TWO council leaders are pushing travel by train to ease the burden on the county’s roads.

Ian Hudspeth of Oxfordshire County Council, and James Mills from West Oxfordshire District Council, recently brought together the first meeting of the Hanborough Station Sub-Group.

The group is part of the North Cotswold Line Task Force, which brings together five county councils and Local Enterprise Partnerships.

These bodies come from the 86-mile route between Hereford, Worcester and Oxford, and are joined by the Cotswold Line Promotion Group, as well as Network Rail and the Great Western Railway.

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The task force is hoping for additional trains as a metro-style service, between Hanborough and Oxford in order to support housing growth in West Oxfordshire, the visitor economy, and to encourage a shift from road to rail for journeys to Oxford or London.

In January 2020, the task force also submitted to government its case for a doubled two trains per hour service between Worcestershire, Oxford and London.

This is now being looked at by the Department for Transport and Network Rail.

The sub-group is developing the case for these changes, in addition to plans for expanded passenger facilities at Hanborough station, and will engage with local stakeholders and communities.

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Mr Hudspeth said: “The task force’s proposals for the North Cotswold Line will make the rail offer more attractive to West Oxfordshire people.

“I am delighted the sub-group will bring us and the rail industry together to plan ahead for a bigger and better role for Hanborough station.”

James Mills added: “West Oxfordshire is growing and vibrant. More frequent rail services and an enhanced Hanborough station will help us to grow sustainably, take pressure off our road network, and support our vital visitor sector including Blenheim Palace.”

Tom Pierpoint, commercial development director at Great Western Railway said: “It is clear that there will be a key role for rail to support the local and regional economy as we emerge from the challenges of the last couple of months. We look forward to working with the task force to develop proposals for Hanborough station.”