Rail passengers face weeks of disruption as a £161 million project to improve Oxford Railway Station is set to get underway.

Lines in and out of the Park End Street station will be closed closed over four weekends in September and October.

These closures are to enable works on the upgrade of the station which aim to increase capacity to accommodate additional services from 2024.

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Work is planned to be carried out on the track to create three high-speed crossovers (increasing from 25mph to 75mph) at Oxford North Junction which is on the line between Walton Well and Aristotle bridges.

Once complete, it will cut journey times between Oxford and Bicester by two minutes, as well as increasing capacity for additional services, said Network Rail.

There will be no trains between Didcot, Banbury and Hanborough on 10/11 September and following weekends until 1/2 October.

The station closure dates are as follows:

Saturday 10 and Sunday 11 September

Saturday 17 and Sunday 18 September

Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 September

Saturday 1 and Sunday 2 October

Replacement bus service

Great Western Railway will be operating a regular bus service between Didcot Parkway, Oxford and Hanborough. Visit the Great Western Railway website for further information.

CrossCountry will be operating a regular bus service between Didcot, Oxford and Banbury (note that on 10,11 and 18 September buses will also run to Leamington Spa.) Visit the CrossCountry website for further information.

Passengers wishing to travel to or from London on these weekends should use the Chiltern Railways service that operates between London Marylebone and Oxford Parkway. There will be buses available from Oxford Parkway to take passengers into the city centre. Anyone wanting to travel to or from Bicester should use the Chiltern Railways service that runs from Oxford Parkway.

Local buses:

  • 2 between Kidlington, Oxford Parkway and Oxford
  • 7 between Woodstock, Oxford Parkway and Oxford
  • X2 between Didcot and Oxford • X3 between Abington, Didcot and Oxford
  • X32 between Wantage, Didcot and Oxford
  • S3 between Charlbury, Oxford Parkway and Oxford
  • Longer distance buses:
  • S2 between Cheltenham and Oxford
  • S4 between Banbury and Oxford
  • S6 between Swindon and Oxford
  • Oxford Tube between London Victoria and Oxford
  • The airline from Oxford to Heathrow and Gatwick airports

Visit the Stagecoach and Oxford Bus Company for further information.

 

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This story was written by Sophie Perry. She joined the team in 2021 as a digital reporter.

You can get in touch with her by emailing: sophie.perry@newsquest.co.uk

Follow her on Twitter @itssophieperry

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