Train services will be suspended between Charlbury, Moreton-in-Marsh and Evesham for four days just before Easter while Network Rail replaces life-expired track at Ascott-under-Wychwood and Honeybourne.
And there will be a further five-day closure between Evesham and Worcester Shrub Hill and between Cheltenham Spa and Worcester Shrub Hill from Monday, April 22, to Friday, April 26.
During the work in March, buses will replace trains at all stations between Charlbury and Worcester Shrub Hill on Sunday, March 24, and then between Charlbury, Moreton-in-Marsh and Evesham from Monday, March 25, to Wednesday, March 27, inclusive.
Trains will continue to operate between Charlbury, Oxford, Reading and London and between Evesham, Worcester and Hereford on the three weekdays.
Normal Cotswold Line services will resume on the whole route on Thursday, March 28.
Passengers are advised to check all train times, and those for replacement buses, using online journey planners or at staffed stations, as revised timetables will apply during the project, with fewer peak services running between Charlbury, Oxford and London.
To maintain links between Hereford, Malvern, Worcester and London during the morning and evening peak periods, the 05.23 train from Hereford to London will be diverted beyond Worcester Shrub Hill to reach London Paddington via Swindon and the 17.32 from Paddington to Hereford will also be diverted to run to Worcester via Swindon.
During the April closure, trains will operate between London Paddington and Evesham, with buses replacing trains at stations between Evesham and Worcester Foregate Street, and GWR trains between Cheltenham Spa and Worcester, where passengers will be able to connect to and from West Midlands Railway trains on the route between Birmingham, Great Malvern and Hereford.
CrossCountry Trains services at Worcestershire Parkway and Ashchurch for Tewkesbury will operate normally during this period.
Click here for more information from GWR about travel arrangements during both these periods of major engineering work.
In addition, there will be changes to late-evening services on the Cotswold Line between Monday, April 15, and Thursday, April 18, due to track maintenance work. The 21.53 London Paddington to Worcester Shrub Hill will call additionally at Didcot Parkway, to connect with a train to Oxford, and will then be diverted to run non-stop to Worcester. A replacement bus will run from Oxford to Worcester. The 22.51 from Paddington to Worcestershire Parkway will terminate at Oxford, with a bus running from Oxford to Worcestershire Parkway, and the 22.00 from Hereford to Paddington will terminate at Worcester Shrub Hill and restart from Oxford with a bus running non-stop from Worcester to Oxford to connect into the train. A separate replacement bus will run from Worcester to serve intermediate stations to Oxford.
- There will be two further periods of major engineering work affecting Cotswold Line services during the summer. No trains will operate through Oxford from Saturday, July 27, to Wednesday, July 31, inclusive, while Network Rail installs a new bridge over Botley Road at the south end of Oxford station, and there will be another closure of the line between Charlbury and Moreton-in-Marsh running from Monday, August 12, to Thursday, August 15.
Picture: Network Rail