Great Western Coffee Shop

I have been given sight of some new signalling plans that show the following listed improvements in the Oxford Area:

1. Full bi-directional signalling between Tackley and Oxford North Junction, with increased permissible linespeeds in reversible direction.

2. Abolition and replacement by overbridges at Sandy Lane and Yarnton Lane AHBC-X level crossings.

3. New high speed crossovers at Oxford North Junction.

4. New Oxford station Platform No.5 (fully reversible platform to rear of exisiting Platform No.4)

5. New stations on the Morris Cowley single line at Oxford Science Park and Oxford Business Park.

6. Extension of existing platforms at Appleford and Culham stations.

There also seem to be some changes proposed to the OLE Neutral Section North of Didcot (perhaps pre-planning for extension of the electrification to Oxford!).

Any target implementation date(s) on these? Within CP6?

Yarnton Lane (aka Sandy Lane) is an interesting case. East of the crossing, there's access to (I think) one house and then it degenerates into a rough track. I'd have thought stopping up the road and putting in a foot/cycle crossing would be the most effective solution here, and probably likely to get permission.


Presumably requiring the long-heralded rebuilding of Botley Road rail bridge, and demolition of the youth hostel?

No idea.  They seem to be for signoff at GRIP4, so possibly a couple of years away yet (this is NR we are talking about, don't forget) ::)

Yarnton Lane replacement is shown as a footbridge only.  Botley Road underbridge is shown as being reconstructed.

I wonder how many bats have managed to colonise the Youth Hostel...

I presume that extending the Down Loop (or whatever it’s called) from Oxford P4 to Wolvercote J was looked at but didn’t wash.  And maybe quadrupling Didcot – Oxford was beyond the scope of this scheme: the layout at the Didcot end would in any case depend on what happens about a Didcot East grade separation scheme.

No bat, but there's famously a boat:

(https://stressymummy.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/The-Dining-Room-at-YHA-Oxford-.jpg)

I don't think that would be justified, as there are 4-tracks fully reversibly signalled from Oxford Station to Oxford North Junction, and two out of four tracks reversibly signalled in the 4-track section from Oxford North Junction to Wolvercote South Junction.  Pleanty of capacity there.

Don’t a majority of passenger services stay on the extended down loop as far as Wolvercote South now, because it’s the faster route?  I think this was mentioned back when it first came into use.

Paul

Fair enough.  I was thinking of the flexibility to bring an up train into P4/P5 from the Worcester line parallel with an up train from Banbury into P3. I accept that is possible with the existing layout, and an additional Down platform would make this kind of move more attractive.  And I think II told us a while ago that there is a bridge in the way if the Down Loop was to be extended to Wolvercote J which would make it expensive.

Shouldn't that be the up loop? That used to run all the way from Wolvercot(e) Junction, while the Down Loop never went that far (it now goes a bit further, past Godstow Road but not the A34). So provided the newer bridges don't block the old formation, a third track ought to fit - the obvious narrow point being the bridge over the canal (Duke's Cut). The two tracks there have been spaced out a bit so don't leave a gap for a third now.

The plan as given by S&TE corresponds roughly to what we had earlier labelled "phase 1". The Oxford Masterplan competitors were told to put in a second through platfrom on each side and a terminating platform (full length) on the Down side - but no Up side bays. What the longer-term plans are now I'm not sure, but perhaps this signalling plan is for for after NR have got permissions (and funding) for their bits - extra land to the eastwest for P5 and a new bridge over Botley Road - but before the station masterplan has enabled an Up through platform line to be built.

How one operates that station is not clear; noting that the main demand for an extra platform is for reversing London trains, isn't it? After all, as long as there are only two tracks south to Didcot, where there are more trains, why would you need more than two to the north? And if NR have put in P5, why isn't P6 (as it might not be) possible too?

corrected: got my (mental) map upside down

A theoretical P6 would presumably require Roger Dudman Way to be closed, isolating the area between the tracks and the Thames.  A track from P5 will be a tight fit anyway, but I think from previous discussions we’d expect the bridge spans at the north end of the platforms to be altered. 

I think in normal use P4 might be used for terminating trains, and P5 for passenger trains to the north.

Paul

In the new arrangement it will be possible to run an Up Cotswold line train along the Down Oxford from Wolvercote North Junction into Oxford station Platform Nos.4 or 5 at the same time as running an Up Banbury line train along the Up Oxford line from Wolvercote North Junction into Oxford station Platform Nos.3 or 4, and vice-versa (although in the Down direction the Banbury bound train would have to run to Tackley to regain the Down line).  Knowing NR though, and the way Automatic Route Setting is programmed, that will never probably occur as a timetabled movement!

Just a small correction to your post STUVING. Platform No.5 will be on the West side of the station.

What this Phase 2 Corridor works do is give us the new platform 5 - by replacing/adding to the Botley Road bridge and demolishing part/all of the Youth Hostel.  That (as others have mentioned) gives the flexibility to bring a terminating train into platform 4 and then a through service (or indeed another terminating service) can be routed into platform 5 without having to wait outside for platform 4 to become clear.  That also means that any freight can also get a clearer run through the station heading northwards.  

Terminating trains then can, and I suspect often will, turn back in the platform so there will be no need to shunt into the down carriage sidings.  That in itself relieves the pressure on shunt moves north of the station and the flow of trains through platform 3.  I don't think there will ever be a platform 6, but as and when the station is rebuilt, the option to turn bay platform 2 into a through line should, and probably will, take place.  The big thing for me is that this gives us the much needed platform 5, without having to wait until the station building is replaced - which I predict will drag on for many, many years.

Regarding Wolvercote Junction, it would be very nice to have four tracks running up to the junction so that maximum flexibility is available, but that would involve widening, replacing the Duke's Cut bridge - and there isn't a bottomless pit of money.  As it is currently, freight and passenger trains tend to wait to be funnelled through that two track station in the northbound direction which is far from optimal and can lead to delays to trains getting onto the Cotswold Line.  However the phase 2 works, removing the two AHB level crossings, does make this much better in that the signalling sections are much shorter and trains towards Tackley won't have to wait until the one in front has passed OD2437 before they can proceed.

It would also be nice to have four tracks running south as far as Kennington Junction (some have also said Radley, or even Didcot, but I can't see too much likelihood of that given that it doesn't offer much value to go to just before Radley and would be very expensive to go beyond to Didcot), but again I suspect that is prohibitive on cost grounds.

Other improvements include a much faster route onto the Down Bletchley at Oxford North Junction, meaning that Chiltern services will not have to slow down to 25mph for the crossings onto the Down Bletchley when routed out of platform 4 (and, when built, platform 5).  There's only a few such movements today (basically a handful of peak trains that don't fit into one of the bays), but with East-West Rail services, and Chiltern likely to extend along the Cowley Branch, that will be critical.

It's unlikely that Chiltern will extend along the Cowley branch - current planning is for the additional Oxford metro (Hanborough - Cowley shuttles) to use that branch. EWR will extend southwards from Oxford (which might end up being run by Chiltern)

Concern about the Sandy Lane closure. (https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/23913744.important-oxford-inter-village-access-road-closed/)

There's just been an item about this on Meridian TV news, but as is often the case I can't find any on-line link.

It should appear here (https://www.itv.com/news/meridian/2022-11-03/catch-up-itv-news-meridian-thames-valley), but Friday's version is still there at the time I posted this.

That was loaded just before 8pm Friday, so be patient & it should appear. This is Meridian in the Thames Valley version.