Residents' views sought on Launton and Bicester railway crossings

Friday 14 Nov 2014

Residents' views sought on Launton and Bicester railway crossings

Region & Route:: | Wales & Western: Western; | Wales & Western

Residents from Launton and Bicester will have the opportunity to give their views on how railway crossing safety can be improved in their area by attending a public consultation event on Wednesday 19 November.

As part of the East West Rail project, Network Rail is undertaking a study looking at how to make the planned reinstated railway between Bletchley and Bicester safe for everyone to use.

The study covers public road and footpath crossings as well as private farm crossings in the area. The crossings being considered are those along the railway between Launton and Bicester.

Charles Hurst, Network Rail’s project manager for East West Rail, said: “Safety on and around the railway is a top priority for us. The East West Rail project will open up many new journey opportunities, but we want to make sure that the reinstated sections of railway are safe for everyone to use, which is why we are undertaking this study.

“So far, we have discussed our initial proposals with the local authority, landowners and ramblers, but we are keen to hear the wider community’s views. This event gives us the chance to share our initial plans with residents and invite them to give us the benefit of their local knowledge and experience.”

Details of the public consultation event are as follows:

Date: Wednesday 19 November
Time: Drop-in anytime between 5.00 and 8.00pm
Location: Launton Sports and Social Club, Bicester Road, Bicester, OX26 5DP

Notes to editors

The East West Rail project plans to reintroduce passenger and freight services between Bedford and Oxford, and between Aylesbury and Milton Keynes. It will connect the Great Western, West Coast and Midland main lines, creating many new journey opportunities, reducing journey times and avoiding the need to travel via London.

The work involves re-constructing and upgrading disused and underused sections of track and signalling between Bletchley and Claydon junctions and upgrading other sections of the line.

For more information about East West Rail, visit www.eastwestrail.org.uk.

Contact information

Passengers / community members
Network Rail national helpline
03457 11 41 41

Latest travel advice
Please visit National Rail Enquiries

Journalists
Network Rail press office - South East route
020 3357 7969
southeastroutecomms@networkrail.co.uk

About Network Rail

We own, operate and develop Britain's railway infrastructure; that's 20,000 miles of track, 30,000 bridges, tunnels and viaducts and the thousands of signals, level crossings and stations. We run 20 of the UK's largest stations while all the others, over 2,500, are run by the country's train operating companies.

Usually, there are almost five million journeys made in the UK and over 600 freight trains run on the network. People depend on Britain's railway for their daily commute, to visit friends and loved ones and to get them home safe every day. Our role is to deliver a safe and reliable railway, so we carefully manage and deliver thousands of projects every year that form part of the multi-billion pound Railway Upgrade Plan, to grow and expand the nation's railway network to respond to the tremendous growth and demand the railway has experienced - a doubling of passenger journeys over the past 20 years.

Media centre