Bicester Village railway station
Bicester Town | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| Location | Cherwell |
| Managed by | Chiltern Railways |
| Platforms | 1 (originally 2) |
| Other information | |
| Station code | BIT |
| History | |
| Original company | Buckinghamshire Railway |
| Pre-grouping | London and North Western Railway |
| Post-grouping | London, Midland and Scottish Railway |
| Key dates | |
| 1 October 1850 | Opened as "Bicester" |
| March 1954 | Renamed "Bicester London Road" |
| 1 January 1968 | Closed |
| 11 May 1987 | Reopened and renamed "Bicester Town" |
Bicester Town is the smaller of two railway stations serving the town of Bicester in Oxfordshire. (The larger is Bicester North.) Bicester Town station is 12 miles (19 km) miles north-east of Oxford. The station, and all trains serving it, are operated by Chiltern Railways.
History
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The Buckinghamshire Railway, which already had a route between Bletchley and Banbury, had powers to build a line to Oxford. The first part of this line, from a junction to the west of Winslow (at a point which became known as Verney Junction) to Islip, opened on 1 October 1850, and this included a station at Bicester.[1][2] Originally named "Bicester", the station was renamed "Bicester London Road" in March 1954,[2] although the nameboards were not altered until 20 September 1954.[3]
The station was closed, along with the rest of the Oxford – Bletchley section of the Varsity Line, on 1 January 1968.[2] However, the station was used by several excursion trains through the 1970s and 1980s.
Network SouthEast reopened the station as "Bicester Town" on 11 May 1987,[4] as the terminus of the Oxford to Bicester Line. From May 2009 First Great Western and Oxfordshire County Council branded the line "The Bicester Link".[5] Since then operation of the line has been transferred from FGW to Chiltern Railways.
Since 1987 the frequency of trains has varied and passenger numbers have fluctuated accordingly. In the four years 2007–11 more frequent trains have increased the total number of passengers using Bicester Town by 258%.[6]
Infrastructure
The station has one platform, with a covered waiting area, seats, a clock, help point and public address. There are numerous cycle stands but no ticket facilities (passengers buy these on the train instead).
The line to the east is used only by freight. The East West Rail Consortium of local authorities plans to extend the Oxford – Bicester service to Milton Keynes Central via Winslow and Bletchley.
There is another track in front of the platform, beside the passenger and freight running line. This is the long reversing siding for the Bicester Military Railway, serving the local MOD depot.[7]
In August 2008 Chiltern Railways announced a proposal to build a 1⁄4 mile (400 m) link between the Oxford to Bicester Line and the Chiltern Main Line to carry a new service between Oxford and London via High Wycombe. The single line between Bicester Town and Oxford would be doubled and a new station would be built at Oxford Parkway. Chiltern Railways hopes that if approval is granted for the scheme services will start in May 2013.[8] Approval was granted in October 2012 [9] with an opening date of 2015.
The Department for Transport has approved the Western Section of the East West Rail Link to link Oxford and Bicester Town with Milton Keynes and Bedford. Trains should start running by 2017.[10][11]
Services
From December 2008 the service on Mondays to Saturdays was improved with an evening service and a doubling of the service on Saturdays. There are now 11 trains (12 on Fridays) on weekdays and 13 on Saturdays. From May 2009, further improvements saw extra trains during the daytime on Mondays to Fridays and a new all-year round Sunday service, with trains every 90 minutes.
On 22 May 2011 Chiltern Railways took over all passenger operations from this station. This is in advance of the new service between London Marylebone and Oxford that is due to start in 2013.[12] later amended to 2015.
| Preceding station |  National Rail
|
Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Islip | Chiltern Railways Oxford to Bicester Line Replacement Bus Service |
Terminus | ||
| {{{text}}} | ||||
| Islip or Oxford Parkway |
Chiltern Railways London Marylebone – Oxford |
Haddenham and Thame Parkway or Princes Risborough | ||
| Oxford Parkway | Varsity Line Reading – Bedford or Milton Keynes |
Winslow | ||
| Historical railways | ||||
| Wendlebury Halt Line open, station closed |
London and North Western Railway Varsity Line |
Launton Line and station closed | ||
References
- ^ Mitchell, Victor E.; Smith, Keith (July 2005). Oxford to Bletchley. Country Railway Routes. Midhurst: Middleton Press. Historical background. ISBN 1-904474-57-8.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - ^ a b c Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Yeovil: Patrick Stephens Ltd. p. 33. ISBN 1-85260-508-1. R508.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - ^ Mitchell & Smith 2005, fig. 50
- ^ Butt 1995, pp. 33–34
- ^ The Bicester Link[dead link]
- ^ Office of the Rail Regulator data: see infobox at head of article.
- ^ "Oxford to Bicester, Banbury and Worcester". First Great Western.
- ^ "Chiltern Railways plan to make Bicester well connected". Railnews. 29 August 2008. Retrieved 7 September 2008.
- ^ "Chiltern gets go-ahead for second Oxford-London rail link". The Oxford Times. 18 October 2012.
- ^ "East West Rail – Western Section Prospectus" (pdf). Retrieved 14 December 2011.
- ^ RAIL (685): 10–11. 14–28 December 2011.
{{cite journal}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ^ "Chiltern to take over Bicester – Oxford trains". RAIL (664): 25. 23 February – 8 March 2011.