Railway closure starts this weekend
Railway upgrade work in Oxford means services through Charlbury will be curtailed or not running throughout July. The changes are explained in full at www.gwr.com/oxford2018 , but in summary:
- Sat 7-Sun 8: no trains Moreton-Charlbury-Oxford
- Mon 9-Fri 13: no trains Hanborough-Oxford
- Sat 14-Sun 15: no trains Moreton-Charlbury-Oxford
- Mon 16-Fri 20: no trains Hanborough-Oxford
- Sat 21-Sun 22: no trains Moreton-Charlbury-Oxford
- Mon 23-Fri 27: normal service
- Sat 28-Sun 29: no trains Moreton-Charlbury-Oxford
On weekdays, trains will run from Charlbury to Hanborough, from where buses will run to Oxford Parkway; to Oxford; and to Didcot Parkway (for London services, with the Oxford-Didcot line also being closed).
At weekends, buses will run from Nine Acres Lane outside the Scout Hut to Oxford. Further buses will run from Oxford to Didcot. (There will be a shuttle minibus between Charlbury station and Nine Acres Lane; the main coaches are not permitted to cross the river bridge.)
All train and bus times are loaded on www.nationalrail.co.uk which is probably the easiest way to plan a journey. For weekday journeys to London, the Hanborough-Oxford Parkway bus, then train to Marylebone, is almost always fastest.
Tickets to London will be valid via Oxford Parkway. Rail tickets will also be accepted on the S3 and 7 buses. This makes an additional weekday journey to London possible with only one change: leave on the 06.20 bus from the Bell, arr. Oxford Parkway 07.06, dep. by train 07.25, arr. Marylebone 08.20; return dep. Marylebone 17.18, arr. Oxford Parkway 18.16, dep. by bus 18.48, arr. Wychwood Close 19.30.
West of Charlbury, train services will run to Worcester/Hereford during the closures, starting at Hanborough on weekdays and Moreton at weekends. These will principally be Turbos but may include Intercity Express trains on weekdays.
Richard Fairhurst · Wed 4 Jul 2018, 10:43 · Link