Chiltern plan Oxford to Cowley service

[whole diary]

[Noggin]

The National Infrastructure Committee recommended yesterday to the Government that "funding packages and progress schemes ... should include essential works required to enable passenger services between Oxford and Cowley no later than 2019."

Partnering for Prosperity

And a billion quid for East-West rail, even by UK^▸ (United Kingdom) standards that seems like an awful lot of money.

[ChrisB]

That'll be for the new route that needs doing close to Sandy I suspect

[didcotdean]

Response in the budget:

The government recognises the NIC’s arguments for a station at Cowley in Oxford, and as a first step towards delivery is making available up to £300,000 to co-fund with local stakeholders an Oxfordshire Rail Corridor study to explore rail growth in the area, and opportunities for additional services, stations and routes.

In relationship to East West

The government confirms funding for Network Rail to deliver phase two of the western section of East West Rail, from Bicester to Bedford, and Milton Keynes to Princes Risborough, with the aim of the first passenger services to be running in 2023 and the project to be complete by 2024; and is establishing an independent East West Rail Company, which will seek opportunities to accelerate delivery of the central section of East West Rail between Bedford and Cambridge, with the aim for passenger services to begin by the mid-2020s.

[IndustryInsider]

Good news.  Though for those three different services, if I was a betting man:

1) Cowley Station - will suffer the Portishead problem of sounding cheap but ending up costing much more.  Might well not happen within 10 years, especially if Oxford City Council get grandiose ideas about a metro style service, rather than just a simple train service running twice an hour with few alterations to existing track and signalling.
2) East-West Rail Phase 2 - will happen, but the usual challenges of NIMBY's, bats and newts will make 2023 very challenging.
3) East-West Rail Bedford to Cambridge - not a hope of getting that up and running by the mid-2020s for all of the reasons above.  At least 10 years away, probably 15.

[Richard Fairhurst]

I would hope that Bicester-Bletchley should be reasonably NIMBY-free, in that Chiltern's London service has already dealt with the two NIMBY hotspots on that route - North Oxford and the Bicester London Road level crossing. The rest of it should be troublefree in comparison. But Bedford-Cambridge will be very challenging, certainly.

[ChrisB]

The London Road crossing is still a problem. Deemed to be County Roads problem, not a Network Rail problem, but the County has no money. Residents simply won't accept additional trains without a permanent solution - which means a dive-under for either road or rail. The problem with a road-under rail is the room to the town side for the slope up isn't there, nor is there room the station side to lower the track under the road.

So it's been kicked into the long grass again currently, but will rear it's head again properly as soon as EWR starts work again.

[paul7575]

3) East-West Rail Bedford to Cambridge - not a hope of getting that up and running by the mid-2020s for all of the reasons above.  At least 10 years away, probably 15.

Having now confirmed that is the only bit the new separate company is actually responsible for, it won't need to be considered a Network Rail failure when it doesn't actually happen...

Paul

[ChrisB]

Re the London Road crossing above, the TWA confirms that the current arrangement will remain for Phase 2 trains from Milton Keynes/Bedford.

It also acknowledges that a solution that has been found will need funding for phase 3 mentioned to Cambridge & beyond

[didcotdean]

Oxford Mail

Futuristic images have been released by Oxford Science Park showing how a station on the site could look.
In what would be only the second station built in the city since 1935, it is envisaged that hundreds of commuters would use it daily to travel between central Oxford and the edge of Littlemore on the newly reopened Cowley Branch Line.
...
But Reverend Andrew Bevan, the minister at Littlemore Baptist Church, said it will depend on the frequency and cost of trains whether residents choose to use it.
He added: “It will have a lot of competition with people able to use bikes, taxis and buses to get to the city. 
“And, once at Oxford Station, it is still a long walk to get to the centre itself so it remains to be seen if it will save us time.
“It would only really benefit me if it was extended and I could travel direct to London or further afield.”

The point that Oxford Station is (somewhat) remote from the actual centre of Oxford is made here. No mention of the Oxford Metro Line 2 though which might address this

[ChrisB]

Needed to look up Oxford Metro Line 2.....

http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/15056616.Plans_for__Oxford_Metro__with_new_train_routes_across_the_city/

From two years ago - and still no movement on this. Very valid point about the bus being cheaper than any rail fare, as well as going through the city centre....would probably kill the idea commercially

[IndustryInsider]

With regards to the potential Cowley service, alterations to the signalling (removal of the token system) during the Oxford blockade means a passenger service has now become much easier to introduce.

[ChrisB]

I'd still like to see a BCR^▸ (Benefit Cost Ratio) for this....I can't ever see a commercial case while buses run (between Stagecoach & Oxford Bus) every 5mins through the City Centre, which is where the vast majority will want to go

[IndustryInsider]

I'd be interested to see one myself.  I guess it will predominantly be for people heading to employment at either the Science Park, Business Park or Cowley Mini Plant (of which there are thousands) and whether a good link to Oxford station for either direct or connecting routes to large outlying places such as Didcot, Bicester, Banbury would tempt people out of their cars and onto the train.

Certainly leisure travel would be much harder to drum up significant numbers for, though the good people of Blackbird Leys/Littlemore might find it useful to get to Oxford station much quicker than the buses can - even though the bus service is pretty good.