Great Western Coffee Shop

From the FGW press release:

Excellent - just what was needed, the local MP! ::)

The car park extension is very badly needed.

rgds
Rob

6 additional services?

Yes, when you count the trains that now stop but prior to track dualling wizzed through the station non-stop - even more at Hanborough for the same reason

But until a few years ago some of those very same trains used to stop! They were mostly trains going against the main flow in the morning.

From The Oxford Times (http://www.oxfordtimes.co.uk/news/yourtown/witney/9676358.Work_to_start_on_station_car_park_expansion/):

Great news that it's being done so soon - I had feared it would have been completed much nearer the deadline of March 2014.  Hopefully Pershore won't be far behind, and the double-positives of extra spaces and more comfortable trains can be delivered at roughly the same time.  And great news regarding Hanborough, too.  Fingers crossed that it gets the go-ahead.  I'm assuming 'Charlbury' should read 'Hanborough' in the last sentence of that article?

Cough ... it's not for me to question a journalist on The Oxford Times ...  :P ::) ;D

Looks like the new car park at Hanborough is getting very close to getting the nod:

http://www.witneygazette.co.uk/news/9705225.Soaring_demand_fuels_station_car_park_plan/ (http://www.witneygazette.co.uk/news/9705225.Soaring_demand_fuels_station_car_park_plan/)

Hanborough has now got the go-ahead for 191 new spaces in the latest round of approved schemes from the Station Improvement Fund.  FANTASTIC news and coming alongside improvements already announced at Charlbury and Pershore this will really allow the winner of the Greater Western franchise to grow their business along the Cotswold Line with the prospect of faster services and new trains only a few years away.  Watch commuters flock to Hanborough now that there will be parking spaces available after 7am!

Other stations within FGW land to benefit from the announcement are Cheltenham Spa (67 new spaces) and Farnborough Main - not a FGW station, but there is one their too (243 spaces).

http://www.networkrailmediacentre.co.uk/Press-Releases/PASSENGERS-SET-TO-BENEFIT-AS-TEN-MORE-STATIONS-SECURE-SHARE-OF-100M-IMPROVEMENT-FUND-1aa6/SearchCategoryID-2.aspx (http://www.networkrailmediacentre.co.uk/Press-Releases/PASSENGERS-SET-TO-BENEFIT-AS-TEN-MORE-STATIONS-SECURE-SHARE-OF-100M-IMPROVEMENT-FUND-1aa6/SearchCategoryID-2.aspx)

So more trains stopping at Hanborough = faster services? If the new franchise holder wants to grow passenger numbers as a long distance service then they need to speed it up!

Potentially, yes.  After all, with only three daily trains not stopping at Hanborough currently (of which only one could be described as a commuter service) they can't really add any more Cotswold Line stops than there already are, can they?!

The prospect of faster services from Worcester (unlocking the potential growth there even more) comes from four potential improvements:

1)  A recast of the timetable to ensure that much of the unnecessary pathing allowances are removed = potentially faster journey times from Worcester.
2)  The new IEP (or whatever it eventually turns into) with better acceleration and better station dwell times than HSTs = potentially faster journey times from Worcester.
3)  NR are studying what can be done to increase the ruling linespeed for much of the route = potentially faster journey times from Worcester.

and now you can add...

4) With more parking at the eastern end of the line, and better infrastructure, there then becomes more of a possibility that an increased service frequency will be needed/financially viable.  It's possible that more trains will run at the eastern end of the line and that might, just might, mean that Hanborough stops can be cut from some of the longer distance trains, yet still having a better service than now. 

Faster services from Worcester are very much in the pipeline.  You might need to be patient, that's all.   ;)

An article on the Hanborough car park expansion, including a plan of where the spaces will be and access points for pedestrians.  Looks like there'll be a extra cycle shelter and designated disabled spaces too.

http://www.witneygazette.co.uk/news/9815009.Planning_consent_sought_for_Hanborough_station_car_park_extension/ (http://www.witneygazette.co.uk/news/9815009.Planning_consent_sought_for_Hanborough_station_car_park_extension/)

Note to mods - any chance of altering the thread topic to mention Hanborough as well?

Done!

Hi II,

This surely reinforces a discussion on another thread that they should have redoubled Honeybourne - beyond Pershore and Moreton - beyond Hanborough rather than Moreton - Honeyborne, ensuring both stations are on double track rather than stopping on single line. Particularly at the eastern end where there is very significant latent potential.

For anyone interested, the planning application documents can be viewed at: :
http://planning.westoxon.gov.uk/documentviewer/documentslist.aspx?PK=851053&APPNUMBER=12/1082/P/FP

As the Hanborough Parish public Transport Representative I am asking the parish council to make the following commnets in its submission to the planning authority:

In principle I fully support the application as these additional car parking facilities are so desperately needed, not just by existing rail users but also as a means to help relieve (in a very modest way) the A40 peak hour congestion in West Oxon. It will attract more users to Hanborough station and thus add to the volume of traffic using the A4095 through Long Hanborough and will I suspect attract some adverse comments because of that. However there is currently a very strong road safety problem with the current up to 60 or so vehicles manoeuvring to park on the A4095 grass verges so the additional off-street parking facilities should provide an offsetting environmental improvement. The number of additional vehicle movements will, in my view, form only a very small proportion of the total movements  at peak hours.
 
Looking at the plans I note that in fact the application is not just confined to the proposed new car park. Changes to parking arrangements will be made in the existing car park so I would like to point out some problems there that should be dealt with as part of this application.
 
