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

[whole diary]

[willc]

The ^10m figure was the one originally cited last November when the design was first unveiled. ^12.5m is the figure being given now.

The Network Rail share is coming from its Action Stations budget. The doubts are over the county's share, as that is meant to be part of its Access to Oxford strategy, which also includes other transport schemes and is caught up in the government spending review process. The council's ruling Tory group has been lobbying Mr Cameron personally, we have been told.

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the Oxford Times:

The Railway Station Oxford might have had

The railways came to Oxford comparatively late ^ thanks to the university authorities^ fear that the bright lights of London might tempt undergraduates away from their studies and generally undermine the cloistered world of dreaming spires.

The Warden of Wadham College led the fight against the Great Western Railway Act of 1843, which paved the way for the arrival of trains here the following year; and even when the first station was built, it was situated, inconveniently enough, in Western Road, Grandpont ^ so any student catching a train to London had to pay the toll to cross Folly Bridge to get there.

The first station on the present site opened on October 1, 1852, after Great Western took over a rival company, the Oxford and Rugby Railway, which had planned a station there.

Now the ^12.5m expansion plan for the place, approved last week, continues the ongoing railway saga at Oxford. But thanks to Frank Dumbleton, of Chilton, who sent in the lithograph (pictured), dating from about 1846, we have a tantalising idea of how the station would have looked had plans by the Oxford Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway company gone ahead.

The picture, displayed in the Great Western Trust^s Museum and Archive at Didcot Railway Centre, shows a splendid structure which, had it been built, would have provided a suitably grand arrival point in Oxford ^ instead of the series of far-from-grand stations we have had to put up with over the years.

Mr Dumbleton writes: ^The architectural style is very similar to Stoke-on-Trent station, which was completed in 1848 and is described as a ^robust Jacobean manor house^. The Oxford Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway (OWW^▸ (Oxford Worcester and Wolverhampton)) had a difficult history. It was incorporated in 1845 by Act of Parliament, but not completed until 1853. The route from Oxford to Worcester is today^s Cotswold Line. It was inextricably drawn into the gauge wars, with the Great Western Railway^s broad gauge branch from Didcot to Oxford at its southern end, and the standard gauge railways of the rest of the country at the Wolverhampton end. Not surprisingly, the gauge controversy cost much money, and the OWW had little left to build stations in the style it would have liked. In 1860, it became part of the West Midland Railway, which was absorbed into the Great Western Railway in 1863.

^The Oxford station lithograph used to hang at Paddington station in London, along with many other mementoes of the Isambard Kingdom Brunel era. When Stanley Raymond became the Western Region^s general manager in the early 1960s, he had a mission to banish the GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) traditions that still permeated the place, and he ordered that all the pictures be destroyed. Fortunately, railway enthusiasts rescued many of them.^

For more than a century the present Oxford Station stood cheek by jowl with the lovely Rewley Road station, opened in 1851. It served the line to London via Bletchley and was built by the same engineers who developed Joseph Paxton^s ideas at Crystal Palace ^ which housed the Great Exhibition in London of that year. It closed to passengers in 1951 and was removed to the Quainton Railway Society^s Railway Centre, in Buckinghamshire, in 1998 ^ to make way for the Said Business School.

Crystal Palace burned down in 1936 but the Rewley Road station contained so many echoes of it that the magazine The Structural Engineer commented in 1975: ^Until recently it was thought that no trace of the Crystal Palace structure remained. Strictly speaking, none does, but something very similar has survived.^

It then went on to describe the Paxton-like work at Rewley Road. The magazine added: ^Almost more telling as a comparison than the structural components are the remains of the decorative iron cladding at Oxford which were clearly made from the same castings as in the Exhibition Building.^

As for the dons^ fears that the train to London might take students away from their studies, perhaps they were right: the last train back to Oxford was for years called the Flying Fornicator.

[JayMac]

From the Oxford Times:

As for the dons^ fears that the train to London might take students away from their studies, perhaps they were right: the last train back to Oxford was for years called the Flying Fornicator.

