definitely appears to be getting trains still.  Between Oxford parkway and Bicester level crossing there are 5 new overbridges and 2 new footpath bridges so obviously - as recounted in a recent post above - some accommodation crossings and footpath crossings have been replaced by bridges apart from those at the statutory level crossings.  One strange feature is the appearance - and seeming continuing campaign addition - of what must amount to several miles worth of solid wooden fencing on the Down side - all you can see from the train window is this mind numbing  (and possibly hazardous to those with some illnesses such as epilepsy?) acreage of seemingly utterly useless fencing - which lies well inside the boundary fence.  It's no wonder reinstated railways cost a lot when you look at this total money wasting nonsense which not only removes any view from the train but has, I suspect, some dubious safety implications such as blocking potential evacuation and fire/emergency service access.  Presumably it is some sort of half baked idea to placate people who have chosen to live next to a railway which was in existence long before the houses in which they live were even thought of - utter waste of money (and it looks like good quality fencing with the sort of massive concrete foundations I only wish I could afford for my garden fence).

 

The curve at Bicester doesn't feel at all sharp travelling over it and it doesn't look too sharp even when passing on a train on the main line.

 

The station building and footbridge

 

 

 

 

Long platforms for the future but total lack of shelter

 

 

The view towards Oxford and 'end of track' with temporary stop blocks on each line

 

 

A neat nod to tradition on the footbridge

 

[Pacific231G]

Thanks Mike

You've been there in the pouring rain so we don't have to ;-)  

Am I right in assuming that the footbridge is 27m 1179yds from Bletchley? Roll on that meaning something!!

[Glorious NSE]

No, they didn't "get" the 170s from Trans Pennines, they took them off Trans Pennine

Given that they didn't turn up in the middle of the night and alf-inch em, I think my use of language was fine thanks.

[kenw]

Given this was done in full knowledge that TP still required them and didn't have any choice in the matter, other than then try to find some kind of replacement or cancel services, then yes they did just take them, and may as well have 'alf inched em'.

And my comments were equally aimed at the so called "system" that allowed this to happen

[eastwestdivide]

...One strange feature is the appearance - and seeming continuing campaign addition - of what must amount to several miles worth of solid wooden fencing on the Down side - all you can see from the train window is this mind numbing  (and possibly hazardous to those with some illnesses such as epilepsy?) acreage of seemingly utterly useless fencing - which lies well inside the boundary fence.  It's no wonder reinstated railways cost a lot when you look at this total money wasting nonsense which not only removes any view from the train but has, I suspect, some dubious safety implications such as blocking potential evacuation and fire/emergency service access.  Presumably it is some sort of half baked idea to placate people who have chosen to live next to a railway which was in existence long before the houses in which they live were even thought of - utter waste of money (and it looks like good quality fencing with the sort of massive concrete foundations I only wish I could afford for my garden fence)...

 

Now don't sit on the fence - tell us what you really thought!

 

They're an increasing annoyance over in Europe too, with a lot of campaigning against "Bahnlärm" - rail noise - on the Rhine corridor, where to be fair, those endless freight trains are pretty noisy.

[Glorious NSE]

Given this was done in full knowledge that TP still required them and didn't have any choice in the matter, other than then try to find some kind of replacement or cancel services, then yes they did just take them, and may as well have 'alf inched em'.

So you can't sign a contract with a ROSCO without getting the agreement of the previous user? Total rubbish.

 

I'm not saying it's a good situation, but suggesting that a train moving somewhere else at the end of a contract is akin to theft is ludicrous.

[St. Simon]

Regrettably today's experience suggests the station is either staffed by incompetents or they have very little idea of how to run a station.  Thus the 12.17 was being advertised on the numerous screens to be departing at times which gradually stretched forwards from 12.24 to 12.32, a 165 unit rain in at about 12.24, all the people on the platform got in and made themselves comfortable - then a Driver came through to (very politely) turf us all out as 'this is a training train'  (clearly a road learner judging by the number in the cab when it actually left).  A 168 then arrived - also advertised as the 12.17 departure which it actually was - leaving 22 minutes late, made worse by what could best be described as a total lack of urgency on the part of the traincrew or the several Chiltern Trains people who had by then appeared on the platform.[/i]

 

Plenty of small stone on the Banbury Road dump so it definitely appears to be getting trains still

Hi Mike,

 

I had a look at the Realtime PPM Report this afternoon around 13:00 having travelled back from TVSC and I'm afraid to say the whole country (apart from Western and a couple of others) seemed to be suffering poor levels of punctuality, I believe Chiltern was down to 70% at that point, I'm also afraid to say that it didn't list the cause of these problems.

 

In terms of Banbury Road, it gets 2 trains between 07:00 & 19:00, either (depending on what runs) a pair of Class 6 or a Class 6 and a Class 7.

