Kidlington residents welcome new rail link plans (From Oxford Mail)

Kidlington residents welcome new rail link plans

PEOPLE in Kidlington have welcomed a scheme for a new £200m Oxford-London rail link via Bicester after getting their first look at the plans.

Allan Dare, of Chiltern Railways, right, discusses the plan with Kidlington resident Colin Homans

Chiltern Railways wants to start running services from Oxford to London Marylebone by 2013.

The scheme, which the company will pay for, includes a new station at Water Eaton park-and-ride, just outside Kidlington, and two new platforms at Oxford station.

People visiting the Chiltern Railways exhibition at Exeter Hall in Kidlington on Saturday welcomed the scheme, which will give Kidlington its first rail service since 1964.

Similar events have already been held in Oxford and Bicester.

Colin Homans, 58, an estates manager from Crown Road, said: “I remember when Kidlington station closed in the 1960s.

“It’s a tragedy that a place this size has been without a station for so long.

“From Water Eaton, you will be able to go into Oxford and pick up trains to Paddington, or you could go straight to Marylebone. It will be very convenient.

“If the rail link is really successful, they might even need more parking at Water Eaton.”

Terry Walden, who is in his 70s, added: “It’s about time we had a station for Kidlington, and Water Eaton is a sensible place to put it.

“It’s got all the facilities you need, including bus links and parking spaces.”

Bicester Town and Islip stations would also be rebuilt as part of the project, which would allow trains to run at up to 100mph between Oxford and Bicester on double tracks.

Allan Dare, strategic development manager for Chiltern Railways, said the company’s key aims were to give people in north Oxfordshire a direct rail service to London, remove traffic from the M40, give people from Bicester a commuter service into Oxford, remove traffic from the A34 and provide a direct link between Oxford and High Wycombe for the first time since 1964.

He added: “We have had a lot of very positive comments about the Water Eaton proposals.”

Adrian Shooter, chairman of Chiltern Railways, said: “This autumn we will make an application to the Department for Transport for a Transport and Works Act order.

“Then there is likely to be a public inquiry and that’s the opportunity for everyone to come and say their piece.”

Mr Shooter added some people who lived near the railway had “legitimate concerns” about noise.

But he said that new tracks would be quieter than the existing ones.