Oxford Station - improvements, incidents and events (merged topic)

[whole diary]

[stuving]

That announcement confirms the 9-day blockade that was already in the EAS:

The work to replace the bridge is scheduled to take place between 29 July and 6 August 2023. During this time Botley Road will be closed to through traffic and there will be no train services in or out of the station.

[ChrisB]

But possible additional road closure(s) outside those dates - looks as though the bridge will be the final works in the area

Significant preparation work, including the diversion of utilities, needs to be done by the contractor Kier, who were appointed earlier this year, on Botley Road over the coming months, ahead of the bridge being replaced next year. The work to replace the bridge is scheduled to take place between 29 July and 6 August 2023. During this time Botley Road will be closed to through traffic and there will be no train services in or out of the station. Discussions about the requirement for road closures during the upcoming preparation work are ongoing with Oxfordshire County Council and further information will be announced in the coming weeks.

[Mark A]

That deepened road bridge is going to need a reliable set of pumps for when the Isis tops her banks.

I think the dip under the existing bridge is drained by a pump and if that's always been the case it's a shame that exactly what was the pump provision in the early days of the line will be something lost to time.

Ah, a map, surveyed 1876, and next to the bridge, a 'Pump room'.

https://maps.nls.uk/view/231278895

The pump room persists on later 25" mapping, though it might have shrunk. Works to replace the Botley Road rail bridge will expose and remove elements of these early installations.

Also, the level crossing there - which until fairly recently was available for use on request from those with overheight vehicles, but increasingly not publicised.

In its last years, the signalling staff no longer being to hand, the notice on the crossing referred prospective users to the station staff should they need to use the crossing. I wonder if the right to use it was actually formally extinguished: it might be an idea for Network Rail to check if that particular 'i' needs to be dotted and 't' crossed.

Google Streetview shows the current state of the eastern approach to the level crossing site, with a lovely survivor in a high profile location: a length of Barlow rail reused as a post.

Click here to see view on Google Streetview

Mark

_{Edit: Fix link to Google Streetview - Red Squirrel}

[IndustryInsider]

Also, the level crossing there - which until fairly recently was available for use on request from those with overheight vehicles, but increasingly not publicised.

I don't think it's been used as a crossing for overheight vehicles for at least twenty years, with any such request politely refused, and with works associated with the 2018 resignalling completely blocking it off.

[stuving]

Also, the level crossing there - which until fairly recently was available for use on request from those with overheight vehicles, but increasingly not publicised.

I don't think it's been used as a crossing for overheight vehicles for at least twenty years, with any such request politely refused, and with works associated with the 2018 resignalling completely blocking it off.

It remained a right of way, despite being a disused level crossing (the wooden road surface having been removed and a step introduced), until the TWAO^▸ (Transport and Works Act Order ). Article 15 of the TWAO application was to extinguish that right of way, which I presume was granted (I've not looked). The closing submissions by NR^» (Network Rail - home page) to the public inquiry said (p. 24):

70. Section 5(6) of the Transport and Works Act 1992 provides that a TWA order “shall not extinguish any public right of way over land unless the Secretary of State is satisfied – (a) that an alternative right of way has been or will be provided, or (b) that the provision of an alternative right of way is not required.” The Order does not seek to extinguish any public rights of way, save for Article 15 which stops up the former Oxford Station Emergency level crossing parallel to Botley Road (plot 34) and extinguishes all rights of way over that level crossing. Given that it is a disused level crossing (being both redundant and physically blocked from use on safety grounds) the provision of an alternative right of way is not required. In the County Council’s deed of agreement with NR, the County Council has stated its support for formalising the closure of this redundant level crossing (JDL proof 4.10.4).

[ellendune]

But possible additional road closure(s) outside those dates - looks as though the bridge will be the final works in the area

Significant preparation work, including the diversion of utilities, needs to be done by the contractor Kier, who were appointed earlier this year, on Botley Road over the coming months, ahead of the bridge being replaced next year.

If I were planning this job I think I would start by constructing a service tunnel under the line (perhaps where the emergency level crossing was) so that all the utilities could be diverted through that tunnel. I would then have a utility-free bridge site to minimise any possible expensive delays to the main bridge contract. 

[ChrisB]

But if there are delays in moving the utilities, it would still affect the same lines that go over the bridge in the tunnel under that level crossing?

[ellendune]

But if there are delays in moving the utilities, it would still affect the same lines that go over the bridge in the tunnel under that level crossing?

The idea is you get them all out of the way before you start.  Building a short tunnel (probably by thrust bore) under the level crossing would have no impact on rail or road traffic.  Some impact on road traffic would occur when utilities are diverted through the tunnel. 

The worst delays happen when you have to get utilities in several times during a contract to do several moves as you go on.  The best way is to get them out of the way before you start. 

[ChrisB]

You can imagine a utility suffers a failure of their equipment under there & network rail won’t suddenly stop all their services to allow the fault to be fixed.

“Sorry, power cut/no water until the weekend when the rail allows us access.”

Or

“Sorry, trains are at a stop until your water company fixes their burst water main. This may be days later”

[ellendune]

You can imagine a utility suffers a failure of their equipment under there & network rail won’t suddenly stop all their services to allow the fault to be fixed.

“Sorry, power cut/no water until the weekend when the rail allows us access.”

Or

“Sorry, trains are at a stop until your water company fixes their burst water main. This may be days later”

You have completely missed the point of a service tunnel!   The key is in the word tunnel.  It does not require access from the surface it has access at each end. 

If a pipe of cable fails you can pull a new one through!  They are used all over London and in other places where access is difficult.  I know of at least one under the railway in Swindon. 

[ChrisB]

Cables can’t carry water….

[ellendune]

Cables can’t carry water….

Correct, but modern water mains (and gas mains for that matter) - unless they are very big - tend to be made of polyethylene which is flexible and can be threaded through tunnels.  Up to about 250mm they come in rolls similar to electricity cable drums and could be threaded through with a short lead-in trench. Larger polyethylene pipes come in length that can be welded together on site and would need a longer lead-in trench. 

The utility tunnel I know of in Swindon carries a sewage pipe under the railway - yes the pipe is threaded through the tunnel. 

[Red Squirrel]

Rail passengers advised to check before using rail services to Oxford at weekends from 10 September to 2 October
Region & Route: Wales & Western | Wales & Western: Western

Network Rail is urging passengers to check before travelling and to plan ahead, with four consecutive weekends of disruption to train services due to start this weekend.

Over the following four weekends – 10 and 11, 17 and 18, 24 and 25 September, as well as 1 and 2 October – there will be no train services in or out of Oxford, between Didcot, Banbury and Hanborough.

During this time, there will be regular buses operating between Didcot Parkway, Oxford station, Oxford Parkway, Banbury and Hanborough. On 10, 11 and 18 September buses will also go onto Leamington Spa. Rail passengers will also be able to use their train tickets on the following local bus services:

2 between Kidlington, Oxford Parkway and Oxford (Stagecoach)
7 between Woodstock, Oxford Parkway and Oxford (Stagecoach)
Connector X2 between Didcot and Oxford (Oxford Bus Company)
City X3 between Abingdon, Didcot and Oxford (Oxford Bus Company)
Connector X32 between Wantage, Didcot and Oxford (Oxford Bus Company)
S3 between Charlbury, Oxford Parkway and Oxford (Stagecoach)
S4 between Banbury and Oxford (Stagecoach)
Passengers wanting to travel directly between London and Oxford can use the Chiltern Railways service that operates between Oxford Parkway and London Marylebone. There will also be regular trains to Bicester from Oxford Parkway. A regular bus service will also be operating between Oxford Parkway and Oxford city centre.

The industrial action announced for 15, 17, 26 and 27 September will also severely disrupt train services, with no services at all on some lines. Passengers should check with the relevant train operator before travelling.

Network Rail has been working closely with its train operator colleagues and partners including the city and county councils, universities, and businesses to ensure passengers are still able to get to their destinations and to help reduce disruption as much as possible.

Over the coming four weekends, Network Rail’s team of engineers will be working to on the railway to create three high-speed crossovers, allowing trains to switch tracks - at Oxford North Junction (between Walton Well Road and Aristotle Lane bridges). This is the first part of Network Rail’s  £161m redevelopment of Oxford station and railway that will see the station expanded with an additional platform and track, and a new western entrance. The three new high-speed crossovers will enable the additional train services for Oxford that are part of this plan.

All travel information and details of the plans for Oxford station can be found at networkrail.co.uk/oxfordphase2

...continues

Source: Network Rail

[ChrisB]

Shame the park & ride buses appear to be excluded from that list above!

[grahame]

Shame the park & ride buses appear to be excluded from that list above!

There might have been logical to include the S6 bus to Swindon