 

Simon

[The Stationmaster]

Thanks Mike

You've been there in the pouring rain so we don't have to ;-)  

Am I right in assuming that the footbridge is 27m 1179yds from Bletchley? Roll on that meaning something!!

Yes David but the interesting bit is 'whereabouts at Bletchley?'  So I have duly checked out and find that the mileages are from Bletchley Flyover Junction of all places - which is actually where the single to double line connection sits at the Oxford end of the flyover which suggests to me that they have been re-measured at some time (or rather not so much remeasured but the zero point moved) as I would have presumed the original measurement was probably from the some long time since removed flat junction at the south end of Bletchley station which predated the flyover but remained in situ for some years after it had been opened.

 

A further oddity is that Qualil - which is normally very accurate - shows the Oxford end running line connection of Banbury Road Sdgs as 27m 60ch which would put it to the west of the station footbridge.  If both measurements are correct (I wonder?) it would seem Banbury Road Sdgs have been moved quite a long way - which I somehow doubt.

Hi Mike,

 

I had a look at the Realtime PPM Report this afternoon around 13:00 having travelled back from TVSC and I'm afraid to say the whole country (apart from Western and a couple of others) seemed to be suffering poor levels of punctuality, I believe Chiltern was down to 70% at that point, I'm also afraid to say that it didn't list the cause of these problems.

 

In terms of Banbury Road, it gets 2 trains between 07:00 & 19:00, either (depending on what runs) a pair of Class 6 or a Class 6 and a Class 7.

 

Simon

 

Only loosely connected but I think you're all too right on that Simon.  My return train from Banbury was almost an hour late (and was then teminated short at Oxford) having originally been delayed by some sort of problem at Durham with the 06.50 Glasgow - KX and then losing its path.  Mind you the station announcer seemed to have considerable glee in his voice when announcing 'this train has been delayed in the north of England by a late running Virgin East Coast train'.

 

I believe Chiltern's problem was due to a train failure earlier in the day but a number of their trains were running 5 - 10 minutes late by c.13.00 although the train I caught from High Wycombe to Banbury was 4 minutes late from Wycombe and Right Time Banbury - clearly the Driver of the Class 68 was out to make up time!

 

Oh and I don't know who it came from but there was a Class 172 in Chiltern livery at Banbury today.

[big jim]

looks somewhat different than the last time i was there

 

[big jim]

mike, having had a proper read of you first post of this page a few points

 

the fencing is indeed for nothing more than noise reduction, ive not seen it but i called into moor st earlier and happened to be chatting to a former work collegue about the line and he mentioned it, quite how these people cope with the constant drone of traffic on the pretty much parrallel A34 i dont know

 

banbury road yard, yes it did used to be pretty much where the platform overbridge is, the lead in being the oxford side of water eaton road bridge, the first batch of trains we ran in dropping ballast for the site were unloaded there, in the current platform as it were, once that ballast was unloaded it was taken to the site of the current stone terminal so they could lay the sidings, once they were laid they were used to unload the stone for the rest of the relaying and as the old site was clear work could start on the platforms, the station building was completed quite a while before the platforms were even started

 

EDIT: if you have a look on google earth you can see banbury road terminal in its original position (the current parkway station) whereas now its near as damn it in the field to the east on a bit of an embankment

 

i still think one of the most interesting nights i had down there was when i arrived with 10 auto hoppers in the current down platform from oxford and they cut the track behind me basically stranding the train on a length of track, we did the drop and crossed over to a temporarily laid up line and by that time the p way slewed the severed track over behind me, welded it to the up line and i left (very gingerly) back towards oxford

 

i really enjoyed working on the east west link and parkway, proud to say i was the first train round the curve at bicester on both lines (dropping ballast) and im hoping to be at colas long enough to be involved with the rest of it beyond claydon to bletchley

[black and decker boy]

The issue with noise nuisance comes from national regulations and the ability of existing residents to claim compensation if noise levels are increased by a set amount owing to a change in use. These apply equally to highway networks and you will see this type of fence (or a big earth bank) along all new stretches of road near residential property. There are even requirements to add such fencing along existing highways if lanes are reconfigured - for example motorways being converted to hard shoulder running.

 

Clearly reinstating a second track is a significant change even though it is within the current land boundary.

[unravelled]

Judging by the position of the yellow lines, they are expecting some high speed traffic through there! I don't understand why they can't locate it at one edge of the tactile paving. There seems to be no consistency across the network.

 

Dave

[roundhouse]

 

i really enjoyed working on the east west link and parkway, proud to say i was the first train round the curve at bicester on both lines (dropping ballast) and im hoping to be at colas long enough to be involved with the rest of it beyond claydon to bletchley

Jim

 

Glad to hear that you are proud to be the first one round the bend

[big jim]

Jim

 

Glad to hear that you are proud to be the first one round the bend

Yep, Did that years ago!

[Mark Dickerson]

I travelled on the first(?) direct service from West Ruislip on Monday - great journey, although the Chiltern ticket machine was broken and the TFL machines hadn't yet got the new stations programmed in (I could, however, buy a ticket to Cambridge ) The 500 bus was relatively fast for the rush hour but will no doubt be a nightmare once the schools come back and the ring road roadworks clog everything up again.

Sadly the train won't be much use for me except as an occasional treat. I suspect the market for commuters currently using the X90 and Oxford Tube coaches is quite price-conscious and the connections to outer London might not be that much better than the GW route. But I'm sure it will be a great success and more so once the route opens to Oxford, avoiding the nightmare traffic. And once the Bedford trains come in, I can hopefully wave the X5 Cambridge bus a "fond" farewell...

[The Stationmaster]

I travelled on the first(?) direct service from West Ruislip on Monday - great journey, although the Chiltern ticket machine was broken and the TFL machines hadn't yet got the new stations programmed in (I could, however, buy a ticket to Cambridge ) The 500 bus was relatively fast for the rush hour but will no doubt be a nightmare once the schools come back and the ring road roadworks clog everything up again.

 

Sadly the train won't be much use for me except as an occasional treat. I suspect the market for commuters currently using the X90 and Oxford Tube coaches is quite price-conscious and the connections to outer London might not be that much better than the GW route. But I'm sure it will be a great success and more so once the route opens to Oxford, avoiding the nightmare traffic. And once the Bedford trains come in, I can hopefully wave the X5 Cambridge bus a "fond" farewell...

I suspect the access into Oxford could prove quite attractive although what might detract from it is the fact that Oxford station is a bit of a walk from the city centre and the routes to do so are not particularly attractive (in fact they are looking distinctly down at heel compared with 20 odd years ago) whereas the 500 'bus at least gets into the heart of the city.

 

Commuter markets are, in my experience, driven by two things - price and journey time (and of course convenience is part of the latter) and it really depends which one prevails in any particular individual's choice.  Rail unfortunately does really compete with road for journeys into much of the western 'wedge' of London north of the GWML and round to the WCML and i doubt it ever will and it really depends how many people are using the M40/express 'buses to get there instead of the central area.  I'm sure that the Bakerloo Line also acts as a disincentive for many commuters, and will continue to do so until Crossrail starts to relieve part of it, which again doesn't help mainline rail's cause.   

 

And judging by the number of cars parked at Lewknor everyday I doubt the express 'buses will lose that market to rail.

[Glorious NSE]

Mike - Chiltern small group of 172s were new to Chiltern - to my recollection no 172s have changed operator yet, though LOROL's look likely to be displaced by GOBLIN electrification.

(Any other operator will probably want to add a loo to those before putting them into service though...)

[D1059]

I suspect the access into Oxford could prove quite attractive although what might detract from it is the fact that Oxford station is a bit of a walk from the city centre and the routes to do so are not particularly attractive (in fact they are looking distinctly down at heel compared with 20 odd years ago) whereas the 500 'bus at least gets into the heart of the city.

 

 

I avoid going into Oxford whenever I can - period  

[BrushVeteran]

Well I caught the 10.17 to Marylebone on Wednesday and I must say I was thoroughly impressed. I've long been a resident of Kidlington and a supporter of reintroducing the railway station, although back in the eighty's this was planned by an open space on Lyne Mead when they were building the extension to Grovelands. There would never have been enough room for anything there like the scale of the new Oxford Parkway.

I must say that I get free travel to and from London on both competing coach companies in Oxford but with average weekday journeys sometimes taking 3 hours then the hour's journey from Kidlington to Marylebone is a no brainer, especially as I have a senior railcard. We were in High Wycombe in more or less half an hour from Oxford Parkway........................that's about the average time it takes the Oxford Tube and the X90 to reach the Oxford ring road from the bus station.

 

Well done Chiltern and Network Rail..........................just hurry up with the next bit to Bletchley and Cambridge!

Attached is a photo of a 165 which was being used for staff training so I was told. You can see the buffer stops marking the truncated route into Oxford in the distance under the Banbury Road bridge.

[Pacific231G]

I suspect the access into Oxford could prove quite attractive although what might detract from it is the fact that Oxford station is a bit of a walk from the city centre and the routes to do so are not particularly attractive (in fact they are looking distinctly down at heel compared with 20 odd years ago) whereas the 500 'bus at least gets into the heart of the city.

