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Tuesday 22 Nov 2016

Railway upgrade completed ahead of historic Oxford-London Marylebone train service launch

Region & Route:

| North West & Central

• Latest segment of Britain’s Railway Upgrade Plan - delivered on time and on budget 
• Scheme conceived by Chiltern Railways based on its customers’ wishes - then delivered by Network Rail
• Historic: first new rail link between London and a major city for more than 100 years

Chiltern Railways has begun the final countdown to the launch of its historic new train service between central Oxford and London Marylebone - after Network Rail engineers finished their latest railway upgrade on time and on budget.

A new section of track between the old Oxford station, in the city centre, and the new Oxford Parkway station, on the outskirts, was completed at 2.37am yesterday (Mon 21 Nov).

With the new infrastructure now successfully commissioned, Chiltern’s direct connection between central Oxford and London is almost a reality.

Chiltern Railways will launch its new service - two fast trains an hour to and fro - on Monday 12 December.

On that day history will be made: this is the first new rail link between London and major British city for more than 100 years.

Train passengers will then have two ways to get to London - via Bicester into London Marylebone or on the existing route via Reading into London Paddington.

This is the latest service improvement for customers resulting from Britain’s Railway Upgrade Plan. 

It was made possible by a £320m joint investment by Network Rail and Chiltern Railways.

Chiltern conceived the plan for the new route based on what its customers wanted. 

They later teamed up with Network Rail, who brought the infrastructure skills and experience needed to ensure the scheme was delivered on time and on budget. 

Martin Frobisher, route managing director for Network Rail's London North Western route, said: "This paves the way for our partners Chiltern Railways to launch their new central Oxford-to-London Marylebone services in December.

"This railway upgrade will boost business and create exciting new opportunities for people in the Oxford region."

Dave Penney, managing director of Chiltern Railways, said: “Over 10 years in the making, this is a major milestone for both Network Rail and Chiltern Railways with less than a month to go before the launch of services from Oxford city centre.  

“The current service from Oxford Parkway has been phenomenally successful with over 1.5 million passengers using the line to date.  The completion of the historic project allows provides an alternative route to London for over 100,000 people and reopens a key commuting line between the growing town of Bicester and Oxford.”

As well as new services for customers, the project has also seen new stations built, Oxford Parkway and Bicester Village.

In December 2015 a new service between Oxford Parkway and London Marylebone was launched. A new station on the outskirts of the city, Oxford Parkway is designed to be attractive to motorists who want easy access to the railway. Immediately adjacent to the congested A34, it is close to the A40 and A44 trunk roads and has 1,500 car parking spaces on site.