Great Western Coffee Shop

According to NR the line between Didcot and Oxford will be closed between 23 July to 8th August 2016 for Flood Alleviation works.
There will be preparatory work undertaken every Sunday from February to July next year, although it isn't clear how many of of these will include closures.

The work will include:

    Raising the track by approx. 400mm over a 400m section of track
    Installing a culvert under the line at the north section
    Replacing the deck of Strouds Road underbridge
    Installing 9 new points
    Will cost ^17.5mm

Further details can be found here http://www.networkrail.co.uk/great-western-route-modernisation/oxford/ (http://www.networkrail.co.uk/great-western-route-modernisation/oxford/)

Good to see as this is one of the real weak flooding locations and has led to closure or a severely reduced service several times over recent years.  It will be of great benefit during these works if the Oxford Parkway to Oxford line has opened by then, but that will be a close call given the problems that upgrade is facing.

It won't be open - September being the current estimate.

According to the link above, the dates have changed (probably to allow access to Hinksey yard for the Banbury blockade 23-31 July) to Saturday 30 July 2016 - Monday 15 August 2016. So three weeks that XC won't be able to run from Leamington to Reading. Bet they're happy.

Neither will their customers be.

Could they not follow the FGW/GWR model and divert - even if the running times are significantly longer?

Opinion polls appeared to suggest that passengers prefer a longer journey to multiple changes and bustitution.

I was thinking along the line of XC coming to Banbury, turning left at Anyho Jnc and taking the Old Oak line at Northolt.  Turn right at Greenford - right again at West Ealing and then along the GW mainline to Reading where no reversal is now required.  Might add an hour, but everyone stays on the train.  Just a thought...

Banbury is blocked till 31st.

No paths in the peak south of Risborough.

If you click through to the PDF file linked from that page it still says it starts on 23rd July.
If the dates have changed then I can only conclude that NR are incompetent.
I can't see how NR can justify changing the date given that the original dates have been heavily publicised, it has been mentioned in the local press, displayed at stations and customers had been sent a letter about the closure. I had even advised people at work who use this line to take holiday then, how stupid do I feel >:(

And I am correct in thinking that GWR etc. will get compensation from NR for this closure but customers won't?

GWR has to pay to put the rail replacement in place & that is what NR recompense.

If you check the date of the webpage update, it's only just happened, so I suspect the pdf is being updated....there's a meet the (NR) manager advertised on that page for tonight at Oxford station 1630-1900, so maybe someone can check there? Unfortunately, I'll be in Stafford....

Assuming the date has actually changed to a week later, may I suggest an admin changing the title of this thread to avoid confusion

Thank you for your helpful suggestion, Adelante_CCT: I've done as you suggested - pending further updates / clarification.  CfN.  :)

I think the Banbury dates may have changed too?

From what I've found out there's a 16 day block from Saturday 30th July to Monday 15th August to enable three major bits of work to be undertaken.  The Banbury resignalling, the Hinksey flood prevention works and also Castle Mill Stream works (by Oxford North Junction). 

The works are split as follows:
Days 1-16:  Didcot to Oxford closed
Days 1-9:  Wolvercote Junction to Banbury closed
Days 1-4:  Oxford to North Cotswolds line open but only by using Down Passenger Loop (Single Line Working)
Days 5-9:  Oxford to Hanborough closed
Days 10-16: Lines north of Oxford both open

ooh, that'll pee off some in Banbury who I understand may have booked leave already - my meeting with the Banbury Project leader was postponed to this Saturday so I'll get full details then,.

Does that include the signalling/points work needed for Chiltern around the bays?

I'm afraid I don't know.

From The BBC (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-36897965)

I don't think ChrisB's prediction came to pass in the end.  I didn't get to use Marylebone myself over the two week blockade but haven't seen any negative stories in the press and a friend made four trips on rush hour trains during the blockade and reports that she easily got a seat on each occasion and that the trains were not much busier than usual - indeed on one trip she had a carriage largely to herself.

Regarding the other blockade arrangements, I've had chance to witness operations at Didcot, Oxford and Hanborough first hand and I must say I've rarely seen such an well organised set-up for engineering work.  At Didcot and Oxford clearly labelled bus stops were plentiful and proper loudspeaker systems had been installed at both locations.  There were also an abundance of staff everywhere - the usual gateline staff being used and backed up by plenty of agency staff, who (despite initially lacking detailed knowledge of the rail system) were friendly, helpful and soon picked up on what was going on.  The use of Hanborough to Didcot buses (for the first time that I can remember) helped relieve Oxford of most travellers from the Cotwolds to London and was quicker than risking the roads into Oxford station.

The only obvious negative I could see was the distance from Oxford station to the bus loading point at the far end of the car park, but with the short stay car park closed for Chiltern's work and the number of buses circulating the area it was the nearest realistic option that could have been chosen.  Fortunately the weather has been good, but there was a large container full of umbrellas on standby in case it was raining as shelter was at a premium.

I'm sure there was the odd horror story and negative impression given the length of the works and the fact that nobody likes a rail replacement bus, but hats off to those responsible for organising and operating the revised service - just shows that we can do a really good job dealing with planned service alterations even if our ability to deal with unplanned ones still leaves a lot to be desired!

Hopefully the work at Hinksey will complete on time for a normal service resumption on Monday.  It looked like everything was progressing nicely when I swung by the site on Tuesday: