Cotswold Line redoubling: 2008 - 2011

[whole diary]

[stebbo]

Sorry, I know I'm going to be unpopular with most and maybe I'm missing something, but:

1. I get the feeling there's confusion here - the Chiltern extension to Oxford doesn't, I think, have any bearing on the Cotswold line, as it seems to me is being suggested except that some London commuters from Handborough might go to Water Eaton (ie Kidlington South). And from the sound of some of the posts this is as much to do with the amount of parking at Handborough.

2. From my journeys on the Cotswold line, a lot of travellers from Evesham/Moreton/Kingham/Charlbury/Hanborough do seem to get off at Oxford - not all, but quite a lot - and couldn't say the Handborough brigade be served by other services on the line. I'm not asking all the stops at Handborough to be abandoned, just maybe one Hereford express each way. The service from Hereford and Worcester has got longer over the years.

[willc]

The stuff about Islip and Hanborough is meant to be a joke, isn't it? As for stress-free driving around Oxford in the rush hours, words fail me.

Final few stragglers pictorially of trains using the double track between Moreton-in-Marsh and Evesham now online at http://www.flickr.com/photos/willc2009/ which I think pretty much wraps up what I set out to achieve in terms of a pictorial record back at the start of 2009. Hope you enjoyed the ride.


Update: Peter Tandy has got pictures of the first Class 67 ever to reach Long Marston here http://www.petertandy.co.uk/Recentpics.html on what was the first train to use the branch since redoubling.

[Btline]

The stuff about Islip and Hanborough is meant to be a joke, isn't it? As for stress-free driving around Oxford in the rush hours, words fail me.

I hope the above is a joke! Of course there are going to be implications. Hanborough - a new station, with better facilities, better parking and better access is going to be built a few miles away. The station will have more trains, faster journey times, cheaper fares, and better punctuality/reliability. Of course the roads are busy, but as you say, people already drive from Witney. People will switch to Water Eaton as there'll be less of a gamble for a space. Don't come back by saying "people want to come off the A40 sooner to avoid the traffic" - they'll have no choice after 6.30 when Hanborough car park is full (most commuters would be travelling after this time)! I think it is flabbergasting that you cannot see this, as I'm sure FGW^▸ (First Great Western) managers are already shuddering with fear...

Islip - again, people driving down the A34 to use Chiltern will probably drive to Water Eaton for the more frequent service and larger car park as describe above. If the M40/A34 is nose to tail, then getting to Islip is going to be difficult anyway. Anyway, there's always Bicester Town/North (or even Warwick).

[IndustryInsider]

Hope you enjoyed the ride.

Very much so, though I worry about what you're going to find to do with your weekends now.   

Islip - again, people driving down the A34 to use Chiltern will probably drive to Water Eaton for the more frequent service and larger car park as describe above. If the M40/A34 is nose to tail, then getting to Islip is going to be difficult anyway. Anyway, there's always Bicester Town/North (or even Warwick).

Whilst Hanborough might indeed take a slight hit, I don't think it'll be too significant.  Water Eaton Parkway will be popular for anybody living in Kidlington, Yarnton or North Oxford though and will, I believe, be a success.  Some of it new traffic, some from those that currently bus/drive in to Oxford, but not many that currently use Hanborough.  As for Witney commuters switching to Water Eaton Parkway?  I seriously doubt it at commuter times as the A40 and A44 are ridiculously unreliable in the peak hours - compared with a relatively predictable jaunt along the A4095.  Leisure travellers might be more tempted though as a parking space and more frequent service will be guaranteed.

Islip though is very much a local station for local people.  I don't think I've ever counted more than 10 cars in the car park and, as long as the peak hour trains are timed suitably (as was a doubt in Chiltern's original proposed timetable), I would imagine passenger numbers would remain very similar.

[JayMac]

Islip though is very much a local station for local people. 

Is there also one of these nearby?



 

[Btline]

Yes, but by the peak hours, Hanborough's car park is full. Or so the "you can't cut services, as it's so popular" brigade keep telling us! I agree that Islip will take less of a hit.

And of course, the services from Water Eaton Pakrway will acceptable "Standard Class". At Hanborough, there will be high risk of getting one of those "Thames Turbos" with 3rd class seating for Standard Class passengers and Standard Class seating for 1st class Passengers. Don't say, "Chiltern might send one to OXF^» (Oxford - next trains)" - Chiltern's ones are nicer, so it's an invalid argument.

How much of a hit, both passenger numbers and ORCATS^▸ (Operational Research Computerised Allocation of Tickets to Services), will FGW^▸ (First Great Western) take at Oxford when the services launch? At 2tph and a similar journey time, I'd imagine quite a bit.

[IndustryInsider]

A bid went in during the spring for money from the station enhancements fund to turn the Charlbury site compound on the allotments into permanent parking. A decision is thought to be imminent.

At Pershore efforts to achieve improvements have been frustrated for years because of the piecemeal way former railway land was disposed of around the station. A land swap with one of the adjacent businesses has pretty much been finalised now, which will create a rather more logical parcel of land for station parking and allow extra spaces.

Glad to hear these are both being progressed still, but I'm starting to grow tired of holding my breath...

Looks like good news for both Charlbury and Pershore:

http://www.networkrailmediacentre.co.uk/Press-Releases/BIDS-ENCOURAGED-FOR-100M-STATION-IMPROVEMENT-FUND-186b/SearchCategoryID-2.aspx

Along with Radley, Langley and Kemble on FGW^▸ (First Great Western) routes.  Presumably these all mean extra spaces rather than just CCTV^▸ (Closed Circuit Tele Vision) or lighting improvements?

[Nottage_Halt]

Final few stragglers pictorially of trains using the double track between Moreton-in-Marsh and Evesham now online at http://www.flickr.com/photos/willc2009/ which I think pretty much wraps up what I set out to achieve in terms of a pictorial record back at the start of 2009. Hope you enjoyed the ride.

Certainly did enjoy the ride, willc.  Thank you for recording and sharing the improvement works as they've happened over the years.

Nick

[dzug]

Sorry, I know I'm going to be unpopular with most and maybe I'm missing something. I'm not asking all the stops at Handborough to be abandoned, just maybe one Hereford express each way.

The trouble is that those non-stop trains (one of which does in fact currently exist, though not for long) would be exactly at the times that they are badly needed for commuters from Hanborough TO Oxford.

[ChrisB]

Whilst Hanborough might indeed take a slight hit, I don't think it'll be too significant. 

Hmmm, Chiltern won't be happy if that's the outcome I feel - I think they need pax extraction on a big way to recoup the expenditure, and will be very aggressive with their fares/advertising.

[stebbo]

Another thought - though not strictly on the subject of the Cotswold line - wouldn't a new station at Kidlington be an idea? Not where the old one used to be, but couldn't one be put in by the level crossing over the lane to Yarnton which ought to be reasonably accessible to most people?

[ChrisB]

Why? when Water Eaton will be a couple of miles away?

[Andrew1939 from West Oxon]

Stebbo might like to note that Oxon CC has been trying to get a station at Kidlington for years as well as Grove/Wantage because of local aspirations. The first problem is funding as it would have to be financed from local authority sources and these are just not available. The second problem is would anyone use it? There are few FGW^▸ (First Great Western) services along the line and XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) do not wish to call there although they are the most frequent users of the line as they say they are an intercity provider, not a local stopping service provider. Kidlington, whilst said to be the largest parish in the country by population, still does not come into the inter-city class. Finally, if Chiltern ever does get the approval for Watereaton with a half hourly service to Marylebone, that would just about kill the chances of a Kidlington station. There is similar problem with Wantage/Grove in that FGW would be reluctant to stop inter-city services there. When TT had an Oxford/Bristol service that would have made Grove/Wantage more viable as a non road access for the many local residents who work in Oxford but without that I think it is a dead duck.

[Andrew1939 from West Oxon]

Re Hanborough parking ptroblems, readers might like to note that a bid is being drawn up for a new Hanborough car park for submission for the second tranche of funding under the NR^» (Network Rail - home page) revenue producing fund. It would be a very costly scheme even with the proposed S.106 supporting funding and personally I have doubts as to whether it will get through the vetting as producing enough revenue compared with the capital costs.
However without this scheme (or any other perhaps lower cost parking scheme) as a Hanborough resident I can see more people using Chiltern's Watereaton station if it comes to fruition. When FGW^▸ (First Great Western)'s CL service a few years ago reached an appalling low in punctuality and reliability, a number of Hanborough users moved to Bicester North as they were season ticket holders to London renewing their annual tickets in the middle of the FGW failures. As far as I am aware they still commute from Bicester N because the service there is so superior in terms of frequency, reliability, etc. With Chiltern services now being speeded up the incentive to desert the CL will be greater. Ironically, a group of 4 of them decided to park their cars at Hanborough first thing in the morning and all travel in one car to Bicester North where with 4 in a car they got free parking for the day! Whether or not that still happens I do not know. A sad situation but Chiltern has exploited FGW's weakness.

[Richard Fairhurst]

Kidlington - well, in theory and with some (expensive) infrastructure work, you could extend Oxford terminators, ^ la Aylesbury Vale Parkway. But yes, given that Water Eaton Parkway is opening, I can't see Kidlington happening.

Hanborough - the other thing it would be good to see to alleviate pressure on the car park is completing the cycle route along the A4095 to Bladon and the Woodstock roundabout, as envisaged in a previous Oxfordshire County Council Local Transport Plan. There's clearly a demand for cycling to the station given that the racks (three times the size of Charlbury's) are always full, but the A4095 east of the station is not a pleasant cycle at all.