Great Western Coffee Shop

Improvements at Radley station include a new footbridge, a larger car park, new lighting, a wider platform and new waiting shelters and seating (link below.)
http://www.teletext.co.uk/regionalnews/thames-valley/b81e6d7f56fb91245469863ff2780498/Rail+station+work+ends.aspx

Just hope the bus drivers know where they are going...

http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/yourtown/abingdon/3750506.Misspelled_sign_points_way_to_Scotland/ (http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/yourtown/abingdon/3750506.Misspelled_sign_points_way_to_Scotland/)

Of course it also could be pointing to other Abington's much closer than the one in Scotland - such as the one in Northampton than my grandparents live next to, but that wouldn't have made such a good (a.k.a cheap laughs) story for the Oxford Mail. Talk about making a mountain out of a molehill - a fair point made in the comment by gwr2006 I think!

Well, we journalists do like our cheap laughs. Think we picked Scotland because, yes it's a long way away, but it is also on the West Coast main line and the M74 (and the junction for the Edinburgh road), so a lot of people may well remember passing through it - unlike Northampton's suburbs. And, as the link Lee has posted indicates, we have also covered the more serious side of the Radley station work.

Article link on the unveiling of a plaque to mark the completion of the improvement works.
http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/headlines/3769135.__1m_station_facelift_complete/

A village train station is to get extra hourly train services to London and Oxford after passenger numbers rocketed by 30 per cent.

Radley station will have extra hourly off-peak trains stopping at the station after footfall spiked from 57,468 passengers in 2006/07 to 74,654 in 2008/09.

The service increase comes just a year after ^1m of improvements were made at the station which doubled the number of cycling spaces and included a larger and resurfaced car park.

The renovation funded by Oxfordshire County Council, First Great Western and Network Rail also saw a new footbridge installed as well as new vandal-resistant waiting shelters and new signs on the platform.

The improved service has been welcomed by villagers and is expected to further increase passenger numbers at the station. Following the renovation, Radley Parish Council set up an independent group to maintain the appearance of the station.

Lynda Pasquire, treasurer of the Friends of Radley Station, said: ^Most people would agree having a more frequent train service into Oxford is a great idea. It only takes about six minutes from Radley to Oxford by train but it takes about three quarters of an hour by car in rush hour in the morning.^

Mrs Pasquire, of Shaw Copse, said: ^At Radley, the usage has gone up immensely, particularly since the station has been upgraded. A lot of people from Abingdon use the station and since First Great Western took over the franchise, they have been much more interested in the station and have worked to upgrade it.^

First Great Western took over the Thames Valley franchise from Thames Trains in 2004.

There are 23 services a day from Radley to London and 27 services a day from Radley to Oxford.

The new timetable is expected to double the number of off-peak services departing Radley to Oxford and London from one to two per hour.

Parish council chairman Jennie Standen said: ^The station is very popular for passengers going to Oxford, Reading and London. The station serves a large part of north Abingdon and it can save a lot of difficulty for someone to use trains here and prevent the difficulty of going to Oxford or Didcot.^

FGW spokesman Ellie Banks said the firm believed improvements at the station had boosted passenger numbers. She said: ^FGW supports the inclusion of additional stops at Radley and these have been included from the December 2009 timetable change.^

County council assistant transport planner Ed Webster said: "The council welcomes the news that Network Rail and First Great Western want more trains to stop at Radley. The reason for Oxfordshire County Council^s ^300,000 investment at Radley station last year was to encourage more passengers to use it, which in turn would hopefully justify more trains to stop, so kick-starting a cycle of growth.^

I think to-day's was 1440 Oxford - Padd turbo.

The train departed Oxford full and standing as the Chiltern main line is closed for engineering work and Chiltern Railways from Birmingham Snow Hill are terminating at Oxford instead, with passengers forward on FGW.

Line reopened at around 16:30.

As there isn't a full TV timetable book anymore I can't check if Chiltern still have their late evening Banbury Oxford to keep up route knowlege.

Of course the ghost train out of Padd to Aylesbury
(?) is partly to keep route knowledge South Ruislip to Padd.

Yep the WYC train around 11:XX  that's why Ayesbury was ? marked. It seems to vary it's destination and departure time in different timetables during teh many years it's run.

can FGW drivers drive Chiltern units (i.e. are the cab layouts identical?) & what about cab radio frequencies?

I expect it will be full of FGW HST drivers just beofre Christmas lerningt the road for the Banbury diversions.

Two killed at station in three days

Two people have died in three days in incidents involving high-speed trains at the same station.

British Transport Police (BTP) were called to Radley station on Friday following a report that a man had been struck by a train.

A woman also died at the station on Sunday after being struck by a train.

A spokesman for Oxford Coroner^s Office said the two people had not yet been formally identified.

The dead man was believed be a 51-year-old from Leamington Spa. The train involved was the 2.31pm Oxford to London Paddington service. The line reopened to trains at 4.30pm.

The woman is believed to be a 37-year-old from Radley, who was pronounced dead at the scene.

Regarding the incident on Sunday, BTP spokesman Simon Letouze said: ^Officers from BTP and Thames Valley Police, and paramedics from the South Central Ambulance Service attended.^

Police are treating both incidents as non-suspicious.

