Great Western Railway, Chiltern Railways and CrossCountry Trains at Oxford on December 10th 2022

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The final Video for 2022 on my channel comes from a very freezing cold morning at Oxford station on the Oxford Canal Line, Cotswolds Line, Cherwell Valley Line and Varsity Line
Featuring services from Great Western Railway, Chiltern Railways and CrossCountry Trains, one Freighter and the Midland Pullman HST from Holyhead to Bath Spa.
Oxford first opened on June 12th 1844 by the original GWR which was located in Western Road, Granpont however relocated to todays site on October 1st 1852 which as a result led to the former Terminus eventually became a goods depot however it was closed in 1872.
The present station of today has been refurbished several times over the decades firstly in 1971 by British Rail, 1990 by Network Southeast, 2011 was when the footbridge was replaced to enable Step Free Access and recently 2015 for the arrival of Chiltern Railways services from London Marylebone.
At the time of filming The station itself is due to undergo a major rebuild which is planned to be completed by December 2024
The work will be carried out by Network Rail which includes replacement and widening the underpass of Botley Road Bridge, Additional of Platform 5 alongside Platform 4, a new station building on western Entrance built on Western Road plus replacement of Sheepwash Bridge and Future Provison on the East Side for a long term option for a 6th Platform if it's decided to make one of the Bay Platforms a through platform.
However the day before filming it was announced by Oxford City Council that work was delayed due to the need to divert water, gas and electricity and the complex works on Botley Road Bridge although new arrangements are ongoing.
The station is managed by Great Western Railway since September 2016 however like some stations on GWR network surprisingly still retains some of the original First Great Western signage
The Bay Platforms 1 and 2 since December 2016 are nowadays used by Chiltern Railways provide an Half Hourly service from London Marylebone via High Wycombe
The former Varsity Line to Cambridge had been originally axed by Beeching however the first section between Bicester Village and Oxford was first reinstated to Oxford Parkway in October 2015 however due to difficulties with the Woolecote Tunnel and work on the chord junction to connect the Chiltern route into Oxford not being finished however it wasn't until December 2016 when full services from London Marylebone began running into Oxford.
Nowadays services are covered mostly by Class 165 Turbos or Class 168s Clubmans and Turbostars respectively.
Platforms 3 and 4 used by Great Western Railway and CrossCountry services which are split by through lines mostly used by Freight workings.
Main Great Western Railway services from London Paddington served by Class 800 or Class 802 IETs which provide an Half hourly service with terminating services to and from the reversing sidings although hourly services continue via the Cotswolds Line to destinations such as Worcester Shrub Hill, Worcester Foregate Street, Great Malvern and Hereford.
Other GWR services to and from Didcot Parkway are at present provided by Class 165 turbos operate the shuttle fast or stopping services with 1 train every 2 hours continuing on a stopping service to Banbury.
Although on Weekdays there are 2 trains a day to and from Banbury to London Paddington are provided by IETs although run non stop between Oxford and Banbury.
CrossCountry services are provided by Class 220 and 221 Voyagers to and from Manchester Piccadilly to Reading with 1 every two hours continuing to Bournemouth via Basingstoke.
When Electrification for the GWML announced in July 2009 it included plans to electrify the route from the GWML at Didcot East Jn to Oxford however due to the soaring costs of the GWML electrification project it was shelved in November 2016.
Although during the rebuild that steel pylons will be erected but not the overhead structures themselves because according to Network Rail it's part of future proofing the station if Electrification does happen in the future.
From 2025 Oxford station will become a major interchange for East West Rail which is at the time of filming link the first 2 sections of the original Varsity Line from Oxford and Aylesbury to Milton Keynes on the WCML and Bedford on the Marston Vale Line however long term connections to Cambridge via a new station North of Sandy remains a doubt.
In troubling times it's hard to know what Oxford Station will be like and if one day in the future whether it's overhead wires or other green resources from battery power to hydrogen power for the long term well only time will tell.
Music used:
JJD - Adventure
Music provided by NCS
Video link:
NoCopyrightSounds
kzbin.info/www/bejne/nGPbeKuabt2Dj6M
Filmed on Saturday December 10th 2022 on iPhone 14 Pro and edited on iMovie
#greatwesternrailway #oxford #Hitachi #gwr #oxfordshire #crosscountry #class43