Can we petition FGW^▸ (First Great Western) to get that name reinstated?!?!

 

[Chris from Nailsea]

Would it be a turbo, or a pacer? 

[ChrisB]

The new bay platform & associated transfer deck has been a victim of the cuts!

From the Oxford Mail....

Transport projects worth ^62m shelved
9:00am Friday 29th October 2010

^By Chris Walker ^


PLANS to Transform Oxford railway station and the A34 as part of the most extensive transport project in the city^s history have been shelved.

In 2007 the county council was allocated ^62m for its ambitious Access to Oxford project, which promised to expand the railway station and tackle congestion on the A34 as well as the city^s ring road.

At the time the county^s then transport chief David Robertson said it was ^the largest sum for transport ever handed to Oxfordshire^.

Funding for the scheme became uncertain when the Regional Transport Board was abolished by the coalition Government in June 2010.

Now it has emerged County Hall has missed out on the cash after the Department of Transport overlooked the project and chose to spend ^2.3bn on 24 other transport schemes instead.

Commuters now face missing out on the ^12.5m expansion of the station for the foreseeable future as Network Rail^s funding for the scheme is dependent on the council getting the cash.

A further ^47m of investment to cut congestion on the A34 and install new slip lanes and bus lanes on the northern and southern approaches into Oxford also hang in the balance.

Hugh Jaeger, spokesman for the Railfuture campaign group and Bus Users UK^▸ (United Kingdom) in Oxfordshire said: ^This is a disaster.

^The buses will lose out, the trains will lose out and the poor people trying to get into Oxford will lose out.^

The blow comes just six weeks after the city council gave planning permission for the expansion of the station.

The plan would see a new platform added south of the Botley Road to reduce passenger congestion and improve journey times to London.

Chairman of the Oxford-Bicester Rail Action Group Dr Ian East said: ^Oxford Station really did need reconfiguration and expansion.

^At the busiest times it^s overcrowded and heading towards being dangerous.^

The station is at the start or end of 5.6 million train journeys a year, with passenger numbers at Oxford rising by 16.5 per cent in 2008/09.

County Hall can now submit new bids for cash to the ^560m Local Sustainable Transport Fund and ^400m Regional Growth Fund in April next year.

However, with public finances tight it is unclear what scale of project the council will be able win cash for.

Earlier this year councillor Ian Hudspeth, the council^s cabinet member for growth and infrastructure, made a personal appeal to Prime Minister David Cameron to try and secure the cash.

He said: ^This is bitterly disappointing news. Having initially secured funding we have now become victims of the nation^s financial woes and the Government^s efforts to resolve them.

^However, we must retain our ambitions and push our case to central government at any and every opportunity.^

Missing this funding does not affect the council^s ability to fund Transform Oxford or improve Frideswide Square.

However, these projects are currently part of the council^s review of all its capital spending.

Plans to change Heyford Hill roundabout are also not expected to be affected.

Network Rail spokesman Russell Spink confirmed that Network Rail^s cash for Oxford station was not ring-fenced.

He said: ^The loss of the county council^s funding is a blow, but all parties are determined to find a solution which allows us to deliver this scheme.^

DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) spokesman Paul Starbrook said: ^The Access for Oxford scheme did not secure funding through the regional funding and we would therefore encourage the promoters to look at alternative funding mechanisms.^

Labour MP^▸ (Member of Parliament) for Oxford East Andrew Smith said: ^This is really bad news. I wrote to the Government strongly supporting the county bid.

^This Coalition decision is cutting off its nose to spite its face because Oxford is an economic powerhouse for the region and the country.

^These improvements would have boosted the economy as well as making travel better for local people.

^I will work with the county council to continue to press our case at every opportunity.^

Conservative MP for Abingdon and Oxford West Nicola Blackwood said: ^This decision is obviously a big disappointment for all of us.

^But we are dealing with one of the most serious fiscal crises this country has faced in the last 50 years and the Government^s first priority has to be to get the public finances back in order.

