Train services, including those from the Cotswold Line, will not be able to run through the Oxford area from nine days in late July and early August.
Network Rail is closing the main line through the city, and Oxford station, from Saturday, July 29, until Sunday, August 6, inclusive, with buses replacing trains between Hanborough and Oxford, between Banbury, Oxford and Didcot and between Oxford and Oxford Parkway.
During the closure, Network Rail will be installing new high-speed points at Oxford North junction, where the line to Bicester diverges, as part of the preparations for the opening of the East West Rail link from Bicester to Milton Keynes late next year, moving some signal cables and altering the Osney Lane footbridge south of the station to make room for track to serve the new platform 5, which will be built at the west side of the station.
Some follow-up work will take place at weekends until October, with Oxford station also closed on the following dates:
- Sunday, August 13
- Sunday, September 10
- Sunday 17 September, until 8.40am
- Sunday, October 15
Click here for more information about the project and links to the GWR, CrossCountry and Chiltern Railways websites for more information about changes to train services and replacement buses during the work.
There will be another extended closure at Oxford station in summer next year, when the new rail bridge over Botley Road, at the south end of the station, will be installed and track laid into platform 5.
Picture: Network Rail