Why some trains will not be stopping at Banbury

[whole diary]

[Chris from Nailsea]

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

Why some trains will not be stopping at Banbury

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New services between Oxford and Leamington will not stop at Banbury

An MP^▸ (Member of Parliament, or Mile Post (a method of measuring the railway in miles and chains from a starting point - usually London), depending on context) has written to a train company asking them to reconsider plans for new train services that will skip the town he represents.

Train operator CrossCountry announced a new timetable from 17 May, which includes new services running directly between Oxford and Leamington Spa - without stopping at Banbury.

The town's MP, Sean Woodcock, has questioned the decision, saying that overcrowding issues were "already a source of frustration" for commuters, and that having services skip the station could "only make things worse".

CrossCountry defended its new timetable, saying that its customers would "see no change" in the number of services from Banbury. It said the trains concerned were four extra long-distance services that would "provide more seats for people travelling long distances."

The rail company's service delivery director, Nick Westcott, said that having services skip Banbury would encourage "people travelling locally to use other trains. He added that Chiltern Railways was currently planning a "significant increase" to services between Banbury and Birmingham.

But Woodcock said the new trains were "plugging the gap" left by train services cut during the Covid-19 pandemic, which once contributed to a half-hourly fast service between Banbury and Oxford. The decision to skip Banbury means there will still be an hour's gap in services between the two Oxfordshire stations at certain times of the day.

"Passengers in Banbury will not see the same improvements in frequency and connectivity as those at other stations along the route," the MP said, in a letter to Cross Country's managing director Shiona Rolfe. "I would urge you to reconsider this approach and explore options to ensure that Banbury can share in the benefits of the revised timetable."

In response, the operator said that it "will continue to monitor passenger demand" at Banbury, and "welcome feedback on the changes".

A £16m pound scheme to improve access to Banbury Station was completed last year.

[ChrisB]

Oh dear - these are NOT new services, but reinstatement of some more Reading - North East services that were cut during the pandemic, and are slowly being reinstated.

They used to stop at Banbury.
My guess is that they see themselves as long distance services & don't like carting short-distance commuters taking up seats needed by their longer distance customers.

BUT many in Banbury want to travel to the north-east & obviously prefer doing so without having to change at Birmingham New Street. So now, to catch these additional trains, a change at Leamington Spa is needed off Chiltern trains used as connectors.

I support the request for the stopping pattern to be returned to what we had originally, but the MP^▸ (Member of Parliament, or Mile Post (a method of measuring the railway in miles and chains from a starting point - usually London), depending on context) has tried scoring cheap points by writing to XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)). Instead, having a chat with his mates in the DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) & getting them to issue XC with an instruction to stop would actually work far better & quicker.

[IndustryInsider]

I think the passenger flow between Banbury and Oxford deserves the two fast trains per hour that it had from Operation Princess in 2002 through to Covid.

I wouldn't mind quite so much if the ommission of Banbury meant faster journey times, but in all but one example they take just as long, if not longer, to get between Oxford<>Leamington Spa, with healthy allowances in the Banbury area.  And the 'perfect' commuter train that reaches Oxford at 08:39 from Leamington would be a particularly useful service from Banbury, but it will sail through at 08:20!

Heading north, there are 'new' trains from RDG^▸ (Rail Delivery Group, or Reading station, depending on context)/OXF^▸ (Oxford station) at:
09:44/10:12 to York
12:44/13:11 to Newcastle
18:45/19:11 to Newcastle

For Banbury passengers, there is the minor gain of one of those stopping at Banbury, at 13:32, to Newcastle.

That does however mean that from Reading to Oxford, heading north, it's back to a half hour service all day except for four gaps.  The old last northbound train at 21:46 from Reading has also not been reinstated.

[ChrisB]

And the 'perfect' commuter train that reaches Oxford at 08:39 from Leamington would be a particularly useful service from Banbury, but it will sail through at 08:20!

Hmmmm......Very few offices/workplaces can be reached from the station in 20mins....pushing it. It can take 5mins to get off the platform & out of the station to Park End Street. Most would stick with the arrival at 0815 as they do now.

Those that start after 0900 or are on flexi-time might avail themselves however.

[IndustryInsider]

And the 'perfect' commuter train that reaches Oxford at 08:39 from Leamington would be a particularly useful service from Banbury, but it will sail through at 08:20!

Hmmmm......Very few offices/workplaces can be reached from the station in 20mins....pushing it. It can take 5mins to get off the platform & out of the station to Park End Street. Most would stick with the arrival at 0815 as they do now.

Those that start after 0900 or are on flexi-time might avail themselves however.

Hmmmm, well I remember it used to be fairly popular, and flexi-time working has on course increased since Covid.  And it would take a bit of pressure of what is, I agree, the actual 'perfect' commuter train half an hour before. 

[TaplowGreen]

And the 'perfect' commuter train that reaches Oxford at 08:39 from Leamington would be a particularly useful service from Banbury, but it will sail through at 08:20!

Hmmmm......Very few offices/workplaces can be reached from the station in 20mins....pushing it. It can take 5mins to get off the platform & out of the station to Park End Street. Most would stick with the arrival at 0815 as they do now.

Those that start after 0900 or are on flexi-time might avail themselves however.

Hmmmm, well I remember it used to be fairly popular, and flexi-time working has on course increased since Covid.  And it would take a bit of pressure of what is, I agree, the actual 'perfect' commuter train half an hour before. 

Homeworking has increased considerably since COVID too, which may have changed commuter patterns.

[IndustryInsider]

Homeworking has increased considerably since COVID too, which may have changed commuter patterns.

Watching everyone pile off the 08:14 arrival from Banbury in the morning would suggest to me that on that particular route it is still very much appropriate to provide a service a 30 minute interval service. 

It uses up all, and often a little more, of its 2 minute dwell time in the station, as evidenced today:  https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:C72466/2026-04-29/detailed#allox_id=0

[John D]

And the 'perfect' commuter train that reaches Oxford at 08:39 from Leamington would be a particularly useful service from Banbury, but it will sail through at 08:20!

Hmmmm......Very few offices/workplaces can be reached from the station in 20mins....pushing it. It can take 5mins to get off the platform & out of the station to Park End Street. Most would stick with the arrival at 0815 as they do now.

Those that start after 0900 or are on flexi-time might avail themselves however.

Hmmmm, well I remember it used to be fairly popular, and flexi-time working has on course increased since Covid.  And it would take a bit of pressure of what is, I agree, the actual 'perfect' commuter train half an hour before. 

Homeworking has increased considerably since COVID too, which may have changed commuter patterns.

Apparently it peaked after covid pandemic, and is in decline as more companies want everyone back in the office, or back in for at least 4 days per week.

The latest stats I can find are just 4% of job vacancies allow fully remote working, and just 13% allow hybrid (mixed home and office) with flexible working now being restricted to flexing start and finish times.   Details on this are hard to get because most companies do not include maximum variation duration in job adverts, but data elsewhere seems to suggest 30mins or 1 hour max variation to office hours is common (and to fit in with nursery or transport requirements).

My own hunch is that some people waiting to travel off peak will not be able to because staying later at end of day would conflict with things like collecting children from nurseries /childminders by closing time etc.

Without wanting to go off topic, seems the railway operating Mon-Fri, Sat, Sun timetables, should now really be changed to Mon-Thur, Fri-Sat, Sun on many commuter routes, with 4 day peak extras.

[Oxonhutch]

Can it be anything to do with Banbury being a ticket split station with enormous price differentials? Pity if your train didn't stop, Sir...