^Access to Oxford is an important project that would offer a significant economic boost to our region, not to mention improve the quality of life of many residents.

^I have already written on this issue to Philip Hammond, Transport Secretary, and will continue to work with the county council to take our case to the Government.

^I hope that Oxfordshire^s new status as a local enterprise partnership will help strengthen our cause.^

Conservative MP for Henley John Howell said: ^I agree with the county council that it is a shame, but I^m not surprised given the way we^ve been left with no money by the previous government.

^More important than that, the bid made by the county council and others for one of the new local enterprise partnerships has been approved, which presents an exciting opportunity to grasp the issue of infrastructure for the Oxfordshire region as a whole.

^And who knows what that may produce for transport in the local area.^

Conservative MP for Banbury Tony Baldry said he was confident the privately funded Bicester-to-Oxford rail project would go ahead. He said: ^ Clearly it^s a time when all public spending is being substantially reduced so it^s not surprising programmes such as this are being cut back.^

Conservative MP for Witney David Cameron was in Brussels last night and unavailable for comment. Conservative MP for Wantage Ed Vaizey did not return our calls.

A new bus interchange in Mansfield, a plan to make Ipswich^s transport infrastructure fit for the 21st century and a new south entrance to Leeds train station were among the 24 schemes to win funding from the Government.

More than 16 roads projects were among those winning funding from Transport Secretary Philip Hammond including improvements on the M25, M60 in Manchester and M1 in Yorkshire and Derbyshire.

The Government will spend ^8.6m on a new bus station in the heart of Mansfield bringing it closer to the town^s trains with a new pedestrian bridge. Meanwhile, a ^14m project to build a new south entrance to Leeds railway station will make it more accessible to 20,000 passengers who head in that direction each day.

In Ipswich rebuilt bus stations, a computerised traffic management and improvements to the town^s cycle network will cost about ^25m. Although not included in this cash, an ^850m revamp of Reading train station and the surrounding track network will start in earnest in December.

And -

Cameron blames deficit for city's transport snub
9:10am Saturday 30th October 2010



Prime Minister David Cameron says he is disappointed that Oxford has missed out on ^62m of investment to improve its road and Rail network.

Yesterday, it emerged the county council had lost out on funding for the most extensive transport project in the city^s history which would have seen the expansion of Oxford Railway Station and tackled congestion on the A34 and city ring road.

Witney MP Mr Cameron has blamed the Government^s ^900bn national debt for the cut in spending on transport projects throughout Britain.

He told the Oxford Mail: ^Clearly it is disappointing some transport schemes aren^t going ahead because of the massive budget deficit we inherited.

^Our priority has to be cutting it. This involves taking difficult decisions and means that it is just not possible for every road and public transport scheme to go ahead immediately.^

Next year the council will have to re-submit the bid to try to win part of a ^2bn cash pot from the Local Sustainable Transport Fund and the Regional Growth Fund.

Wantage MP Ed Vaizey has not responded to requests for a comment.

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the Oxford Mail:

Purge on abandoned bikes

Owners of bikes abandoned at Oxford Railway Station have until tomorrow to ^remove them or lose them^.

Six weeks ago train operator First Great Western and British Transport Police tagged about 500 bikes left in racks outside the station.

The company said the purge was part of a clampdown on vandalised and abandoned bikes which had been left outside the station and were take up valuable space needed by Rail passengers.

Spokesman Dan Panes said: ^We do this quite regularly. About six weeks ago we tagged all the bikes outside the station and put a note on explaining what we were doing. We explained people had until March 29 to remove the tag otherwise their bike would be seized, refurbished and sent to charity.^

[paul7575]

The Oxford Mail is reporting concerns about BRB^‡(resolve)(residuary) planning to sell the Oxpens site (next to the ice rink), which will supposedly prevent Oxford having a completely new station built:

http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/9175980.Fears_over_future_of____transport_hub___/

It all seems to be a bit of an artificial argument, because according to the council's planning policy stuff provided with the sale particulars, there are no plans for a replacement station on the site anyway.   Network Rail's plans (in the RUS^▸ (Route Utilisation Strategy))  seem to be pretty much all about various expansion options on the current site, or at least in the carpark, and of course Evergreen 3 works well as planned with its independent route into the rebuilt northern platforms at the existing station.