Although a significant number of the new parking spaces will be occupied by existing rail users displaced from the A4095 grass verges, the availability of additional vehicle parking facilities will without doubt attract more users to Hanborough station. At present there is one small waiting shelter on the platform (also financed substantially from County Council funds) that can accommodate about a dozen people in inclement weather conditions. Currently at peak hours, many people waiting for their train cannot get into the shelter. With more rail users this problem can only get worse. It should be noted that Pershore station on the Worcestershire section of the Cotswold Line has two shelters but at the last official user count (2010/11) attracted only 56% of the rail users compared to Hanborough (67230 at Pershore and 119210 at Hanborough). I believe that a planning condition requiring the installation of an additional shelter should be imposed.
 
Finally, I have been given to understand that the project^s budget includes financial provision for the introduction of on street parking controls that will presumably mean yellow lines. This will be an essential measure because as parking charges will be imposed for all of the new and existing parking facilities, without on-street parking controls, there would be reluctance among many rail users to pay for car parking and the parking on the grass verges would be worsened. The application seems to make no mention of this factor and therefore a condition should be imposed in any planning consent clarifying a requirement for appropriate off-street parking controls to be introduced.

I think we'll just have to accept they didn't do that and move on!   ;)   Though, hopefully, continued increase in custom will make the case for the two final sections to be redoubled sooner rather than later, and the resignalling schemes at Oxford and Worcester will then make those sections more affordable as the new infrastructure will be accommodated by the TVSC at Didcot.  If I was a betting man, I'd say the Wolvercote to Charlbury section will be redoubled within 10 years, with Pershore to Norton Jn. dragging its heels and getting done some time in the late 2020s.


Some very sensible comments, too.  The waiting shelter is indeed in need of expansion, perhaps keep it, but provide another one like those installed at Honeybourne to double the sheltered space on the platform?  There is room for that.

I hadn't realised that car parking charges would then be applied, though of course that would make sense.  Let's hope they're kept at reasonable rates to avoid the parking control problems you mention.

These grants are made on the proviso that the projects are money-generating

With regard to redoubling the sections from Wolvercot and Norton the problem has been the lack of signalling capacity at each end of the line. It must wait for that to be provided before any such work could procede and then only when there is a commercial case.

T
he gw rus included an aspiration for the Wolvercot to Charlbury section to be redoubled.

Earliest this could be done is during the Oxford resignalling that must come with electrification. This project will also relocate this signalling to Didcot.

Oxford resignalling is less than 3 years away.  I very much doubt it will be anywhere near that quick, but will hopefully feature as a project in the CP6 years 2019-2024.   The 'Oxford Corridor' enhancement plan will hopefully get the go-ahead next week though to complement the electrification scheme.

Very good response. (As the newly appointed Charlbury PTR I was wondering whether I'd see you at the most recent meeting but I gather you weren't there!)

On this point:


With my Sustrans ranger hat on, we would very much like to see the Witney-Hanborough roadside cycle path extended as far as the A44 - providing a safe route to the station from Woodstock and Bladon, and thereby taking some traffic off the road. As you probably know this was planned back in LTP1 days, but the money ran out at Hanborough. There's a lot of support in Bladon for the idea and it would be terrific if Hanborough were to echo it.

With regard to RF's comments, I had intended to be there, as I usually am, but old age creeps one and I simply forgot on the day with other things on my mind. Yes - the cycle track was originally intended to go all the way from Witney to Woodstock and as you say the money ran out, partly because the scheme was so badly designed that much of it had to be rebuilt through Hanborough. They forgot that with homes adjacent to the track, raising the level caused flooding to homes and the chicane near the rail nstation was completely rebuilt because they forget to put a camber in!. Although Bladon was supportive of the scheme, there were so many objections from Bladon residents, particularly on the narrow road section, that, I think, it gave the county officers the opportunity to abandon it when the money ran out. The most dangerous part for cyclists is, in my opinion, the absence of any path on the North Leigh by-pass where vehicles often go way beyond the 50 mph limit.

From the Oxford Mail (http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/yourtown/witney/9828011.Station_car_park_extension_work_running_on_time/):

Here's a couple of views showing the progress on the car park expansion at Charlbury.

(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8294/7739427914_22ac7b3296.jpg)

(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8286/7739425304_23c435fdbd.jpg)

The planning application for the redevelopment of the Hewden Plant Hire site (that backs onto Hanborough Station) into a 191 space station car park was approved by West Oxon D.C. Uplands Planning Sub-Committee last Monday, 3, September.
Teresa Ceesay, the ever energetic Cotswold Line Manager said on 5 September:
Great new i have been today out with Peter from our part of the property dept  that deals with the new car developments ,talking to the BMW garage manager and the also the couple that run the nursery on the other side of the new car  park area , we then went down to the bus museum and had a chat with them, All around the vibes are really positive ,we will be visiting them again in a few weeks time once the plans to start clearing the site.

Do we have rough start/finish construction dates for the new car parks at Pershore and Hanborough?

Re Hanborough Car Park extension, site clearance work starts this week according to Teresa, CL Stations Manager for FGW with construction work to start soon after.

I heard this today re Hanborough Car Park:

FGW^s Project Manager states that the Hanborough project is still out to tender and a contractor is still to be appointed.  However, FGW are confident of starting work on Monday 1st October and aim to have the car park completed by 21st December 2012.

Good stuff.  I know the expansion schemes at Hanborough and Pershore (and Radley, Langley, Pangbourne, Kemble and Cheltenham Spa) need to be completed by March 2014, but the sooner the better!

I will believe that 21 December date for Hanborough car park extension when I see it. However portable lighting has been reported as having been located in the new car park site this week. I cannot confirm this myself however.

Me too!  How's Charlbury getting along?  That was supposed to be finished 'by September', though there was still a lot of work to do when I last saw it a couple of weeks ago.  Not that I'm grumbling too much though as these improvements are to be welcomed and if we have to wait a month or two then so be it.

Had a look at Charlbury work last night, surfacing mostly done, lighting still to be installed at top of poles, road markings done. Should be ready early October?

