Not Much Going On At Oxford Station
Oxford station is being upgraded in two ways.
A New Southern Platform
According to this section on Further Expansion in Wikipedia, a new Southern platform is to be created on the Long Stay car park to the South of the station. This is said.
The new platform was to have been brought into use during 2011.
When I last looked this morning, we are now in 2015.
Project Evergreen 3
Chiltern Railways are implementing Project Evergreen 3 to bring services from Marylebone to Oxford. Wikipedia says that this is being done at Oxford station.
The scheme also includes two new platforms at Oxford station, to be built on the site of the disused parcels depot. The new platforms would initially be five carriages in length, but provision will be made for them to be extended southwards to eight carriages.
All this should be done by 2016. This article on Modern Railways gives more details about the proposed Chiltern service.
So when I arrived at Oxford station, I expected it to be a hive of activity. These are the pictures I took.
There isn’t even a man in an orange suit trying to look busy! Although the platforms were!
Perhaps this is how Oxford would like to welcome visitors? Hoping perhaps they might stay away!
I think one of the toughest jobs in the world must be a Project Manager in Network Rail. Passengers are rightly complaining that stations are cramped and need building or rebuilding and sometimes it’s impossible to get anything done for whatever reason. Then you have politicians on all sides complaining and saying it’s a total disgrace!
Hopefully Sir Peter Hendy and his new broom will go in to projects like Oxford station with all guns blazing and tell a few home truths.
I’m sure, if Oxford doesn’t want an updated station, then there are some nice projects in Birmingham, where the money would be appreciated.
Network Rail’s Problems In Oxford
Oxford is going to be a big rail hub with over the next few years the following projects being completed or at least underway.
1. Chiltern Railways from Oxford Parkway to Oxford station. Services to Oxford Parkway station will start on October 26th 2015, with services to Oxford city centre starting in spring 2016. I’ll believe the last part of that, when a Chiltern Railways train takes me to Oxford. When I visited in March 2015, little seemed to be happening at Oxford station in preparation for the arrival of this service.
2. Oxford station to be substantially upgraded with more platforms and possibly two island platforms for through trains. Again in March 2015, little seemed to be happening.
3. Chiltern Railways from Oxford station to the Science Park on the Cowley branch.
4. Electrification between Didcot and Oxford.
5. The creation of the East-West Rail Link
But according to the August 2015 of Modern Railways, they are having severe problems in the area North of the station, which I explored in a walk in March 2015. This is said.
On top of that, there is a hint of exasperation with the local authorities about the glacial pace of the planning process: it took two and a half years to get approval for a pedestrian crossing to replace a footbridge for Chiltern’s mew line to the city centre, because allotment holders used to wheeling barrows of compost across the line were complaining about the new up-and-down route they would have to take over the bridge. New railway staff accomodation in Oxford is mired in similar planning mud.
Cambridge have upgraded their railways in recent years, and although they have had delays on the new Cambridge North station, there doesn’t seem to have been the same planning mud.
The question has to be asked if the good burghers of Oxford would prefer that money was spent on improving transport infrastructure in more welcoming places. The writer obviously feels strongly as he goes on to say this.
While not wishing to stand in the way of democracy , Network Rail is pointing out that there is a window of opportunity for modernising the route to Oxford that could be lost unless local authorities embrace it wholeheatedly. With NR’s spending plans under pressure, there is a danger that Oxford will be put in the “too difficult” pigeonhole and the caravan will move on. Then it would really be back to the 1970s, with changing at Didcot becoming the best option to reach Paddington at some times of day.
I had a friend who lived in Oxford and he used to say that the Council liked to keep cars out of the City. Perhaps, it is more fundamental than that, and the Council would prefer to keep everybody out of the city, so they can continue to lead their cloistered lives, untroubled by the Twentieth Century, let alone the twenty-first.
Do the same people, who blame Network Rail for their well-documented problems, like these at Oxford and those at Manchester, fully support the improvements in the first place or do they really want money to be spent on their own pet projects?
We certainly need a planning system that allows people to air their views and protest, but also one that takes more account of the good of the majority after all contra-arguments have been rejected.
Oxford Station And Chiltern Trains
In a couple of years Chiltern Trains will go between London Marylebone and Oxford stations around the Bicester Chord. Wikipedia says this about how Oxford station will be expanded to accept the extra services.
The scheme also includes two new platforms at Oxford station, to be built on the site of the disused parcels depot. The new platforms would initially be five carriages in length, but provision will be made for them to be extended southwards to eight carriages.
These pictures show the Parcels Office.
I would suspect that any southward extension would use the car park.The Parcels Office is clearly shown in this Google Earth image of the station.
Oxford Station
Note the two coach train in Platform 3, by the Parcels Office, with the white flat roof on the northern end of the station.
Oxford Station
Oxford station shares a lot of similarities and problems with the station at Cambridge.
Both were badly designed when they were built and although Cambridge now has new platforms and a lot of rebuilding, Oxford is still in need of expansion.
These pictures show the current station at Oxford.
Oxford though has one problem that is nowhere near as bad at Cambridge; freight trains.
All of the issues at Oxford are set out in this document on the City of Oxford web site. It pays particular attention to the following.
1. East West Rail Link
2. Noise and Vibration in the area.
3. Freight Lengthening Project that will allow longer freight trains to go through the station, which has been completed.
4. Electrification
It doesn’t deal with new platforms at Oxford station for both Chiltern Railways and First Great Western.
The work for Chiltern Railways is shown in this post, whereas that for FGW is probabably more extensive and is described in this section in Wikipedia.
Oxford station will be a very different and busier station in the next few years.
3.
A Walk From Oxford Station
At Oxford station, I took a walk in a loop by the water and then along the railway, before crossing it on a bridge and returning along the Oxford Canal to the station.
It is a good walk, but it does need a few maps and fingerposts. This Google Earth image shows where I walked.
North Of Oxford Station
Note the bridge at the top and the station at the bottom.
I only took about an hour to do the walk and my main aim was to investigate the railway north of Oxford station, but Oxford station would certainly be a good place to start a walk either into the city or along the Thames or the Oxford Canal.
One thing that the walk showed me, was how much railway land there is in the area and with all the developments in services to the station, I’m sure it will be put to good use.
In some of the pictures you can see the Castle Mill development, which was nominated for the 2013 Carbuncle Cup.
From the railway side it looks fine, but I suspect from the river it grates in some peoples’ minds.
There is a noise debate rumbling on about the railway, which hopefully electrification will kill. But there will still be quite a few Class 66 hauled freight trains going through.