Sale particulars are here: http://www.brbrlandsales.co.uk/sites/oxford/

Paul

[Chris from Nailsea]

From road.cc:

An Oxford-based bicycle business has set up shop at the city^s railway station to enable commuters to have their bikes serviced or repaired while they are away at work. Bainton Bikes, operating from a gazebo at the First Great Western-operated station, is also renting bikes from the facility to visitors to the university city.

Kevin Moreland of Bainton Bikes told the Oxford Mail: ^We were talking to First Great Western about putting hire bikes at the station and they said they wanted a repair service as well.^

Having visited Cambridge to see a business there called Station Cycles, Mr Moreland believed that a similar, train station-based initiative could work in Oxford. ^We know people in Oxford want longer opening hours,^ he explained. ^The feedback we have had is that they just don^t get the chance to get to a bike shop.^

To begin with the facility is open each Monday from 6.30m to 7.30pm, although it is planned that within the coming months it will start operating on a daily basis.

^It has also allowed us to offer hire and cycle tours to visitors and we are planning to open seven days a week from March or April, depending on how things go,^ said Mr Moreland, who also runs Walton Street Cycles in the city^s Jericho area.

Andy Saunders, integrated transport manager at First Great Western, said: ^Oxford is one of our most popular stations for commuting cyclists and I^m delighted to partner Walton Street Cycles and Bainton Bikes to offer this innovative service.^

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the British Transport Police press release:

Were you a witness? British Transport Police appeal after woman attacked at Oxford rail station

British Transport Police (BTP^▸ (British Transport Police)) is appealing for witnesses after a woman was attacked at Oxford rail station in the early hours of Saturday, 11 February.

Officers would like to hear from anyone with information about the incident which took place around 3.30am as the victim was making her way home after a night out.

PC Anthony Wykes, the investigating officer based at Oxford, said: ^The young woman had been out with a friend for the night. They^d walked back together and parted ways at the station. As the victim walked along the path close to the bike racks, talking on her mobile phone to a friend, she noticed a man loitering close to the bikes. Assuming he was unlocking a cycle, she walked past and continued with her conversation.

^Suddenly, and totally unprovoked, she was hit from behind twice to the head and once to the back. She screamed out and knocked her attacker to the floor as she turned around, before running towards a group of men who approached after hearing the commotion. However, when they got to the cycle rack the man had already fled.^

The victim, from Didcot, reported the incident to police later that day.

PC Wykes added: ^This was a swift and unprovoked attack on a woman who, fortunately, was not seriously injured. Luckily there were people around, however the attack could have been much worse and I am determined to find the man responsible.

^If you were in the area at the time, or noticed a man acting suspiciously in the vicinity, I would urge you to contact police.^

The man is described as white with a slim build aged between 30 and 35 years. He short, dark spiky hair and a moustache. He was wearing dark jeans and a brown jacket.

Anyone with information can call British Transport Police on 0800 40 50 40 quoting reference B5/LNA of 16/02/2012. Or call the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the Oxford Mail:

Woman describes terrifying station attack

A supermarket worker last night described fearing for her life after a stranger attacked her at Oxford Railway Station.

Kerry Hastings was left screaming for help after a man punched her twice in the head and once in the back before grabbing hold of her jacket.

As the 20-year-old tried to flee from his grasp her attacker fell to the ground and she ran.

The Sainsbury^s cashier from Didcot was going home on her own after a night out with friends in Oxford city centre when the attack happened.

The man attacked her from behind as she passed him loitering by the bike racks at the station at 3.30am last Saturday.

