£260m Oxford-Witney Rail Proposal

[whole diary]

[Lee]

The new section of track between Witney and Yarnton would “broadly follow” the A40 corridor and the old Witney branch line which was closed in the 1970s. A new station at Witney would also be built as part of the plans, according to this article - https://www.newcivilengineer.com/latest/260m-oxford-rail-link-proposed/10039187.article

Cowley and Carterton phases are also mentioned.

[ChrisB]

Mr Stow is a member here - hopefully he can post more details....

[grahame]

From the Oxford Mail

COUNCILLORS rejected calls to back a Witney to Oxford railway, despite claims it could become the country's 'best used' route.

A motion urging West Oxfordshire District Council to ask the county council to consider including a rail line in the next phase of Oxfordshire's transport plan fell by 16 votes to 25 at last Wednesday's full council meeting.

But several Conservatives expressed fears, including Ted Fenton, of Bampton and Clanfield, who called the railway '19th century technology'.

Looks to have been on party lines, and been a wider argument boy future development of the area.

In January, the Witney Oxford Transport Group (WOT) proposed a new line running from Hanborough to Carterton, via Eynsham and Ducklington. The group previously said this would help deliver the 15,950 houses promised in the district's local plan up to 2031.

But several Conservatives expressed fears, including Ted Fenton, of Bampton and Clanfield, who called the railway '19th century technology'.

He pressed for an 'innovative' solution, adding: “The problem with cars is they’re convenient - we need to create more hubs.”

Deputy council leader, Toby Morris, argued the A40 plans would make 'significant improvements' and revealed his concerns about the reality of a rail line.

He said: “I fear a train line would turn this beautiful part of the country into a place for London commuters.”

Council leader, James Mills, added: “Can you imagine the pressure it would put on the housing market if we went about this rail route?”

[CyclingSid]

In the interests of the environment we probably need more hub caps.

[Richard Fairhurst]

I'd like to say that the WODC councillors' comments beggar belief, but sadly knowing the very car-centric policies of the council, I can believe them all too readily. I did ask (via Twitter) the councillor who commented about "19th century technology" whether he'd describe the 125mph bi-mode trains currently running through West Oxfordshire as 19th century...

I doubt this is the end of it though - on current trends, the current administration could lose their majority in 2020, and at least one party will be plastering "Party X blocked reopening the Witney-Oxford railway" all over their leaflets!

[Reading General]

I could understand people being against a railway based on cost, but straight up denying it because the privileged don't want to change paradise? The "19th century technology" line is a "1960's" comment from an individual who clearly doesn't want anything, including other people using cars, to hold up his progress in his own car. I cannot stand this very modern British waiting for technology to get better attitude. Just because it's the latest idea doesn't mean the old technology is redundant. The internal combustion engined motor car is about as elderly as transport technology gets.

We must get away from the thinking that any rail line is simply provided for travelling to london and that this is the only acceptable time that public transport is used. It seems, from many opinions, that the railway is thought to be aimed solely at london commuters and it would not be used to go locally or anywhere else. The media and government are guilty of this type of thinking too. I'm sure everybody on the Witney corridor will benefit from this and probably those that are doing local trips will benefit the most.

[eightonedee]

I am afraid this attitude is endemic among local politicians of all stripes in Oxfordshire - no development of any type thank you in our backyard unless it's Didcot, Bicester or Witney. I was not surprised (but disappointed) to see a spokesperson for the new Lib Dem/Green ruling group in South Oxon proudly announce on TV that they hoped to halve the number of new homes in their area. Presumably they will deliver their old cardboard boxes to Oxfam for young couples to use as family homes instead.

At least Didcot and Bicester have rail links. Witney has grown enormously over the last generation, and now long queues of traffic sit on the A40 each rush hour. There cannot be many stronger cases for reinstating a rail link than this.

[Reading General]

I've had a look on the Ordnance Survey map and the original route as far as the edge of urban development at Witney is fairly straightforward. The landscape is flat and the bridge under the A40 is still available to use and other road crossing points are minimal, perhaps requiring a level crossing at the former South Leigh station (are those still allowed?). The biggest barrier is the trackbed has become the bypass at Eynsham but, with greenery either side of the road, the rail route could run parallel requiring possibly one house to be demolished. There are also industrial units near the path but with a clever bit of access road shifting the line could run through a gap between them. This all seems to be really simple to me. The platform time appears to be available at Oxford to run a through service from the Cowley branch or Didcot Parkway, both near major places of work, so this should take a fair bit of local traffic off the roads and create an Oxford Crossrail or metro type arrangement. Oxford is different to other cities, it hasn't evolved with suburbia in the same way. Partly due to the rivers around the area and partly down to a green belt policy, so it's suburbs are really the surrounding towns and expanded villages, such as Witney, Kidlington, Wheatley and Abingdon. I would suggest that any reinstatement of closed rail lines or stations around these places would be immensely popular as car provision in central Oxford is limited and quite rightly so.