 

Commuter markets are, in my experience, driven by two things - price and journey time (and of course convenience is part of the latter) and it really depends which one prevails in any particular individual's choice.  Rail unfortunately does really compete with road for journeys into much of the western 'wedge' of London north of the GWML and round to the WCML and i doubt it ever will and it really depends how many people are using the M40/express 'buses to get there instead of the central area.  I'm sure that the Bakerloo Line also acts as a disincentive for many commuters, and will continue to do so until Crossrail starts to relieve part of it, which again doesn't help mainline rail's cause.   

 

And judging by the number of cars parked at Lewknor everyday I doubt the express 'buses will lose that market to rail.

True, but they're not very express when they hit the A40/A4 during the morning rush hour and from what Brush Veteran says that's even worse than I'd thought. 

ISTR that when he was running Chiltern,  Adrian Shooter and the C&PR Rly were looking at a collaboration to rebuild a station at Aston Rowant with a Park and Ride fairly close to Lewknor. There was also talk of re-opening the Princess Risborough-Thame-Oxford branch - most of whose trackbed is still unencumbered but that was a single track line and possibly not far enough away from the existing lines.  

[Pacific231G]

looks somewhat different than the last time i was there

 

Yes, they seem to be using sleepers now.

 

I'll get my coat.

[40F]

I'm travelling to Marylebone tomorrow from Oxford Parkway and taking my son and daughter with me as it their half term. As I live only half a mile away I have been watching the progress of this very closely as my paternal grandfather worked for the Great Central, later the LNER at Marylebone as a guard.

 

At present trains from Marylebone terminate at Oxford Parkway, which is the posh name for Water Eaton Park & Ride (where the now demolished grain silo was), and Oxford Bus Company have altered their 500 Park & Ride service to serve the City Centre and Oxford Railway Station as part of the route. They had previously provided the rail replacement service between Bicester and Oxford Rail Station as part of a contract for Chiltern Railways using four double deckers hired from sister bus company Southern Vectis. These have cycle racks on the lower deck and have now been purchased by Oxford Bus as part of their fleet.

 

The remaining route from Oxford Parkway to Oxford Station is undergoing upgrading and soundproofing as local residents (who obviously must have been deaf when the railway was operated by steam) have complained about additional noise and the speed of trains using the route.......................not to mention the fiasco regarding the bats nesting in Wolvercote Tunnel. There are now automatic lights to warn the bats that trains are approaching I believe.

 

Anyway on a positive note and as a local resident for over half a century, I think this is a major improvement for Oxford and should help to relieve the congestion on the roads for people trying to get to Oxford Station. I will update this report after my train ride tomorrow. Having already used the service from Bicester North to Marylebone a few times I must say I am looking forward to it. May even get some class 68 haulage in!

[D854_Tiger]

It's not all good news.

 

With the introduction of the new timetable, Stratford Upon Avon seems to have lost most of its through trains to London, being replaced with a connecting shuttle service to Leamington or even Hatton.

 

Also, I notice a number of the fasts from Birmingham (previously non-stop Banbury to London) now stop additionally at High Wycombe.

[The Stationmaster]

It's not all good news.

 

With the introduction of the new timetable, Stratford Upon Avon seems to have lost most of its through trains to London, being replaced with a connecting shuttle service to Leamington or even Hatton.

 

Also, I notice a number of the fasts from Birmingham (previously non-stop Banbury to London) now stop additionally at High Wycombe.

I can see the value of Wycombe as a potential interchange between directions but the temporary arrangements there (and possibly the longer term permanent intentions?) make it a very difficult business - as happened on my trip yesterday enroute from Oxford Parkway to Banbury (which is not the route given by National Rail Inquiries!).

True, but they're not very express when they hit the A40/A4 during the morning rush hour and from what Brush Veteran says that's even worse than I'd thought. 

ISTR that when he was running Chiltern,  Adrian Shooter and the C&PR Rly were looking at a collaboration to rebuild a station at Aston Rowant with a Park and Ride fairly close to Lewknor. There was also talk of re-opening the Princess Risborough-Thame-Oxford branch - most of whose trackbed is still unencumbered but that was a single track line and possibly not far enough away from the existing lines.  

Aston Rowant wouldn't have been a bad site for a new branch terminus as the station site is right next to the A40 and not far from the motorway junction at Lewknor although taking the railway any closer to Lewknor would have meant crossing under the M40 of course.

 

I think the big problem with the Thame branch is the amount of building over it between Thame and Oxford but the idea of reopening to passenger trains from Oxford to Morris Cowley, or thereabouts still seems to be a very strong possibilit judging by that Oxford development link mentioned earlier in the thread.

[Arun Sharma]

I think you're correct Stationmaster. There was a bit on the early evening BBC Oxford News a couple of months ago when Chiltern ran a special DMU from Oxford to Cowley via [i think] Kennington Jcn to shown local politicians and business folk the possibilities inherent in a re-instituted link between OXF and what they called "Oxford, Science Park".