It appears that Charlbury car park is almost ready for use - I think that the original target date was 1st October.  On Thursday 27th September lighting was being installed, roadways were being marked out and the embankments were being landscaped with topsoil - see photo below.

(http://www.clpg.co.uk/CBY Car Park Ext 27 09 12.jpg)

On 28th September, the lights were in use, the car park spaces had been marked out and ticket machines installed.  Only some minor finishing touches appeared to be outstanding.

My understanding is that the contractors should be moving on to Hanborough when Charlbury is complete. However, that is not certain.

But, what is happening along the line at Pershore, where a similar car park extension is planned for this year?

Wow, the work at Charlbury has come along at a pace over the last few weeks.  I'll be interested to hear how full it gets on an average day.

Pershore (as with the other schemes) has to be complete by April 2014 to be eligible for the funding, so there's plenty of time.  Perhaps further legal wranglings over the land dispute will put it back further towards that deadline?

Although a few minor jobs remain to be completed, the car park extension at Charlbury came into use this morning. 

See also today's Oxford Mail:
Parking spaces doubled for commuters

2:00pm Wednesday 3rd October 2012 in News
Chief engineer Frederico Rusailh alongside the bays Buy this photo ^ Chief engineer Frederico Rusailh alongside the bays

WORK to double the number of car park spaces for commuters at Charlbury Station is almost complete.

First Great Western (FGW) has spent ^470,000 to add 75 spaces on land between the station approach road and the B4437 to Burford.

A large part of the car park opened yesterday but disabled spaces and some finishing touches are still to be completed.

Meanwhile, the company said a ^400,000 project to create 191 spaces at Hanborough Station to almost quadruple the existing number will start ^relatively swiftly^ but did not set a date.

FGW spokesman Dan Panes said: ^The passenger growth in and around these station in the past five years has been significant and in order for us to make sure these stations are equipped for growth in years to come it is quite clear we need to make the investment we are making to make it easier to park for our customers and hopefully attract more customers to the railway.^

The new car park at Charlbury was officially opened this morning by the Prime Minister and local Witney MP, David Cameron.

He was warmly welcomed by Mark Hopwood from FGW, and both gave a short speech before unveiling a plaque.  They were joined by local people and representatives from Network Rail, Department for Transport and Oxfordshire County Council - who all contributed funding.  Also present were members of the Cotswold Line Promotion Group.  The choir from Charlbury Primary School sang to keep everyone entertained.

The car park provides an extra 77 parking spaces, more disabled parking bays and extra cycle and motorcycle parking areas.  Here are some photographs of the event:

(http://i1149.photobucket.com/albums/o599/saundersadrian/photo1.jpg)  (http://i1149.photobucket.com/albums/o599/saundersadrian/photo2.jpg)  

(http://i1149.photobucket.com/albums/o599/saundersadrian/photo3.jpg)  (http://i1149.photobucket.com/albums/o599/saundersadrian/photo5.jpg)

(http://i1149.photobucket.com/albums/o599/saundersadrian/photo4.jpg)

I see the PM has found a new platform for his views - or is that a view of a new platform?

...in one of the few towns in the constituency that consistently doesn't vote for him. ;)

Is that a fact or a supposition? I didn't think votes were published other than at  constituency level. But even if you're correct, a good MP represents all his constituents, not just those who may have voted for him/her.

Either way, it doesn't seem to have made much of a dent in his majority of 22,740 at the last general election.  ;)

Meanwhile, there does not seem to be much sign of a start to the new 191 space car park at Hanborough that, from announcements made last month, should have started on 1 October with an opening date of 21 December.

Oh, absolutely, and David Cameron is certainly a good constituency MP - as when he hauled FGW into the Corner House in Charlbury to say "the trains are always late and my constituents are angry; what are you going to do about it?". He's a regular fixture at events in the constituency, more so, I believe, than Tony Blair ever was.

But traditionally, Charlbury has always been the little patch of yellow in the sea of blue that is West Oxfordshire, both at District Council level and in the responses received to door-to-door canvassing at General Election time. The 2001 and 2005 LibDem candidates were both from Charlbury (one is now our District Councillor).

There's a lovely quote attributed to Cameron at a Charlbury event a couple of years ago. I forget the exact words, but it was something like: "I love coming to Charlbury, because I can be flavour of the month at Westminster and everyone tells me I'm doing everything right, then I come back to Charlbury and everyone tells me I know nothing and am doing everything wrong."

So, analogous of the government as a whole then?  ;) ;D

I think that the official capacity of the car park extension at Charlbury is 75 and, on Thursday 25th October, I counted 64 cars parked there, with the rest of the car park full.  It is not true to say that the car parking capacity has increased by this amount, however, as the original car park has been reorganised to provide about 15 fewer normal spaces.  This has involved:

8 disabled spaces being created instead of the former 3.  In effect this takes up about 11 normal spaces.  On my last two visits to the station, none of these disabled spaces was in use.

Nose to tail parking has replaced side by side on one part to widen access to the extension.

A cycle shelter has been installed taking up about 2 spaces.

A catering van has been moved and now, in effect, occupies 2 spaces, instead of 1.

Nevertheless, around 50 additional cars were being accommodated on 25th October, which is amazing, considering that the car park has only been open for just over 3 weeks.  If growth continues like this, it will not be long before the "Car Park Full" notice has to be displayed again.

I'm not sure what the exact circumstances are in terms of requirement by law, but I believe the number of disabled car parking spaces has to be 6% of the total allocated in new car parks- which has always seemed very high to me.  When Hanborough is completed the number of disabled spaces will be 12, which completely takes up the area in front of the station.  Chiltern's plans for Water Eaton Parkway incorporate a massive 50 disabled bays which take up a large part of the parking near where the entrance to the platforms will be.

As you say, I rarely see them anywhere near full, and often completely empty!

