Commuters will be able to get their first close-up look at plans for a new £200m Oxford-Bicester-London rail service from Friday.

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

The scheme, dubbed Evergreen 3 and to be paid for by the company, would see two new platforms provided at Oxford station and a new station built at Water Eaton park-and-ride centre, just outside Kidlington.

It would give the village its first rail service since 1964.

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, in place of the existing single tracks.

Chiltern plans to run two trains an hour each way, giving Oxford commuters an extra two direct train services to and from the capital every hour, in addition to the two fast and two stopping trains an hour operated by First Great Western to London Paddington.

Chiltern is launching public consultation on its proposals in Bicester on Friday, but rail users have already given the scheme their support.

Chiltern’s project director Vic Michel said: “The proposal is to run two trains an hour from Oxford to Marylebone, via Bicester, which will travel at 100mph.

“We’re starting to engage with local people and stakeholders next week.

“There will be a number of public meetings and presentations to explain to everyone exactly what we’re doing and to gauge reaction, and we hope to know exactly where we’re going by the end of the year.”

The new route to London would be created by upgrading the railway between Oxford and Bicester and by building a connecting line in Bicester to link Bicester Town station to the Chiltern main line.

At Oxford station, Chiltern wants to demolish the former parcels depot and train crew offices alongside the exisitng platform 3 and construct two new platforms for its services, which would both be able to accommodate a five-coach train.

The stores and offices in the existing building, along with short-stay car parking and disabled spaces, would be moved to a site alongside the new platforms.

Chiltern’s trains would run in and out of the station on a new connecting line running from Oxford North junction past the train stabling sidings, avoiding any conflict with services on the main line through the city.

The project would also provide a direct rail link between Oxford and High Wycombe for the first time in 40 years.

All trains would call en route at the new Water Eaton Parkway station and Bicester Town – giving the town four London trains an hour, with two others serving Bicester North station, on the Banbury line.

A number of trains would also stop at Islip, which would get direct commuter services to and from the captial for the first time.

Projected journey times are 66 minutes between Oxford and London, 14 minutes from Oxford to Bicester and 38 minutes from Oxford to High Wycombe.

At present, Oxford and Bicester Town are linked by seven trains a day, operated by First Great Western – with no Sunday service.

Mr Michel said Chiltern felt that there was a need to offer an alternative to First Great Western’s direct service from Oxford to London Paddington, via Reading He said: “There’s most certainly the demand for a new service.

“The competition might even help First Great Western, in the sense that a lot of people are avoiding their service to London because it’s so busy.

“We believe there’s enough of a market for everybody and people living north of Oxford will be very pleased to jump on a train at Water Eaton and speed into London.”

FGW, which leases Oxford station from Network Rail, said it was working closely with Chiltern Railways over its proposals.

The Evergreen scheme would be the second big expansion project on Oxfordshire’s railways in the next few years, if it gets the go-ahead.

Chiltern is also working with the consortium of councils behind plans to reopen the East-West rail line from Bicester to Milton Keynes, as a first step towards reinstatement of the former Varsity Line to Cambridge, which closed in 1967.

The new scheme was last night hailed a ‘remarkable turnaround’ for rail services between Oxford and Bicester.

Dr Ian East, a spokesman for the Oxford-Bicester Rail Action Group, which campaigns for better services on the line, welcomed the project.

He said: “I think it’s a wonderful thing for Oxford and a wonderful thing for the Oxford-Bicester line, because it puts it on a sustainable footing.

“We want to keep the line open and develop it as a commuter service into Oxford.

“The roads are getting fuller and I’m convinced the bus service isn’t going to do the job in the future.

“The project is particularly important to Oxford, because the First Great Western route is pretty much running to capacity, which commuters are only too aware of, and extra competition is needed.”

Dr East said years of disinterest from the Government had left the rail network in poor shape.

He said: “I think those days are over. We need to use whatever railways we have got – we need more re-openings.”

Dr East, from Islip, welcomed the proposal to retain and extend the station in the village, because he said that if people were forced to drive into Oxford or Bicester, they would drive the whole journey.

However, he added: “I’m not convinced by the station at Water Eaton.

“They have a lot of space for parking, but the problem is the traffic it would generate.”