She said: ^d never even seen him before. I didn^t approach him, he approached me. When I had my back to him he hit me.

^I just thought ^am I going to survive?^Somehow he was grabbing hold of my jacket as I was trying to escape and he fell over. I was just screaming.

^I was just screaming, there were no words.^

She ran towards a group of men who approached after hearing the commotion. But when they got to the cycle rack the man had already fled.

Ms Hastings said: ^If it wasn^t for the three guys running over to me because I was screaming, if no-one was there I thought I wouldn^t be alive.

^ve just recovered from five days of back pain and headaches.

^It was a good night out and this had to happen. I feel like Oxford is my home town.

^I felt safe in the city and now I^m afraid to go out alone.^

She added: ^Knowing no-one^s been arrested makes me worried he could be out there doing it to someone else.

^I do think ^why me?^ and if someone saw something then please contact the police.^

The attacker is described as white with a slim build, aged between 30 and 35.

He had dark spiky hair and a moustache. He was wearing dark jeans and a brown jacket.

Pc Anthony Wykes, from British Transport Police, said: ^This was a swift and unprovoked attack on a woman who, fortunately, was not seriously injured.

^Luckily there were people around. However, the attack could have been much worse.^

* Anyone with information can call British Transport Police on 0800 40 50 40 quoting reference B5/LNA of 16/02/2012.

[Oxman]

From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-17521919

Oxford Station is unstaffed after about 0200 on a Sunday morning, AIU.

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

Ministers consider moving Oxford train station

The government has said it will look at proposals to move Oxford's railway station to a new location.

Oxford East MP^▸ (Member of Parliament) Andrew Smith raised the issue in the Commons on Tuesday, asking transport minister Norman Baker to look at the plan by Oxford Civic Society. The society wants the station to be moved from Frideswide Square to the Oxpens area of the city.


Mr Baker, who told the house his mother-in-law lived near the station, said he was interested in the plans.

Responding to the Labour MP's question, Mr Baker said: "We are in a position where we are increasingly devolving responsibility for transport matters down to local council level, I think it's right to do that, and people in Oxford are in a better position to know what's best for them than people in Westminster. There are, I think, plans to improve the situation in Oxford anyway in terms of getting more trains running through it and, of course, the electrification programme the government announced will hugely benefit Oxford and points west. We have to make sure what we don't do is spend money now that would be rendered useless by further changes subsequently but I would be interested in those proposals. It's a station I know quite well, not least of which because my mother-in-law lives there... not in the station - nearby, she's not the station mistress."

After the session, Mr Smith told the BBC: "There's a chunk of land by Oxpens which is still owned by the residual old British Rail body and the government wants them to dispose of it. I've written to the secretary of state for transport and said don't sell that just yet because it is part of the jigsaw of land that you would need to assemble if the station could be moved.

"There are very strong arguments, as the Civic Society has said, for moving the station. It would enable you to put a coach station alongside it so you would have a proper interchange. It wouldn't leave the station out on the limb where it is now. It would provide a new gateway to the city, close to the new Westgate shopping centre development, and it would free up a huge amount of land around the present station site and some in Gloucester Green. It would ease all those congestion problems in Frideswide Square, so I think it's worth looking at."

Mr Smith said a study carried out eight years ago found that moving the station would be feasible if funding could be found. He said: "The point is that now there have to be big changes at Oxford station anyway because there's going to be trains running through Bicester down the Chiltern line to London, also because electrification is on the way, they want to use longer trains and have to lengthen the platforms anyway. It seems a once in a century opportunity to get a more sensible location for the station."

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the British Transport Police press release:

British Transport Police (BTP) is appealing for information after a cycle was stolen from Oxford rail station.

Investigators have released CCTV of a man they would like to speak to in connection with the theft, which took place on Thursday, 22 March.