If you can trust what you read online:
2 spaces up to car parks with 34 spaces
then 6% of car parking spaces (not 6% of the car park space) up to a total of 200 spaces
then 4% of car parking spaces if the car park is larger

I also read that only 1.4% of the population is registered disabled. I'm sure the intent is that they can get spaces even when the place is full for other parkers.  However, the metrics of travel will differ for the disabled, meaning that there will be some places they naturally go, and others they won't so I expect that the requirement as it's rawly set out leads to the sights we see at times of loads of empty spaces.  I would love to know what percentage of train commuters into Paddington who park at stations are registered disabled.  On the other hand, an able bodied person can park in a disabled bay if accompanying a disabled person, so that will tilt the balance the other way. It probably is correct to balance the parking so that the final disabled bay is usually the last to fill ... but these things can sometimes go too far


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1252452/Revealed-Why-disabled-bays-stay-empty.html

From the First Great Western press release:

re Hanborough new car park, legal problems have delayed a contract start date, originally said to be 1 October with a completion date of 21 December. However I understand that there is to be a site meeting on 11 November at Hanborough station when perhaps better information on the progress of this needed investment may become available.

Thanks for the update, Andrew.  Keep us informed of any developments you hear.

There's a snippet in the latest RAIL magazine, saying that Alex James, of Blur fame, has said they can use some of his land as an overflow car park at Kingham.  Do any of our CLPG members know anything about that?  Such as where this land is - is it the adjacent land to the car park, part of the former goods yard I assume, or the other side of the road?  I've noticed Kingham, which always used to have a dozen or so spaces available in the far corner, is now getting busier and if growth continues it will soon be a common problem finding a space. 

With the station miles from anywhere (including Kingham itself!) and with little opportunity to park alongside the B4450 that serves the station as it has very narrow verges, it's important that spaces are available to accommodate growth.

There was a piece recently in the Newsquest papers: http://www.cotswoldjournal.co.uk/news/10020540.Rock_star_solution_to_railway_parking_/

Thanks for that, Richard.

The painting of double-yellow lines might partly explain why the car park looks fuller than ever these days, as those looking to escape from the car park charges would have headed there.  If that's no longer an option then it wouldn't take long to fill up the spare capacity.  From my observations I never used to see the car park completely full (unlike that article claims) up until about the time those yellow lines were painted, but extra capacity (at the same charge as the main car park) without freeloaders endangering themselves and others by parking on verges would be very good to see.

Car parking is becoming a real problem on the Cotswold Line.

On Thursday 22nd November, I travelled to Worcester and noted that Charlbury car park was absolutely full (including the 75 spaces on the recently opened extension), Kingham was absolutely full, as was Pershore.  Just one space was vacant at Honeybourne and, no doubt Hanborough was full as well.  In fact, it was the second time in 3 days that Charlbury's extension was full. There was some space available at Moreton-in-Marsh and Evesham.

Hanborough New Car Park - latest report on progress:
Site clearance was expected to be undertaken during September with a construction start in October. However several problems have arisen. First it was reported that unforeseen legal problems had arisen that prevented a start. The latest report I have received is that unforeseen levels of asbestos have been found in the existing buildings on the site that have to be demolished. This probably means that a specialist contractor will have to be engaged to deal with the removal of the asbestos before full scale construction can start.

Hanborough new car park - latest report. I understand that work is now scheduled to start on 8 January 2013 - but don't hold your breath as we all know how the railways usually work on non urgent projects.

From the Witney Gazette (http://www.witneygazette.co.uk/news/10217761._/?):

I called in at Pershore station the other day it was quite busy, I was thinking how good it would be if the twin track could be extended to just west of Pershore station and rebuild the second platform and extend them both to take six car trains plus a new foot bridge, as was done at Charlbury and Honeybourne stations! Perhaps network rail could consider this in there future spending spree for the cotswold line !!

Work is proceeding well on the new Hanborough Station car park. I have prepared an item for local circulation in the parish magazine, Hanborough Herald, that other Cotswold Line members of this forum may like to read:
Hanborough Station Car ParK:
The construction of Hanborough Station's new 191 space car park is now nearing completion and it is hoped will be available for use from June. There will be a short cut from the new car park by way of a ramp from the rear of the car park down to the station platform. However this will not be completed in time for the opening of the car park so users will have to walk back along Main Road and down to the station by the existing drive until the short cut has been completed. The vehicular entrance will be from Main Road between the Daffodil Nursery and the North Oxford garage.
The car park is costing over ^400,000 to construct on land for which a ground rent also has to be paid. The funding for this project has come from a fund for revenue generating projects so it will be necessary to impose parking charges for the first time. The level of charges has been fixed at less than the normal rate imposed at other Cotswold Line stations and much lower than for charges at Oxford station and stations beyond towards London. The charges will be ^3.00 a day but for vehicular arrivals after 10.00 am will be ^1.80. The facility to pay by phone will also be available and for those people who choose this method of payment (the choice preferred by many people) , the all day parking charge will fall to ^2.70. It should however be noted that mobile phone coverage in the station area is very variable depending on your network. There will however be pay machines located in the car parks. There will be a short term free "Set Down & Pickup" facility also available for people being brought to the station in a vehicle not staying.
The new car park will remove the need for people to park outside the station precincts as there should be plenty of room for all rail users including more spaces reserved for blue badge holders. However there would inevitably be a number of  existing rail users who would be reluctant to pay for car parking after having free parking until now and seek to park elsewhere on the public highway around the station causing an increase in the already current significant traffic congestion. Parking controls will therefore be introduced along Main Road and in the nearby Lodge Road (Hanborough Business Park) to prevent highway parking. These controls will apply not just to the carriageway but also to the adjoining footway and grass verges that have in many areas been completely destroyed by rail users cars. A small number of people have complained  about the introduction of parking charges at the station so I have written an article on the "pros and cons" of the various methods available from Hanborough for commuters travelling regularly to Oxford for work.

