Oxford Station Redevelopment Announced

[Andyjs247]

The current proposals do not include 4 tracking Didcot to Oxford. At Oxford the proposal is for a double bay platform arrangement for the Evergreen (Milton Keynes) services and a new platform on the Down at the rear of the current Down platform. This will mean TWA powers to "modify" (maybe demolish) the YMCA hostel (built on land owned by Railtrack some time ago but sold) and a Children's Nursery (which used to be the Drivers signing on point but was sold by Railtrack).

Oxford Council has grandiose plans for considerably more but no money to back it up. Unless they can persuade the government to stump up more, or find it themselves, their plans are no more than pie in the sky.

Also, the current electrification plans stop at Oxford - although everyone expects it to be extended North - it's just nobody knows who's going to pay for it!

The Youth Hostel will be demolished to make way for station redevelopment. The redevelopment is not yet fully funded.

However, electrification beyond Oxford to Nuneaton and also from Oxford to Bedford via Bicester and Bletchley is agreed and funded by DfT as part of the "electric spine". Though as I understand it, the schedule for the electric spine is not fixed and is unlikely to happen in CP5 (although the Oxford to Bletchley part could be prioritised and might get done quicker i.e. by 2019).

 

[The Planner]

Is electric spine funded though? No one has actually costed it and got it to anywhere near a single option for the various bits so unless DfT has written a blank cheque.....

 

[edwin_m]

Network Rail was a bit blindsided by the Electric Spine announcement - not surprising when people that have spent decades trying to get Government to agree to investment suddenly has one approved that hasn't even been submitted! So in a strict legal sense it probably isn't a committed scheme because there is no agreed budget, and there's always the risk of it being dropped at some time in the future. The onus is probably on NR to produce a scheme within the sort of numbers the Government is expecting ... whatever they may be...

 

[Andyjs247]

Seems a bit chicken and egg with electric spine. For once it seems there is money as DfT want it to happen but no plan yet (rather than a plan but no money to do it).