Bicester Village railway station

History

The Buckinghamshire Railway, which already had a route between and Banbury, had powers to build a line to Oxford. The first part of this line, which ran from a junction to the west of (at a point which became known as ) to , opened on 1 October 1850, and this included a station at Bicester. (At its maximum extent, the line extended from Oxford to and thus became known as the Varsity line). Originally named "Bicester", the station was renamed "Bicester London Road" in March 1954,

1968 closure

Main article: Varsity Line#Rationalisation and extensive section closures

The station was closed, along with the rest of the Oxford–Bletchley section of the Varsity Line, on 1 January 1968. However, the station was used by several excursion trains through the 1970s and 1980s.

1987 reopening

Network SouthEast reopened the station as "Bicester Town" on 11 May 1987, as the terminus of the Oxford to Bicester Line. From May 2009, First Great Western and Oxfordshire County Council branded the line "The Bicester Link". Since then, operation of the line has been transferred from FGW to Chiltern Railways.

Since 1987, the frequency of trains has varied and passenger numbers have fluctuated accordingly. In the four years 2007–2011, more frequent trains led to an increase in the total number of passengers using Bicester Town by 258%.Office of the Rail Regulator data: 04/05, 50,197; 05/06, 48,685; 06/07, 43,950; 07/08, 51,902; 08/09, 59,964; 09/10, 105,000; 10/11, 157,000.

In August 2008, Chiltern Railways announced a proposal to build a new 1/4 mi chord to link the Oxford-to-Bicester Line with the Chiltern Main Line to carry a new service between Oxford and London via . The single line between Bicester Town and Oxford was to be doubled and a new station built at . Approval was granted in October 2012.

From December 2008, the service on Mondays to Saturdays was improved, with an evening service and a doubling of the service on Saturdays. The service was increased to 11 trains Monday-to-Thursday, 12 on Fridays, and 13 on Saturdays. From May 2009, further improvements saw extra trains in the daytime on Mondays to Fridays and a new all-year-round Sunday service, with trains every 90 minutes.

On 22 May 2011, Chiltern Railways took over all passenger operations from First Great Western ahead of the new service between and Oxford that was due to start in 2013. It was later amended to 2015.

2014 closure for rebuild, 2015 reopening

The last trains ran late on 14 February 2014 before the station was closed to allow upgrade of the line between Oxford and Bicester. The reopening, first planned for May 2015, was delayed until 25 October 2015 with the official ceremony the following day.

On 12 March 2015, Chiltern Railways announced that it would rename the station Bicester Village after the nearby designer retail outlet. This change has been seen as controversial by many who live in Bicester who thought that it had taken place without proper consultation. The outlet's presence has also led to the use of Arabic and Chinese language signage and station calls in Mandarin to aid foreign travelers.

Before it closed for the rebuild, the station had one platform, a covered waiting area, seats, a clock, help point and public address. There were a number of cycle stands but no ticket facilities. Passengers could buy these on the train instead. As part of the works, the station was completely rebuilt as a two-platform station, and ticket machines provided.

Station facilities

The station has two car parks; between them they provide 230 standard spaces, plus 18 spaces for passengers with reduced mobility. The station also has parking for 60 pedal cycles and 18 motorcycles. There is a shuttle bus which connects the station to the shopping village while other services also serve the station.

Services

The station is served by a half-hourly service between and .

Future services

Main article: East West Rail

, the line eastward towards Bletchley is out of service while work is in progress on the section between Bicester and Bletchley. The route is scheduled to reopen by late 2024. Services are planned that will link Bicester to Winslow, Milton Keynes and Bedford.

Once East West Rail is running, an hourly service and half-hourly Oxford service are planned, bringing the total number of trains between Bicester Village and Oxford to five per hour, several times the service frequency it had before rebuilding.

References

Notes

References

1. "Chiltern Railways selected as operator for the first stage of East West Rail - Oxford to Milton Keynes". Chiltern Railways.
2. (July 2005). "Oxford to Bletchley". Middleton Press.
3. Butt, R.V.J.. (1995). "The Directory of Railway Stations". Patrick Stephens Ltd.
4. although the nameboards were not altered until 20 September 1954.{{harvnb. Mitchell. Smith. 2005
5. {{harvnb. Butt. 1995
6. [http://www.bicesterlink.info The Bicester Link] {{webarchive. link. (23 May 2009)
7. (18 October 2012). "Chiltern gets go-ahead for second Oxford-London rail link". Newsquest.
8. (23 February – 8 March 2011). "Chiltern to take over Bicester – Oxford trains". [[RAIL (magazine).
9. "Bicester – Oxford". [[Chiltern Railways]].
10. (14 February 2014). "Last train to run on Oxford to Bicester line before revamp". BBC News.
11. (11 February 2014). "Chiltern Railway". [[Newsquest]].
12. (25 October 2015). "Keen passengers board the first trains to leave Oxford Parkway". Witney Gazette.
13. (12 June 2015). "Bicester Village station structure complete". BBC News.
14. "October 2015 timetable {{!}} Chiltern Railways".
15. (12 March 2015). "Bicester Town station rebranded as Bicester Village". [[BBC]].
16. (12 March 2015). "Bicester Town station to be renamed Bicester Village after Chiltern Railways decision". Newsquest.
17. (12 March 2015). "Bicester Town station rebranded as Bicester Village". BBC News.
18. (21 April 2018). "Why do the Chinese love Bicester Village". [[BBC]].
19. "National Rail Enquiries – Station facilities for Bicester Village".
20. Personal email from a site engineer
21. "Project Overview: East West Rail is Connecting Oxford and Cambridge".