Commuting from Hanborough to Oxford - the alternatives considered:
With the introduction of parking charges at Hanborough station car park a number of people have raised objections, particularly those people who use the low rail fare method to travel to Oxford regularly, so here is a comparison of costs with the main alternative methods of such commuting. 
As the benchmark, the rail costs will consist of a daily parking charge of ^3.00 plus the rail fare of ^4.20, i.e. ^7.20. The main "pro" is that the rail journey takes only about 10 minutes each way and is by far the fastest way to travel to central Oxford. However there is a short walk from Oxford station to the centre so that overall journey time is about half an hour. The main "con" is that rail services off peak are no more than hourly although there are 6 train departures towards Oxford and London before 09.00 on weekdays.
The main lowest cost alternative for car users is to drive to the outskirts of Oxford and use the Park and Ride Car parks and bus service into Oxford. This means adding about ^2.00 of fuel, to the cost calculation. The car park charge is ^2.00 and the bus fare into town is ^2.70 return making a total cost of around ^6.70. The existing Watereaton car park currently has free parking for stays up to 11 hours but charges will be introduced here. However additional indirect costs such as greater wear and tear and maintenance would make the overall cost greater than the rail journey costs. The major "con" of using the Park and Ride is the much longer overall travel time of over an hour at peak travel congestion times. The major "pro" is the flexibility of travel time and higher frequency of bus services into Oxford.
Also to be considered is use of the No. 11 bus service from Hanborough to Oxford. This costs ^5.10 return with the advantage of being able to board the bus in Long or Church Hanborough. The major disadvantage is the long journey times and very infrequent service at peak commuting hours with small low capacity buses incapable of taking a significant number of commuters. In short, not a viable option for regular commuting.
The final major alternative would be driving by car all the way from home to central Oxford. The big advantage is maximum flexibility but this comes at a high cost of at least ^22.30 for an 8 hour plus stay at a city centre car park plus about ^3.00 of fuel. Travel on the roads to Oxford at peak hours is extremely congested and slow so at least one hour each way should be allowed plus longer travel times on frequent occasions. 
There  are various other options that produce differing costs such as when several people travel together but this cuts down on flexibility. The use of season ticket fare reductions for both bus and rail that can produce slightly different comparative costs. Rail travel off-peak is also cheaper with a rail fare of only ^2.90 plus parking charge of ^1.80 making only ^4.70. By using a Cotswold Line rail card (cost ^7.50 a year) an off-peak fare falls to only ^1.90 return,  My conclusion is that commuting by rail from Hanborough to Oxford will remain a very viable "best buy" when all factors are considered and with the new car park providing adequate parking facilities for motorised rail users.

Good to see things moving along with the car park at Hanborough station, lets hope that something can be sorted out at Pershore Station soon.

I took a trip down the Cotswold Line yesterday and noticed that Hanborough's new car park appears to be coming along nicely - though as it's raised up from the level of the platform it's difficult to see too much.  At Charlbury it also looked as if some of the disabled spaces had been removed and replaced with normal parking to create about 10 extra spaces - was I seeing things?  If so, has disabled parking been moved somewhere else or just reduced?  There were comments that there were far too many spaces for disabled parking only.

Further to II's post today, I understand that a possible opening date for use of the new car park is 10 June. However this date has slipped regularly back every few weeks. As II points out the new car park is at a higher level than the actual station area and a ramp has to be built (crossing some of the bus museum currently controlled land) to enable car park users to have only a short walk from their cars to the platform. For reasons not altogether clear (a costs overun has been mentioned) this ramp will not be completed until the end of July (or from the usual rail experience, later). In the mean time car park users will have a 5 to 10 minute walk back from their parked car to the vehicular entrance and then along the public highway to the existing drive.
With regard to disabled parking spaces I am advised that the 10 spaces to be allowed has been fixed according to a national formula based on the total number of spaces being provided. I am further advised that if after a period of 6 months or so and not all of these are found to be used, the number can be reduced to a figure perceived to be adequate. However I do not expect this to happen until growth in use of the station results in all the other new spaces being used thus creating further parking problems. Some of the existing parking along the drive will be reserved for residents of nearby Station Terrace who will find problems in parking in front of their homes because yellow waiting limit lines will be installed on the roads around the station. This will be necessary as a daily ^3.00 all day parking charge will be imposed for the first time and many rail users will object to this and continue to park on the nearby public highway instead of using the new car park to avoid paying. In the area just around the existing platform gate, the existing 2 disabled spaces will be increased to 10 as mentioned above and there will be a short term pickup and set down zone in this area as well. It is understood that enforcement of parking fee payment will be made with the installation of ANPR equipment "Automatic Number Plate Recognition" somewhat similar to that used by the police to track down uninsured and unlicenced vehicles on the highway. Whilst thenumber of spaces in the new car park is said to be 191, the net increase of spaces available to normal rail users will be less for the reasons explained above. However with up to 130 vehicles having been counted currently parking in and around the station, the new car park should be able to accomodate another 60 additional rail users to Hanborough station although we are aware that some people from the Charlbury area now use Hanborough as parking has been free and the fares for eastward travel are lower. Some of these may revert to Charlbury thus possibly increasing parking problems there. We will just have to wait and see!

Although not ideal, as long as the reasons for this (and the fact that it is a temporary arrangement) are clearly explained on posters at the station, then hopefully that won't be too big an issue.


Ah, that explains what has happened at Charlbury then!  The additional half dozen or so spaces there will be very handy.