PC Bob Burrowes, investigating officer, said: ^The victim, a 42-year-old from Oxford, had left her bike locked to the cycle racks outside the station at around 3.15pm. When she returned to collect it at 9.50pm she realised it had been taken.^

Officers have conducted several lines of enquiry into the incident including speaking to local commuters and anniversary visits in the area but to no avail. CCTV has been viewed and police are now keen to speak to the man pictured, who is believed to have key information.

 

PC Burrowes said: ^From viewing CCTV footage at the station, we know what a man was seen loitering around the bike racks around 5.15pm. If you recognise the man pictured and think you can tell us who he is, please get in touch.

^Unfortunately cycles are a popular target for thieves but there are several steps people can take to ensure their bikes are adequately marked and secured to help reduce the risk of becoming a victim of bike theft.

^The best thing to remember is to register your bike and also to ensure a solid lock is used to secure it. If a bike is adequately marked, it makes it much easier to identify and therefore reduces its desirability to thieves.^

BTP officers regularly conduct cycle crime awareness surgeries at stations to offer crime prevention advice and identify the top locations for bike theft regularly, they are then targeted them through covert and overt policing operations to try and catch would-be offenders in the act.

Anyone who can name the man in the CCTV images should contact BTP on Freefone 0800 40 50 40 quoting reference B13/LNA of 16/05/12. Alternatively, contact the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Police advice for making your bike more secure:
- Get your bike tagged and register it at www.bikeregister.com
- Ensure you have a solid lock
- Always lock your bicycle through its frame, not just through the wheel
- Fix your bike to solid, immovable objects in recognised cycle storage areas
- Whenever possible, lock your bike in a busy, well-lit and CCTV-covered area

[Chris from Nailsea]

Another incident - from the British Transport Police press release:

CCTV released: Cycle theft sees 13-year-old boy^s bike stolen ^ Oxford

British Transport Police (BTP^▸ (British Transport Police)) officers are appealing for information after a 13-year-old boy had his bike stolen from Oxford rail station last week.

Investigators have today released CCTV of a man they would like to speak to in connection with the theft, which took place on Tuesday, 14 August 2012.

PC Roddy Brown, of BTP at Oxford station and who is investigating the theft, said: ^The young victim secured his bike to the racks at the station with a lock around midday. When he returned around 2.30pm, he noticed his bike had been taken.

^After viewing CCTV a man is seen to arrive at the racks on a bike at 2.15pm, before stealing the boy^s bike and riding off.^

Officers are conducting a number of enquiries into the incident including speaking to anyone who may have witnessed the incident, viewing CCTV as well as carrying out anniversary visits to the station.

PC Brown added: ^Officers will continue to carry out high visible patrols in and around the station and bike racks, delivering crime prevention advice for owners who fail to properly lock and secure their cycles.

^We work closely with train operator First Great Western to tackle cycle crime at rail stations and ask passengers to report any suspicious behaviour to a member of staff or police.^

Earlier this week, a man was arrested and charged for the attempted theft of a bike at the same station. Jason Mark Kilduff (33) of Linnet Close, Oxford, was charged with one count of going equipped and two counts of theft of a cycle. He is next due to appear at Oxford Magistrates^ Court on Friday, 7 September with bail conditions not to enter Oxford rail station.

TIPS TO ENSURE YOUR BICYCLE REMAINS SAFE AND SECURE:

Bicycles are a popular target for thieves. Here are some simple tips to ensure your cycle remains secure:

^ Always lock your bicycle whenever you leave it at a designated cycle rack area. Lock the frame and both wheels to a cycle stand.

^ Consider using more than one lock to secure your bike and ensure that you use a recognised security standard lock. D-locks, extension cable or heavy chain locks are certified locking mechanisms. It is important to ensure that yours are up to date.

^ Make the lock(s) and bike hard to manoeuvre when parked by ensuring little room between the stand and the bike.

^ Do not allow your lock(s) to come into contact with the ground, where they are viewed as more vulnerable.

^ Take a photograph of your bike and record your frame number and key details. This will be crucial in recovering your bike if it is stolen.

^ Mark your frame with your postcode in two separate locations, one of which should be hidden. Attach a ^Coded Cycle^ label to reduce the risk of making your bike a target for theft.

