Oxford station - facilities, improvements, parking, incidents and events - merged posts

[whole diary]

[Noggin]

Fills you full of confidence? No doubt traders and residents in west Oxford similarly.

But it's back to the point above - 19-odd contractors for Keir to wrangle, all running services like water, power, sewerage, gas and Internet that people are presumably quite fond of.

And when that's done, there's all the rest of the work for the bridge replacement, not to mention the replacement itself, which will need to be planned a long way in advance. 

And after one missed deadline, are you surprised if NR^» (Network Rail - home page) are somewhat reticent to commit to a time.

To be honest I really can't see what a Government Minister can do to speed things up, other than guarantee the budget or mucking things up by robbing resources from other projects? 

[ray951]

The footbridge across Botley Road that links the car park to the station is being removed over the weekend of 7th and 8th December.

https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/24759905.botley-road-footbridge-will-removed-weekend/

Do we know whether there is a replacement in the plans?

[ChrisB]

There is - but nothing to say when. The new bridge might be wider than the current one too.

Marshals will be present to manage the area and direct people via the Osney Lane footbridge as an alternative route during these closures.

For those who need assistance, there will be a transport service available from Becket Street and Mill Street which will run throughout that night shift, between 10pm and 8am.

Well, I wouldn't walk down to that overbridge in the dark, for sure.

[ChrisB]

From This Is Oxfordshire

Traders will stage Botley Road protest on key Oxford date

Businesses in Oxford are planning a protest to coincide with a visit from rail minister Lord Hendy next month as politicians and traders call for urgent action on the reopening on Botley Road.

Lord Hendy has been warned he will "be walking into trouble if he comes to Oxford empty-handed" as traders demand clarity on when the works will be completed after months of uncertainty.

There have been repeated delays with a £161m scheme to improve the rail station which led to the closure of the key city route at the rail bridge in April last year.

In July, Network Rail said a series of delays with the scheme meant they would not be able to reopen Botley Road as planned in October.

The rail company said a review of the entire project would be conducted in conjunction with contractors Kier and the Department for Transport.

Now Lord Hendy has told Oxford West and Abingdon MP^▸ (Member of Parliament) Layla Moran in a meeting that he will visit the city in January to provide an update on the work schedule.

Meanwhile, traders who say their businesses have been harmed by the closure of Botley Road are planning to lobby the minister.

Amanda Suliman-Bell, of Rainbow & Spoon boutique, complained earlier this year that footfall at her shop fell 90 per cent when Network Rail rerouted a walkway, taking customers to the opposite side of Frideswide Square.

Speaking this week, she said: "We were planning a protest in the square for January 11 but when we know the date of Lord Hendy's visit we will coincide it with that so it has more impact.

"It's not just me - shops and businesses across west Oxford and other parts of the city have been badly affected by the Botley Road closure.

"When Lord Hendy visits I expect him to say something concrete and provide a finish date for the project and a date for the reopening of Botley Road."

Julian Le Vay, of residents' group West Oxford Access, has been collecting statements from businesses, and residents with mobility issues, which are being compiled in a book to be published in advance of Lord Hendy's visit.

Mr Le Vay said: "Lord Hendy will be walking into trouble if he comes here empty-handed.

"We don't want just another Network Rail plan - we want the minister to ensure dates are met for the reopening of Botley Road, we want compensation for businesses, and we want an inquiry."

On Tuesday, Ms Moran met Lord Hendy and Network Rail CEO^▸ (Chief Executive Officer) Andrew Haines to discuss the redevelopment of Oxford station and the ongoing closure of Botley Road.

Local business owners report they are experiencing up to a 60 per cent drop in income, she said.

She added that Network Rail apologised in the meeting for their mismanagement of the project.

The rail company has been faced with numerous hold-ups, including the discovery of a Victorian arch under the road, as well as difficulties diverting utility cables.

Ms Moran said she pressed those present on the issues facing local businesses, accessibility for those with mobility issues, and the anger and frustration of all local residents.

The minister confirmed the government’s commitment the project, and assured her he would travel to Oxford in January to meet with key stakeholders and provide a timeline for the works going forwards.

Ms Moran said following the meeting: "The main message from Network Rail and the Minister was 'sorry'. But frankly that is the least they could say.

"Our local community has endured this serious disruption for far too long, and the end is not yet in sight.

“I am pleased Network Rail are acknowledging their failings, and reiterated their commitment to the project."

The MP added: "I pressed hard on the need for support for local businesses, many of whom are struggling and some of whom have already gone under.

"With the second Christmas of disruption fast approaching, extra support is sorely needed.

“Network Rail have demonstrated utterly shambolic project management from start to finish, and residents have lost all faith in them to deliver this project.

