CHILTERN Railways has drawn up a £200 million plan for a new half-hourly service between London Marylebone and Oxford via an improved and expanded station at Bicester Town.

A development of an idea first suggested by the company several years ago, the scheme would complement the East-West Rail Consortium’s proposals to upgrade the line between Oxford and Bicester Town and reopen the route from Bicester to Milton Keynes.

Bicester Town would be linked to a junction with the Chiltern line by a new quarter-mile-long west to south connection and a new station built alongside the Water Eaton park-and-ride site on the outskirts of Kidlington.

Installation of double track and a new signalling system between Oxford and Bicester would enable more than 30 daily trains to run each way, compared to seven currently, and journey times to be cut from 26 to 14 minutes. Some trains would also serve Islip, and the new link would give Oxford direct services to Wembley Central and re-connect High Wycombe to the city for the for the first time since 1964.

Chiltern Railways chairman Adrian Shooter said: “Approval of the scheme would make Bicester one of the best connected towns in the country with four direct trains to London every hour. We have put in a lot of work to develop this scheme, and with Government approval work could start within two years, and be ready for the London Olympics in 2012.”

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