AN ENGINEERING company has insisted work to improve the Oxford to Bicester railway line will not be affected by a sub contractor going into administration.

It was revealed yesterday that contractor Jarvis had called in administrators following a fall in demand for work.

Jarvis is working on behalf of BAM Nuttall on a £55m contract from Chiltern Railways to work on the mainline phase of the Evergreen 3 project, which includes work to increase train speeds between London and Birmingham via Oxfordshire.

The contract also contains an option to cover the £96m upgrade of the Bicester to Oxford line, due to commence in spring next year. It will enable a high speed link to be created from Oxford to London Marylebone, via Bicester.

A BAM Nuttall spokesman said: “As the main contractor, this announcement will not affect our ability and commitment to deliver this project to the total satisfaction of our client Chiltern Railways.”