British Transport Police (BTP) officers investigating two bikes being stolen from Radley station are calling on the public^s help to identify those responsible.

Investigators have today released CCTV images of three men they would like to speak to in connection with the incidents, which took place in September.

PC Roddy Brown, the investigating officer, said: ^The first victim left his bike at the cycle shed at Radley station around 10.15am on Thursday, 13 September. When he returned to collect it at 5.40pm he realised it had been taken.^

^The second victim arrived at the station about 7am on Saturday, 15 September and locked her bike to the cycle racks. Around 1pm, she returned to the station to find that her bike and lock had been stolen.^

Officers have been carrying out a number of enquiries into the incidents, including viewing CCTV in and around the station and speaking to witnesses at the scene. Images of three men have now been released by officers in a bid to identify those responsible.

(http://www.btp.presscentre.com/imagelibrary/displaymedia.ashx?MediaDetailsID=9524&SizeID=2) (http://www.btp.presscentre.com/imagelibrary/displaymedia.ashx?MediaDetailsID=9525&SizeID=2) (http://www.btp.presscentre.com/imagelibrary/displaymedia.ashx?MediaDetailsID=9526&SizeID=2) (http://www.btp.presscentre.com/imagelibrary/displaymedia.ashx?MediaDetailsID=9527&SizeID=2)

PC Brown added: ^Officers will continue to carry out high visible patrols in and around the station and bike racks, delivering crime prevention advice for owners who fail to properly lock and secure their cycles.

^We work closely with colleagues from Thames Valley Police and train operator First Great Western to tackle cycle crime at rail stations and ask passengers to report any suspicious behaviour to a member of staff or police.^

Anyone with information should call British Transport Police on freefone 0800 40 50 40 quoting B3/LNA of 24/10/12 or the independent charity, Crimestoppers, anonymously on 0800 555 111.

Hot on the heels of Pangbourne, it looks like workers have moved in to build the car park extension at Radley.

Scrap plans for yellow lines plead frustrated residents

(http://www.heraldseries.co.uk/resources/images/2756068/?type=articleLandscape)
The virtually deserted station car park

A rail company is set to pay for yellow lines throughout a village after its car park charges pushed commuters on to residential streets. But residents in Radley near Abingdon are fighting the plans.

First Great Western spent ^165,000 of Department for Transport cash extending the car park at Radley railway station earlier this year by 30 spaces, but also started charging ^3 a day. But villagers then complained to FGW that the charge pushed up to 20 commuters every day on the area^s narrow roads.

Now, they say, fewer people are using the car park than before it was expanded.

Lower Radley resident Graham Steinsberg said: ^It is an accident waiting to happen. Sharp braking is already the order of the day in the village, which is a nuisance, but in icy conditions it will be only a matter of time until this nuisance turns into a serious accident.^

Now Oxfordshire County Council has pledged to create parking restrictions in the village, but villagers say they don^t want parking restrictions on residential roads. They want FGW to stop charging for use of its car park.

Mr Steinsberg, 57, a chartered accountant, said: ^We don^t want yellow lines appearing anywhere. If they were making tons of money out of the car park which allowed them to lower fares, it would be okay.^

But he said fewer people were now parking at the station than before charges were introduced: ^The economic argument doesn^t stack up.^

County councillor for Radley Bob Johnston said: ^There have been numerous meetings, and I have pushed as hard as I can but now it is down to FGW and officers at the county to decide what is to be done.^

Oxfordshire County Council spokesman Martin Crabtree said: ^We will be looking at how parking restrictions could be effective in solving local parking issues and would expect to consult on proposals early in the new year. Depending on the outcome a scheme could be implemented in the spring. We would expect the cost of any scheme to be funded by the rail company.^

He said the solution would not involve parking permits.

First Great Western spokesman James Davis said the Department for Transport funding was for ^commercial projects only^, so the company was obliged to charge for use of the car park.

Mr Steinsberg has now started a pressure group, Stop Clogging Radley with Parking (SCRAP), calling on FGW to scrap its car park charges.

If they had charged before they had extended the car park they could have saved ^165,000!

I wondered where all the cars had gone as since they have extended the car park and charged for parking.
Since the charging I have never seen the original car park full, never mind the extension.
If they had charged before they had extended the car park they could have saved ^165,000!
And ^3 a day is a lot cheaper than parking at Oxford or Didcot and I wonder how many of the people travelling to/from Radley travel for 'free'.

It wasn't ignorance as I was comparing the price of parking at Radley station with that at Didcot Parkway or Oxford stations, i.e. I don't understand why they are complaining. Apologies if I didn't make that clear, plus how many passengers actually pay the fare given the lack of facilities to buy a ticket at Radley.

Off Peak is ^3.40 similar to the bus fare !! Correct me if I'm wrong.

Good to see Radley's car park expansion finished this week and open for business.  Difficult to be precise as the enlarged area is gravel without actual marked out spaces, but I would guess that there's now room for an extra 30 or so cars on top of the 50 or so that could already fit in the car park on weekdays - I'll be interested to see if these extra spaces gets taken up quickly as Radley becomes ever busier as a local community station and railhead for Abingdon.

I wondered where all the cars had gone as since they have extended the car park and charged for parking.
Since the charging I have never seen the original car park full, never mind the extension.