YorkshireBear
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I do wonder what land some politicians live in.
I assume he is making the exact same case against the road network?
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Chiltern Oxford Link completed
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I do wonder what land some politicians live in.
I assume he is making the exact same case against the road network?
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R
RailUK Forums
Shuttering for concrete for the new footbridge abutments at Aristotle Lane is now up to full height on both sides of the line. Fitting out work looks to be well under way on the temporary staff building at Oxford station.
Not Chiltern project connected, but south of Oxford station the last siding left from the old South Yard has been cleared of buddleia and is being cut up into short sections for removal.
Network Rail email newsletter about Oxford area work issued earlier this week has a long list of work until the end of the year, including the first big stage of work in alterations to the carriage sidings layout.
Not Chiltern project connected, but south of Oxford station the last siding left from the old South Yard has been cleared of buddleia and is being cut up into short sections for removal.
Network Rail email newsletter about Oxford area work issued earlier this week has a long list of work until the end of the year, including the first big stage of work in alterations to the carriage sidings layout.
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RobLawrence
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Was interested to discover, today, that Oxford - London Terminals seasons will not become "via Reading" or "via HW" once the new line opens. In fact no tickets - apart from a few advances - being sold for the Chiltern route will dictate via-HW, which is good news for me personally.
starlightEXPRESS
Member
Are Banbury - London Terminals tickets annotated as "via Reading" or "via HW"?
Yesterday's peak day travelcard from Bicester Village says 'Via High Wycombe' on it. It also says '£62.50', which is why I very rarely go into London that early!
swt_passenger
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Oxford Parkway to Paddington via Reading is still showing as requiring two tickets in mid December.
Drop the "via Reading" and the NRES default option is via Marylebone and the Bakerloo line to Paddington.
Looks like there is a bit of tweaking to do AFAICS...
Drop the "via Reading" and the NRES default option is via Marylebone and the Bakerloo line to Paddington.
Looks like there is a bit of tweaking to do AFAICS...
Doctor Fegg
Established Member
That's a great shame. Locally we were hoping for 'via High Wycombe' fares from the Cotswold Line as an alternative to the evening peak restrictions from Paddington. I've tried (as a representative of a local town council) to get in touch with Chiltern about this, but no response to emails sadly...
route:oxford
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If you have to go via High Wycombe, you really should split your ticket there.
(Just make sure the service stops).
Radio silence from Chiltern perhaps not that surprising, as GWR is the fare-setting TOC for the Cotswold Line and franchise rules would prohibit such tickets, but a study of the arrival times at Oxford of trains from Marylebone in the early evening, set against departure times of Cotswold Line services, might temper people's enthusiasm for such a routing - unless they fancy 30 minutes or so waiting at Oxford.
Anyone on a Chiltern service arriving at Oxford will likely pass a Cotswold Line service on its way towards Wolvercote, unless GWR is having a less-than-sparkling day and even then a Usain Bolt-type dash across the footbridge would probably be needed.
Doctor Fegg
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That genuinely surprises me. You can get a full range of Chiltern-priced 'via High Wycombe' tickets from Wolverhampton, for example, even though Wolverhampton is Virgin territory. But I'm certainly no fares expert.
The 30-minute wait is disappointing, but if (say) I knew I'd be leaving London at 5pm, the 17.18 from Marylebone would get me home at 19.03; given the alternatives of a high-priced SOR on GWR, or waiting for the first off-peak train out of Paddington (which gets me home at 20.39), that's quite tempting. A 1hr45 timing on Chiltern isn't too outlandish compared to 1hr15 on GWR. But obviously people's price/speed tolerance will vary!
The 30-minute wait is disappointing, but if (say) I knew I'd be leaving London at 5pm, the 17.18 from Marylebone would get me home at 19.03; given the alternatives of a high-priced SOR on GWR, or waiting for the first off-peak train out of Paddington (which gets me home at 20.39), that's quite tempting. A 1hr45 timing on Chiltern isn't too outlandish compared to 1hr15 on GWR. But obviously people's price/speed tolerance will vary!
I don't, was more in response to RobLawrence's earlier post:
Might all change from December, obviously...
I wouldn't be surprised if the extension through to Oxford opens with no "dedicated" Chiltern fares, and they leave that to the January fares round just a few weeks later.
As for introducing "via High Wycombe" fares for Cotswold line stations, that would require GWR not to object to them doing so. "via High Wycombe and Birmingham" fares to the likes of Worcester and Droitwich are a relatively recent addition for the same reason.
As for introducing "via High Wycombe" fares for Cotswold line stations, that would require GWR not to object to them doing so. "via High Wycombe and Birmingham" fares to the likes of Worcester and Droitwich are a relatively recent addition for the same reason.
I can't understand what this fares and ticketing discussion has to do with 'infrastructure and stations'. Perhaps I missed the point somehow?
Just in time to bring this thread back on topic. From the Oxford Mail...
http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/14...rd__Bicester_and_London_link_turns_one_today/
http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/14...rd__Bicester_and_London_link_turns_one_today/
Chiltern apparently didn't have time to include the number of journeys now being made using Bicester North station in their triumphant announcement - presumably not quite the 1.696 million recorded in 2014-15. I wonder where they have all gone...?
Back in Oxford, the new Aristotle Lane pedestrian bridge is now in place over the line and more tracklaying is going on between there and Oxford North junction to leave the bare minimum to do next year when the 75mph crossings are installed and commissioned during the resignalling scheme.
The work to clear the redundant siding south of Oxford station alongside the bi-di loop line was to make way for a new trackside walking route. I assume this is for Chiltern drivers changing ends there if they use platforms 3 and 4 for for arrival and departure at Oxford and don't go all the way down to Hinksey Yard. Timber frames for the walkway are currently being laid.
The structure of the north end of the new platform 1 that the contractors have been able to build so far is now basically complete by the look of it, bar the top surfacing. New staff building is still lacking its last layer of outer cladding.
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route:oxford
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As long as the total number between the two stations is greater than the total prior to the work commencing - surely that's still a good thing?
edwin_m
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London passengers using Bicester North probably means a substantial number of their seats will be empty to Banbury and Birmingham. Using Bicester Village station the seats will only be empty between there and Oxford. So diverting passengers to the Village station gives Chiltern the opportunity to sell more longer journeys on the Birmingham trains.
If they actually told us what the current count across both Bicester stations was, then it would mean something, but looks like we're going to have to wait until the ORR figures for all stations across the network appear before we get a clearer picture of what's happening. Along with an indication of where Chiltern is taking custom from at Oxford - GWR or the coach operators?
Bicester North was just under 1.7 million in 2014-15 but how many of them were London shoppers, who can be assumed to have pretty much transferred in their entirety to the other station since it opened?
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
I gather that despite the cladding still needing to be finished, staff at Oxford station should now all be based in the new building, so the old staff building/ex-Red Star parcels office can be demolished at last to make way for the rest of the new platform 1. I expect the framework of the old GWR platform canopy will also be torn down shortly.
route:oxford
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Some figures were published in "The Oxford Mail" today:-
Full story here:-
http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/14...ar___but_residents_say_it_is_mainly_shoppers/
Full story here:-
http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/14...ar___but_residents_say_it_is_mainly_shoppers/
What a bizarre article. They managed to conclude that commuters think Bicester Village station is only for shoppers by interviewing two people who aren't at all representative of the commuter traffic at Bicester Village station - both use Bicester North, one of them commutes in off-peak and the other only commuted for a week.
If you were to wander down to Bicester Village station at morning and evening peaks, you'd see it's quite busy with commuters, and the car park is often completely full from early on. The Mainline Silver service I got on the other morning was full when it arrived at Bicester Village from Oxford Parkway (where's the stats on that in the article?)
route:oxford
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The "shoppers only" view will change very swiftly once the line re-opens to Oxford in January.
I have a few colleagues who cannot wait to enjoy a frequent service that takes just 15 minutes from Bicester Village to Oxford Central in the morning.
Network Rail is going to work 24 hours a day from tomorrow to complete the new platforms at Oxford station, according to its latest Oxfordshire newsletter.
Last layer of cladding is now being fitted to the temporary staff building.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
The old traincrew depot and Red Star parcels building at Oxford station was demolished yesterday, with work going on into the night as Network Rail had said.
Exterior cladding on the temporary building is about half complete on the side facing the platforms. Don't know about the other side.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Current and planned schemes for the Oxford 'corridor' are the main feature of a meeting of the Thames Valley Railfuture branch next Wednesday, November 16th.
Network Rail representatives will be giving a presentation and answering questions at the meeting, which is 6 for 6.30pm at Jericho Community Centre, in Canal Street, near St Barnabas Church (the one with the tall Italianate tower that can be seen from the railway just north of Oxford station).
Last layer of cladding is now being fitted to the temporary staff building.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
The old traincrew depot and Red Star parcels building at Oxford station was demolished yesterday, with work going on into the night as Network Rail had said.
Exterior cladding on the temporary building is about half complete on the side facing the platforms. Don't know about the other side.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Current and planned schemes for the Oxford 'corridor' are the main feature of a meeting of the Thames Valley Railfuture branch next Wednesday, November 16th.
Network Rail representatives will be giving a presentation and answering questions at the meeting, which is 6 for 6.30pm at Jericho Community Centre, in Canal Street, near St Barnabas Church (the one with the tall Italianate tower that can be seen from the railway just north of Oxford station).
Buttsy
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Kite159
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There was a story about the new service on tonight's Meridian Tonight. Although filming on a 168 probably wasn't the best move with the background noise from the truck engines
Bletchleyite
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And I'd imagine Stagecoach are more than a little nervous.
Further to the picture, the amount of work done in the past week is striking - they weren't joking about round the clock operations. I had my doubts that they would be ready for December 12 but seeing how much progress there has been, it looks like they should make it.
The new trackside wall for platform 2 is pretty much complete, as far as I could see passing by this morning, and the wall for the southern end of platform 1 is coming along. There are also what look like big concrete stop blocks in place at the platform ends.
Base for the trackbed between the platforms was being worked on, as shown in the picture. Frame of the old GWR canopy is still in situ between platforms 2 and 3 - part showing in the top right of Buttsy's photo.
Outer cladding on the temporary train crew building is still to be fitted on the south end wall.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Stagecoach have known this was coming for years - if traffic drops off on the X5 they will simply thin out the service and move the buses elsewhere.
More interesting than the impact on the buses will be to see how many people in Bicester now leave their cars at home and use the trains to commute instead.
Even with the leisurely journey time on the old branch, the 8am train from Bicester into Oxford was always a very busy two-car 165. With more, faster trains in the mix from next month, Chiltern should clean up on local traffic into central Oxford.
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swt_passenger
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Is platform 2 also being widened compared to the original condition? Looks like its 'wall' is further out than before. I hadn't realised that was being done, but it must make sense given the expected loadings from significantly longer trains.
Yes it is, the track alignment was moved over by about 2-3 feet quite a few weeks before the old staff accomodation was demolished.
swt_passenger
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Thanks, so presumably the country end is already widened for the few trains that are still using the bay? Was that done quite a while ago?
On Saturday, there will be no service South of Banbury until 0800, and no service between Bicester Village and Oxford Parkway all weekend, for commissioning and testing the infrastructure between Oxford Parkway and Oxford.
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