^ Do not ride with valuables in open baskets or panniers.

^ Register your bicycle at www.bikeregister.com or www.immobilise.com

[ellendune]

Vision for Oxford railway station overhaul unveiled

A CrossCountry train calls at one of Oxford station's two existing through platforms
THE main building at Oxford railway station could be knocked down to make way for new platforms under plans being considered by transport bosses.

The major redevelopment would see four through platforms ^ with no dead ends ^ built to solve what officials see as a major regional bottleneck.

County councillor Rodney Rose, responsible for Oxfordshire^s transport infrastructure, said the project was the only long-term solution to create enough capacity on Oxfordshire^s Rail network.


The proposal is put forward in a new county council rail strategy covering the next 22 years, which lists a station revamp by 2018 as the ^top priority^.

Under the proposal, the existing station would be demolished with trains pulling up either side of two island platforms, boosting the flow of trains.

The council^s draft Rail Strategy and Delivery Plan, to be discussed by Cabinet today, calls for a new project board to oversee the station^s re-design and link it with scheduled work to electrify the track and update signalling.

The strategy says: ^Oxford station has been identified by Network Rail as being a significant constraint on the network and is our top priority for improvement.

^Once the ^850m redevelopment of Reading station is complete, this will become the biggest single capacity bottleneck in the Thames Valley and a major barrier to rail and economic growth.^

It goes on: ^It is predicted that the number of peak services using the station is close to the maximum that can be accommodated, before any additional passenger or freight growth.^

In 2010, less ambitious plans to add an extra platform on the long stay car park were axed when County Hall lost millions of pounds of Government funding.

Network Rail is still committed to the project, and has asked for funding between 2014 and 2019.

But Mr Rose said in the longer term, the complete redesign of the station was needed.

He said: ^I still think this is something we should push for.

^Oxford is going to be the major bottleneck, and if East-West Rail goes through it will make it even worse.^

Network Rail spokesman Sam Kelly said a complete rebuild was not part of its current plans, but it would ^gladly discuss it^ with the council.

She added: ^In terms of the station itself, we will be working with First Great Western, Oxfordshire County Council and Oxford City Council to review passenger flow through the station to provide better facilities in the future.

^With regards to the railway itself, our plans over the coming years will provide the capacity need for the future.^

First Great Western would not comment on the plans, but said stakeholders and rail users should ^make their aspirations known^ ahead of its attempt to regain the franchise to run trains to London from April 2013.

Chiltern Railways has its own separate plans to build two new platforms on the old parcels platform and part of the short stay car park to serve its new Evergreen 3 link to London via Bicester.

The council^s new rail strategy includes other ambitious projects.

It says ^the time is right to look at again at the potential of a Grove & Wantage station^ and that a train service could be offered by firms competing to win the Great Western franchise in 2013.

And it commits the council to investigate reinstatement of the rail link between Oxford, Witney and Carterton, to improve connections with the west Oxfordshire towns and RAF^▸ (Royal Air Force) Brize Norton.

The public will be able to have their say on the proposals in a consultation process due to start next month.

RAIL STRATEGY PRIORITIES

• Major projects already set to go ahead include electrification, the creation of the Evergreen 3 link from Oxford to Bicester, the East-West rail link, and ^5.6m redevelopment of Didcot Parkway forecourt
• A new masterplan for Oxford railway station, the re-development of Frideswide Square and integration of the station into the West End redevelopment
• More parking and bus facilities proposed for Bicester Town station, with a link to Bicester North. There is potential for rail freight facility at Graven Hill, using the Bicester Military Railway network.
• Opening a railway station near Grove and Wantage to serve Science Vale UK^▸ (United Kingdom)
• Redesign of Banbury station forecourt
• Improve buses from Witney to Hanborough station, and investigate long-term reinstatement of a rail link from Oxford to Witney and Carterton
• Improve parking and public transport links to stations in the Cotswolds