Great Western Coffee Shop

Looking out of the window as my train approached Oxford this morning, it looks as though the track gangs have renewed almost all of the goods line between Oxford station and Oxford North junction over the weekend with new rails and steel sleepers. The main remaining bit of old track seems to be alongside the stabling sidings.

At that rate of progress, shouldn't be too long before the Bicester trains are running this way and the other loop tracks are also renewed to pasenger standards. There are further possessions north of Oxford this coming Sunday and the whole of the following weekend.

That's right. The gangs were quite busy over the weekend, and I believe advantage of the possession was taken to also do some heavy work on the A34 flyover renewal at Wolvercote. It should be pointed out though that track renewal is a small part of the work, with the signalling alterations being the most complex and time-consuming part of the project. I doubt Bicester trains will be using this track until late Autumn as originally planned.

Pity it will take that long to get the signals altered, but given that other bits of the goods loops won't need signal changes, presumably the ability to move delayed westbound Cotswold Line trains out of the station will be available much sooner?

I can see no reason, in principle, why they wouldn't be able to bring in that alteration sooner. Passenger trains can currently use this section with the permission of the regional signalling manager (or whatever their job title currently is) down at Swindon, so it should just be a case of amending the method of working once suitable track is in place to allow regular passenger service. Even if the present 15mph speed limit is unaltered it would still be beneficial to trundle a Cotswold Line service down there out of the way.

From past experience of trundling along there when the points at the end of platform 2 had jammed, it wouldn't be hard to raise the speed limit, even with the most basic of relaying jobs. Rough doesn't really do the ride quality of the current track justice.

Just to add that the weekends possession was a very productive one for once - along with the work already mentioned there was 1/2 mile of plain track renewal on the Up Main just north of Wolvercote Junction and another 1/4 mile done just south of Ayhno Junction.

Virtually all of the plain line track has now been replaced on both the Up and Down Goods Loops with the final of the three weekends of closures meaning the Down Goods Loop now has new CWR and steel sleepers. Some of the track replaced in the Down Goods Loop dated from 1943 - you can certainly say that the railway industry had a fair amount of use out of it!

No wonder the ride was so rough. There's a bit of ballasting and tamping to complete on the down side but the up loop is available for use from Wolvercot junction, there was an MoD train stopped on it at Oxford North junction as I passed this morning. Not sure if the section from the junction to the station is available yet.

A late night update -  have just checked in a book and this long-lived track just post-dates the building of the extended down goods loop which ran to Wolvercot Siding, near the village, as a wartime capacity enhancement, completed in 1942, which lasted until 1962. It took a slightly erratic course on its own embankment west of the drainage ditch alongside the main lines and its remains can still be seen in the trees alongside the line.

Work continuing with this project too. The head shunt at the northern end of the depot is now in place, and whilst not as flexible as the ground frame to the Up Goods Loop it replaces, it will be a useful bit of kit when a unit fails or sets are stepped up at short notice.

According to the East customer panel minutes, the resignalling work on the loop will be "finalised" in May - whether this means design or installation wasn't made clear.

As far as I know, it'll be November before the work is complete and fully operational. Signalling may well be installed by May, but won't be commissioned until November and there's still the more complex track work to replace (spring points and normal pointwork at North Junction and alongside Aristotle Lane and the Rewley Road sidings).

The new signals are now being installed for this upgrade. One on the up goods loop (in the down direction) has already been put in place and others are waiting to be put up and are temporarily stored in the old diesel depot.

Something that is puzzling me is that Chiltern's proposals for the Oxford Marylebone service say: to "Between Oxford North Junction (near Wolvercote) and Oxford station the new line will use the disused trackbed that runs between the Oxford to Banbury main line and the Oxford Canal. Two additional platforms will be provided at Oxford station and the existing stations at Bicester Town and Islip will be rebuilt."

/www.chiltern-evergreen3.co.uk

Why would they not use the soon to be upgraded freight lines? I also seem to recall seeing drains or sewers being installed in the disused trackbed as part of one of the housing developments built near Port Meadow during the last ten years. Is that right?

The new Down Jericho Line, i.e. the old Up Goods Loop south of Oxford North Junction, is due to be commissioned by Network Rail on Wednesday 13th May. I'm not sure how long after that the drivers will be signed to use it but possibly not that long with the extra trains starting with the new timetable.

The new Chiltern route into Oxford has to be independent with no physical connection with the existing track or signalling because the signal cables and equipment at Oxford PSB are quite old and fragile and cannot be altered until the major resignalling happens in around 2016. The only interface will occur just south of Wolvercot Tunnel where a bi-directional single lead will connect to the up main line for freight etc heading south of Oxford. At Oxford station, a new bridge has to be built to carry the new track into the additional platforms.

The Chiltern track into the two new platforms will be controlled from somewhere else. They prefer Marylebone but that's still to be decided as its wrapped up with the need to expand the IECC there.

Now in use. A slight delay due to power problems affecting the reliability of the track circuits but that's been sorted now. An unfortunate side effect is that the new CIS system appears to be unable to detect a trains departure from Platform 3 if routed via this new route, so the train hangs on the departure screens. Hopefully that'll be easy enough to fix?

The remainder work to be done on this enhancement package will hopefully follow shortly.

I think the CIS at Oxford is cursed!

I think it's a HUGE improvement on the old pile of crap, but like any automated system it still has occasional issues!

The problem is nothing to do with the CIS of course - its just not getting any input from the signalling system, so does not know when the train has left. I understand a solution might not be a quick fix!

I'm sure the station staff will be told to get onto CIS control to have the train manually removed from the screens if necessary.

Thanks II, that explains the list of earlier departures that had not cleared on the CIS yesterday when waiting for the 1731 to Worcester. Shame none of the platform staff seemed to know what was happening when asked.

The second phase of the project has now been completed. Passenger trains are now able to use the Up loop from Wolvercote Junction to Oxford North Junction, though as with the Bicester trains they have to trundle along at a pedestrian 25mph and gather plenty of the local flora and fauna en route as it needs cutting back!

Not as useful as the first part of the project, but nonetheless added flexibility for the Oxford Signallers.

So are Bicester trains now using the freight line instead of having to cross and re-cross the main lines?

Yes. Down trains are now able to use the Jericho Loop (now renamed the Down Jericho Line) if they are going towards Bicester. Trains from Bicester go onto the Up Main at Oxford North Junction as they always have. It means that two trains can now leave Oxford from Platforms 2 & 3 simultaneously. However, trains still conflict leaving Platform 3 in so much as you can't have a train leaving Platform 3 as another arrives/departs via the north end of Platform 1.

Why does the CIS at Paddington (and Worcester, Charing Cross, Liverpool Street, Fenchurch Street etc.) use *that* woman, when it looks the same system as Oxford, which uses Phil/Celia?

Sorry, that woman is useless for large concourse stations. Ironically, she'd be better at Oxford (she's adequate at Worcester).

And why does she say "please board the train now, as it is ready to leave!" - as if anyone is going to stand on the platform until the whistle goes... ::)

you would be surprised! i think some of them like the fuss they get by holding the train up.... or trying to lol