Radley's new car park is actually less full than before it was extended due to the imposition of parking charges, probably only half full on a typical weekday now, with a mad scramble for legitimate free street parking spaces at the top of the approach road and surrounding streets.  I wonder whether the double-yellow paint truck will be paying a visit there any time soon...  ;)

Hanborough's new car park is now nearing completion with lighting columns being erected yesterday. Apparantly there has been some delay in getting the lanterns that must comply with NR standards and national rural standards that minimise light pollution. The standards look not quite right just now with tempory tiny halogen floodlights on top but these are to be replaced when the correct ones arrive.
Pay and Display machines have now been installed and I understand that APNR (Automatic Number Plate Recognition) equipemnt will not be installed just yet. I suspect that this may have something to do with the fact that the Oxford Bus Museum has access rights of way over the present car park to their premises just east of the station for both members and visitors, (incidentally now well worth a visit for an hour or two since it has been developed with millions of Lottery Heritage funds). However I am not sure how the planning requirement to have a "Spaces/Full" board visible from the outside highway could be made to work without the APNR kit being connected to collect the data.
It looks as though not much more than the necessary notices need to be erected before it can be opened for public use and the highway authority can get on with painting yellow no waiting lines on the surrounding highways

Further update - even more delay in opening!
This project upon which work started last October after a local authority planning consent in early September and with a projected completion date of 21 December 2012 will not now open until July 2013. A project taking 3 times as long as first announced.
The latest delay has arisen because FGW says the funds to complete it have run out. It seems that there was a condition in the original planning consent that some highway improvements had to be done by FGW as project manager (by its contractor) and that the car park cannot be opened for use before this work has been completed even though the car park has been completed for more than a week now and the contractor has departed from the site.
Oxon County Council has now stepped in and will carry out the work at council taxpayers expense. The deputy leader has written to me after I have complained at yet further delay saying:  "We at OCC have bent over backwards to ensure that this project did not get cancelled (it could have happened), and have also put our money where our "mouth" is. The current status quo has operated through dark and dank winters in the past, so let us all accept another month in summertime, and open the car park when all is safely ready. We are doing all we can to do this as soon as possible."
I have heard that this work will take 7 to 10 days starting next Monday with an opening date of either 1st or 8th July. However the county contractor has erected advance notice boards at the site warning of road works to widen the road starting 17 June for 3 weeks. Someone is being optimistic or someone is pessimistic. The reference to road widening suggests that a centre turn right lane will be built for vehicles coming from the west to turn right into the car park and thus avoiding traffic behind held up if the right turning traffic cannot turn right because of on-coming traffic. This is something most sensible as at peak morning times, the road is just one long queue of traffic using the A4095 as a rat run to Oxford or the M40 at Wendlebury for London because the main A40 will be bumper to bumper and stationary for much of the time from the outskirts of Witney to Oxford for 10 miles.

After far too many delays the new Hanborough Car park is now scheduled to open next Monday, 8 July, delayed further by a week from 1 July because the work on the highway (necessary as a planning condition) has not been completed, but don't blame the highway authority. It has picked up this job, and the costs, because FGW said its funds to do the work had run out very blate in the process.
Unfortunately notices were erected at the new and existing car park advising that charges would be impolemented from 1 July so very few rail users were aware of the postponement to 8 July. New parking rules were also to be introduced that would reduce the number of general parking spaces in the existing car park by about half. This has been postponed but no notices have been put up to advise rail users. As a result there has been much confusion with some of the very honest rail users buying season tickets to start from last Monday when the charging regieme will not start until next Monday, Other people parking and putting notes on their car windscreen saying, that the single pay machine is not working and that the phone number shown to be rung for telephone payment is unavailable. All in all - a great deal of traveller confusion. What a way to run a railway!

The pay machine at the existing Hanborough car park has now been unveiled for when charging starts on 8 July. I have tried to attach a photo - njot sure how successful so this is what it states: "Car Parking Charges Monday to Friday before 10.00 am ^3.00" - perfectly Ok. It then goes on to read as "Weekends after 10.00 am and all day Saturday - ^1.80" What does this mean? I think "Weekends" should read "Weekdays" as otherwise there is no indication of a reduced charge for parking after 10.00 on weekdays. It also states "Sundays - Free". I thought Weekends usually included Sunday.
I think the simple answer is that noone at5 APCOA proof read the notice but is very confusing for the casual rail user to read.

Hanborough's new car park seemed to be open today but only 10 or 15 cars actually parked in it ! Meanwhile on the grass verges on the road opposite there was about 20 to 30 cars looking some what abandoned by their owners ! All of which received a Penalty Notice by the looks of things ! Personally I would pay the ^3 in the car park but is this a fair deal ?

There were 5 cars in the new car park this morning ar around 09.15, I am informed that 36 were counted later today.
Yesterday there were some 25 cars on the verges and all received warning notices. This had fallen to about 20 this morning.
The WODC warden will be visiting daily and attaching notices to cars parked on the verges. However parking fines will not start until after 22 July. Unfortunately the start date of fines is mentioned on the warning so it is likely that those cars already parking on the vergewill continue to do so until this date  - not a very good idea to put the date on!
Whereas only few weekis ago I counted around 130 cars parked both in and out of the station, that has now fallen by about 50. Where have they gone to?

Haddenham and Thame Parkway!

More expensive to park there...

Today's observations were that only 4 vehicles were parked on the grass verges outside the station but the number of cars in the new car park had risen to about 50. The freely available spaces in the old car park, now much reduced due mainly to parking on the drive being "resident permit holders only" was almost full. In total I think there are still about 40 - 50 cars fewer in and around the station. A few of these missing cars can now be identified as people from Hanborough itself who formerly drove down early for the London trains and are now either walking, cycling or getting a lift rather than paying the parking fee. The number of blue badge spaces are to be increased from the recently advised 5 to 12, i.e. as quoted in the planning application for which it is understood no variation has been agreed by the planning authority. In the mean time what do the parking boards above the row of spaces along side the platform reading as "Permit Holders Only" No one seems to know any of a number of interpretations could be put on such a vague notice. Just not good! What was good to see was a party of 30+ teachers, parents and schoolchidren arriving at around 09.30 for a train excursion.