[martyjon]

Why not re-instate the rail line as a tram link. NR^» (Network Rail - home page) policy is no level crossings on new/re-opened lines. A tram link could give a greater penetration of the community and thus eliminate the need for a big car park at the station. Smaller car parks at tram stops and people are more likely to walk a 100 yards to a tram stop but not a mile or two to a railway station.

[Red Squirrel]

...perhaps requiring a level crossing at the former South Leigh station (are those still allowed?).

As we can see from the Portishead precedent, no they aren't! Here and elsewhere along the route any former crossings would need to be replaced with bridges, or closed. That's the nature of, er, 21st-century technology.

[Reading General]

Tram would probably be better as frequency would be much higher, however more track would be required to give it a reasonable frequency and it's less likely funding would be available for such a project. Tram-train is possible but would require space at Oxford rail station for lower platforms to permit through running. Running into the centre of Oxford on street would be even better but even less likely to get funding with current attitudes. Oxford is a great candidate for tram and tram train operation with all the available track bed in the area and mentioned expanded villages and, if it was on mainland Europe, would probably have it by now. You could have tram/tram trains running to Witney, Woodstock via Kidlington, Thame via Cowley, Abingdon, Didcot and possibly Bicester. That would make a nice three crosstown line system. I'm a dreamer though.

I personally think it is rather ridiculous to not be able to trust the public with new level crossings, certainly on quiet rural roads. I guess we are no longer responsible for our own actions or safety.

[didcotdean]

The Didcot Garden Town Plan includes proposals for a 'Garden Line' for public transport between Culham and Harwell through Didcot, repurposing some existing corridors, plus running through currently open countryside although to reach Culham would also need bridging the Thames. Unfortunately it only refers nebulously to 'autonomous vehicles' without even suggesting what these could be. The route would be shared with a cycle / walkway but I am not convinced there is enough width available in the corridor in parts of Didcot for both without one needing to be elevated, probably the vehicle one. Plus it might find particular difficulty in the space to the north of the main line where if elevated this would pass close to houses on the first floor level.

[Red Squirrel]

I'm a dreamer though.

You may say you're a dreamer - but you're not the only one...

[Richard Fairhurst]

I've had a look on the Ordnance Survey map and the original route as far as the edge of urban development at Witney is fairly straightforward. The landscape is flat and the bridge under the A40 is still available to use and other road crossing points are minimal, perhaps requiring a level crossing at the former South Leigh station (are those still allowed?). The biggest barrier is the trackbed has become the bypass at Eynsham but, with greenery either side of the road, the rail route could run parallel requiring possibly one house to be demolished. There are also industrial units near the path but with a clever bit of access road shifting the line could run through a gap between them. This all seems to be really simple to me.

Exactly that. You'd have to tread carefully at Eynsham to avoid affecting the site of Eynsham Abbey (which is a Scheduled Ancient Monument), and I suspect you may end up demolishing one of the industrial units and possibly closing Station Road to through traffic, but it's nothing too complex. Otherwise the route is unobstructed as far as the A40 at Witney, where you'd stay south of the road and terminate at Ducklington.

At South Leigh it might be easiest to divert slightly to make room to put a bridge in - or just stop up the road, to be honest. The old bridge is still standing at Tar Lane.

The platform time appears to be available at Oxford to run a through service from the Cowley branch or Didcot Parkway, both near major places of work, so this should take a fair bit of local traffic off the roads and create an Oxford Crossrail or metro type arrangement.

Electrify it from the off and send some Oxford terminators up there - either 387s or the IETs^▸ (Intercity Express Train) which aren't continuing up the Cotswold Line. If you're reopening to Witney you wouldn't need the North Cotswold Line Taskforce's nutso scheme to have 4 tph to Hanborough, after all.

[grahame]

Looking to get an idea of this suggestion ... added the old trackbed onto a map (red as far out as Witney and blue beyond).



I have - but a long time ago - had a number of memorably long holdups on the A40 just west of Oxford and I know it's a road to avoid at all costs.   As (!!) is driving in and out of the centre of Oxford.  Don't know about the new traffics it would develop as London dormitories, but a good service from a significant park at ride at Ducklington would, surely, help improve the commute of many from quite a wide catchment.

Sometimes my mind wanders ... and I was thinking of themed tickets from DUCKlington to SWANley ...