THE electrification of the railway between Oxford and Didcot will go ahead as planned despite the project being scrapped across parts of the country.

The Government yesterday announced that the modernisation of the railway from Cardiff to Swansea, on the Midland mainline and along tracks in the Lake District would be dropped.

It comes after Network Rail went £1.9bn over budget on the scheme to electrify the Great Western mainline – which includes the section through Oxfordshire.

But the Department for Transport (DfT) told the Oxford Mail the Oxford to Didcot work would not be affected by the announcement.

A nine-day closure of the lines between Banbury, Oxford and Didcot – to make way for electrification – will begin today as planned.

The new InterCity Express trains will now have to be fitted with bi-mode technology to run on electric where the modernisation has taken place and then turn on the diesel engine where necessary.

The DfT said that passengers through the non-electrified part would ‘benefit sooner and experience less disruption compared with putting up intrusive wires and masts along routes where they are no longer required.’

Commuters from Oxford and Didcot will have to put up with the ‘intrusive wires and masts’ and the disruption the project is set to bring.

Buses will replace trains between Banbury and Oxford, and between the city and Didcot, from today until Sunday July 30, every day apart from July 29.

Trains between Oxford and Worcester will be reduced to an hourly service.