Not if there are 3 of them in a car.

When parking was free at Hanborough, 2 people used to park there, get into a third car and drive to Thame Parkway to park for free!

There's some good shade at Haddenham & Thame Parkway in their multi-storey car park.

Interesting this year at Charlbury for the Wilderness festival is there is more room to use for the buses and for the 14,000 festival goers expected with the use of the *Lower* Car Park as 12 months ago this was not available for use to my memory.

Anybody know when the construction of the new walking route from the new car park to the station at Hanborough will commence?

I have passed II's question to FGW as I am receiving the same question from local rail users.

When the car park was officially opened last month I was predicting that it would not be open for use before the end of September. Knowing how long things usually take to actually happen in the railway world, I wouldn't dare predict when it might open!

The new access ramp to the new car park at Hanborough has now opened, so the long walk round is now not necessary.  Quite a neat little design solution it is as well. 

Now for Pershore car park.  Any news on that one anyone?

From the Witney Gazette (http://www.witneygazette.co.uk/news/11100998.Traffic_at_Hanborough_station_jumps_by_25_per_cent_in_one_year/):

Looking forward to the 75% drop after Oxford Parkway opens!!  ;D

Can we drop Kingham from peak HSTs now then? :P

Unless something is done to improve frequency of CL trains I am pretty sure that there will be loss of traffic in West Oxon from the CL to Chiltern. However I do not think it would be as high as 75%.
FGW management is very aware of this possibility and have aspirations for increasing the CL frequency using the Charlbury terminating facilities. However it would involve some investment (that I am not at liberty to mention) and which at present has no finance available to permit such investment. However this will be competition in action and that is what privatisation was supposed to be all about. 

Hopefully FGW will let Oxford Parkway hoover up the commuters and concentrate on improving the service to Worcester by ditching some West Oxon calls.

Hanborough station will be pointless. It will be quicker and cheaper to go via Chiltern. Not to mention more reliable, better rolling stock, etc.

One assumes the cheque is in the post from Chiltern, btline?  :P ;) ;D

As I understand it, Reading has fairly sizeable inward commuting traffic these days. How will Chiltern cater for those passengers from Hanborough heading there?

I have no doubt it will abstract some traffic. But equally I suspect the congested roads around north Oxford will mean that many will prefer a reliable quick journey to a nice small station, particularly for those currently west of Hanborough. I can't imagine too many people from Witney would choose to use it as an example.

Big argument to be had - HSTs ex-Hanborough or 172s ex-Oxford Parkway! There'll be no guarantee of 168s any longer

John R is quite correct.

It is incorrect to compare the travelling time from Hanborough to London with the Oxford Parkway forecast timings.
As I know only too well as I have to travel from Hanborough to Watereaton P & R regularly, at peak hour it can take anything up to an hour to do the 7 miles or so from Hanborough to Watereaton. Those people currently commuting to London on the early morning trains (6.15 & 6.35) should be able to get to Watereaton in 30 minutes or a bit less from Hanborough. However from before 07.00 traffic heading east on the A4095 can be as congested as the the main A40, just crawling. Just 10 days ago it took me 30 minutes to do the 3-4 miles from Hanborough to Woodstock departing at 08.00. The small number of Hanborough users from Woodstock may also be able to get to Watereaton in a shorter time as the distance is less. If one is making the comparison on time I do not think there is likely to be a big loss of traffic at Hanborough especially when the car user will have to add about another ^2 of fuel to the overall cost for the longer journey from West Oxon to Watereaton. However some people will be prepared to accept the aforesaid constraints simply because a 30 minute frequency from Watereaton will give the traveller greater flexibility in travel arrangements to London.

But it won't be. half the time it will be a 166 (which is WORSE than a Chiltern 165) or delayed or cancelled.

Faster journey times, lower fares, more frequent, more reliable, more punctual, more chance of a seat.
Frustrated commuters will switch to Chiltern as they have further up the line.

Some commuters already drive to Banbury or H & Thame Parkway.

The majority of the Weekday service at Hanborough is provide by 180s or HSTs now, and the 180s are now much more reliable. There are only 3 down and 4 up services formed of Turbos on the Cotswold Line Mondays-Fridays now. 3 of those are the Moreton-in-Marsh terminators and the other the morning halts trains. All peak time services to/from London are reliably HSTs.

If the service is so rubbish, and commuters are so frustrated, can you explain how the number of passengers using Hanborough station has risen by over 100% in the last five years (84,000 in 2007/8 to 173,000 in 12/13). And how after 7 years of static numbers to 09/10, Charlbury's E&E have risen steadily over the last three years (232,000 to 272,000). 

I can't see that many people will be going straight to Oxford Parkway. The service has to prove itself first. Also ticket prices and eventual journey times will play a key factor. The type of rolling stock doesn't bother the everyday short distance passenger as long as a train turns up on time and they get a seat.

Hanborough station is proving more and more popular with commuters and leisure passengers alike.Chiltern seem to be making improvements to their DMU fleet and also their loco hauled services. However it doesn't mean that FGW aren't going to with their trains.