"It is up to them now to convince our community they have a credible plan to get this project finished."

Oxfordshire county councillor John Howson said improvements at Oxford station, particularly the creation of a new platform, were vital for East West Rail connections, with trains due to start running between Oxford and Milton Keynes by 2025.

He added: "The pressure is on for the Department for Transport, which has a whole raft of half-finished rail schemes and a Chancellor saying' I need to cut back public expenditure'."

In September, Lord Hendy wrote to council leaders in Oxford to say he was "acutely aware" of the disruption caused by the Botley Road closure.

He assured the councils his officials would "press Network Rail closely as it continues to produce a robust plan for completion of the Botley Road bridge works and the wider Oxford station enhancement project".

The Department for Transport said it was too soon to confirm Lord Hendy's visit.

[ChrisB]

From the Oxford Mail

Minister and rail boss to visit Oxford road shut since 2023

The Rail Minister and boss of Network Rail will face angry traders when they visit Oxford's Botley Road later this month.

It is now over 600 days since the main route into Oxford was closed in April 2023 for a £161m scheme to upgrade Oxford rail station.

Last year a completion date was given of October but that has since been postponed indefinitely due to complex pipework. Work was previously waylaid by the discovery of a historic arch.

Oxford MP^▸ (Member of Parliament) Layla Moran has confirmed that Lord Hendy and Network Rail CEO^▸ (Chief Executive Officer) Andrew Haines will come to Oxford on January 25.

Businesses have already said they are planning a protest to coincide with the visit.

Ms Moran, MP for Oxford West, who had a meeting with the pair in December, said they told her the latest hold up was caused by Thames Water.

"I mean, we really do have a Mexican stand-off of incompetence here," she said.

“What’s happened was Thames Water took 18 months to get back to them to do these exploratory works for the piping. It wasn’t just the rail arch that was the problem.

"They also found that the re-routing of the water and sewage and all that was going to be more complex – fine. But it then took Thames Water a long, long time to come back and start to do that work.

“They have been doing that work over the Christmas break. They are now analysing it, and I was told that on the 25th by then, if not before, we should have a final, definitive completion date."

But she told BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) Radio Oxford: "I mean you know, those sighing at the radio saying, we’ve heard that before, I completely agree with them. We’ve just got to keep the pressure up.”

She said she wanted them to meet businesses and residents to "hear from the people who have been so badly affected by this, what it has done to them, their day to day lives, their livelihoods."

She said she did have some sympathy as it is a very complex project, involving several different firms, and she welcomed improvements on the railway especially as the scheme is a key part of East West Rail.

"We want East West Rail – we want it electrified, that’s a separate campaign – but that’s good for the country, it’s good for Oxford, it’s good for our local economy and it’s good for the station.

“No one, even those worse affected, no one is saying we shouldn’t have done this," she said.

But she added: "I think there is now an acknowledgement that it has been mismanaged.

"And in fact in the meeting we had together Network Rail basically admitted they’d not really done a project like this before.

“They’d cut a few corners at the beginning and not done the exploratory works, hoping that would save time.

"Well, anyone who’s done any massive construction project knows well, you do your exploratory work before you begin so you then come up with a plan that’s actually going to be able to be executed.

“They didn’t do that and they didn’t appreciate the complexity right from the off.

"But that was because they chose not to do those works that would have told them that in order, perhaps, to save money and time.

“So there’s lessons learned everywhere – the main one being from Network Rail’s point of view that they probably shouldn’t have taken on the project themselves.

"It should have been escalated and perhaps managed by the Department [of Transport] directly."

She said there has been "some movement in our discussions" about various aspects of the project.

To give "a hint of the complexity" she said: "In order to get this done at some point they are going to have to shut all rail services that go along that line. Now that’s a really key line, not just for passengers but also for freight.

"In order to achieve that normally it takes months and months and months of planning. What they’ve assured is that when they have to do that closure they are going to expedite it, and that that is going to be absolutely prioritised – which was not the case before.

"Before they were trying to fit it in with everything else.

“They are trying.”

Network Rail said it is continuing to meet businesses and has been running a campaign to support them.

[ellendune]

“So there’s lessons learned everywhere – the main one being from Network Rail’s point of view that they probably shouldn’t have taken on the project themselves.

"It should have been escalated and perhaps managed by the Department [of Transport] directly."

I do not believe in starting until all the investigation is done, but with DfT^» (Department for Transport - about)'s expertise in managing major engineering projects (so far as I am aware they have none) that would have been an absolute disaster. 

I said at the beginning that they should have constructed a service tunnel under the old level crossing and diverted all the services through that before they started.