When Chiltern start operating from Oxford Parkway I think there will be some current Hanborough traffic lost and that will probably be off-peak traffic when there is less traffic congestion on the roads between West Oxon and Oxford Parkway. Peak hour traffic is far less likely to to move from Hanborough to Oxford Parkway because few people commuting regularly would want to double their overall travel time as it can take almost an hour at peak hours to do the 7 miles from Hanborough to Oxford Parkway. If as BTLine suggest there would be an enormous switch, that traffic congestion would get even worse than it is today.
Ironically, Oxon CC has recently announced a "Connecting Oxfordshire" traffic policy with cost put at ^800M but no indication as to where the money to pay for it would come from (apart from the rail projects that we know about already for which much of the finance would come from Network Rail) and talks about monorail and tramways around Oxford. However apart from a mention of a short link road from west of the A34 Oxford Ring road to connect with the A44 roudabout north of Oxford, nothing is proposed for relieving the current and increasing traffic congestion in West Oxon. This link road would only play at a solution. When the current proposals for 5,000 new homes in Witney and Carterton come into play with a significant proportion of such home occupiers needing to commute on the A40 eastwards and with a much biigger increase in rat runners travelling on the A4095 through Hanborough for Oxford and the M40, it would take even longer to get from West Oxon to Oxford Parkway. Since the local plan proposals for these 5,000 houses another plan has announced that even more houses will be needed in Oxfordshire, (115,000?) by 2030 although some of these homes would be additional to West Oxon, many would expand Oxford into the Green Belt probably filling the current green zone between Oxford and Kidlington and Yarnton resulting in even more road congestion leading to Oxford Parkway.
What a prospect for Oxfordshire. The future is bleak in deed!

Sorry that I didn't reply. Mainly as I disagree and there's no point hashing out the same arguments. Agree to disagree.

To respond to the above - let's just see what happens next year when Oxon Parkway opens.
Pax numbers are shooting up across the board (although higher growth at Chiltern stations) so I'm not surprised that paxs have gone up since the new car parking.

If we all did as you suggest, there wouldn't be much of a *discussion*, would there? This IS a discussion forum, you know. IN othyer words, it's fine to disagree, but back up your opinion with reasons....

Good news parking wise for Cotswold Line passengers as by the beginning of the new franchise FGW aims to have a new car park extension in place at Kingham offering over 100 additional spaces. Further car park extension plans are being developed for Charlbury (30 spaces) and Hanborough (44 spaces).

The area identified for a 44 space expansion at Hanborough can in no way take 44 cars unless they are the very small Smart Cars and not the large BMW/Mercs/Chelsea tractors that tend to predominate in the current Hanborough car park.

Just out of interest, where is the area identified, Andrew?  And also where in Charlbury?

From The Herald (http://www.heraldseries.co.uk/news/13407129.Housing_plan_could_produce_400_more_parking_spaces_for_station/):

There are a number of problems with this proposal. First, and of most concern to residents of Long Hanborough is access to the station. The A4095 (running between Witney and Woodstock) is the access road. However this is already used as a rat run for traffic from West Oxon heading to Oxford and the M40 avoiding the very congested A40. This has resulted in the A4095 itself becoming very congested at peak commuting hours and there is no relief in sight for this over crowding - only increased A4095 congestion.
Secondly, a 150 housing site adjacent to the station would be very attractive for the many London suburban residents seeking to relocate out of London and adjacent areas because of escalating house prices and most would want to use the trains from Hanborough station. These, plus the drivers of the cars in the 400 space car park would find that peak hour Cotswold Line trains to London are so crowded at times that there is no seating available. FGW has made it known that it would like to send more Oxford terminating trains to Hanborough and Charlbury to tap this ever growing market but there is no funding, as far as I know, for the essential infra structure investment. In any case if electrification does eventually get to Oxford, the electric trains terminating at Oxford would not be able to travel on the non-electrified CL line. As usual the whole matter of raail development gets very complex with one unsollved issue preventing the development of another. I could go into more problems but this blog is quite long enough already.

Further to my last post, an exhibition was held at Christ Church by the developers agents into how the 150 home/400 space car park might look.
As usual, only the plus points were displayed with absolutely no mention of the impact on the adjacent A4095 Witney/Woodstock Road and the plans showing a simple T junction. With up to 400 vehicles entering  and leaving plus the home occupiers movements there would be massive obstructions to the free flow of traffic. At peak hours the flow, largets eastwards AM but a steady west bound flow would mean that the 400 cars coming from the west would not easily cross the west bound flow leading to the existing peak hours queues from the west at present stretching back for several miles, coming to an almost complete halt. Traffic lights would be needed and road widening to allow eastbound traffic to slip past traffic queuing to turn right into the new development similar to that required by the highway authority for the recently opened 191 space car park. In addition, the proposed new road access is very near to the A4095 bridge over the railway and due to the hump is blind for views westwards of the bridge. The completely unacceptable danger is not considered by the developers propsals so I think it will be a long time before the 400 space car park appears, if ever.

And to follow up on the most recent station stats, Hanborough trade is still growing at over 20% pa, so hardly pointless.  Up 78% in 3 years, over double in the last 4 years.  So Btline may not rate the service, but clearly some other people do.

Lots more users in the last 18 months.  Let's see what has happened since the opening of Oxford Parkway, and what happens when that links through to Oxford Central.   I expect we'll some some abstraction, but I contend that for the 2016/17 year, Hanborough will still have more passengers per day than Pilning has in a year.

From general observations, I haven't seen much, if any, reduction in the number of users at Hanborough, or indeed Oxford, stations since Oxford Parkway opened.  Will be very interesting to see the next set of usage figures in a year or so from now.

As the CLPG's station rep for Hanborough I try to keep an eye on the rail traffic and talk to rail users.
There has been no discernable loss of Hanborough rail business since Oxford Parkway opened and, if anything traffic has grown as the new park is used Monday to Thursday to maximum capacity with a noticeable increase in cars parked on the highways around the station, although yellow lines do prevent parking immediately close to the station. I think the growth in users since Parkway can be attributed to the major road works on the two A40 roundabouts in North Oxford that has made the A40 congestion worse so that there is now a lot more rat-running to avoid the A40.
With regard to the proposal to build 120 homes adjacent to the station, the WODC Planning Policy Manager has written a very damming 7 page memorandum to the planning officer dealing with the house planning application set to be considered by committee early next year, pointing out the many ways in which the application breaks numerous aspects of local planning policy. This memorandum is too long to be posted here.