Upgrading of railway line confirmed.
You may be interested to read the following article appearing in the Witney Gazette
Cotswold upgrade welcomed
9:44am Friday 31st October 2008
By George Hamilton »
A decision to upgrade parts of the Cotswold Line between Oxford and Worcester was welcomed by rail campaigners.
The Office of Rail Regulation issued its final determination document yesterday which outlined how much money Network Rail will have to spend between 2009 and 2014.
The document gave final confirmation Network Rail would be allocated funds to transform just under 20 miles of single track into twin tracks along the Cotswold Line.
Derek Potter, chairman of the Cotswold Line Promotion Group, said he hoped the move would improve the ‘patchy’ service from train operator First Great Western He said: “It is good news. What we should get is reliability. If you turn up for a train at 7.05am it should be there at 7.05am, not 7.10am or 7.15am or not at all.”
Under the Network Rail proposals, about five miles of track from just East of Charlbury to Ascott-under-Wychwood and another 15 miles between Moreton-in-Marsh and Evesham will have extra tracks fitted.
An 11-mile stretch between Ascott-under-Wychwood and Moreton-in-Marsh already has double tracks.
The section between Wolvercote junction and Charlbury will remain single track.
A First Great Western spokesman said the company felt the move would improve reliability.
Network Rail’s original strategic business plan, which was submitted to ORR, put the cost of the improvements at £51m, with work scheduled to begin next year and be completed by 2010.
In July, the ORR indicated it would back the plan but said it believed the work could be completed for £48m.
A Network Rail spokesman said the organisation would study the ORR document to consider its implications for passengers, freight users and the company as a whole
Posted by Helen Bessemer-Clark, PTR, Charlbury Town Council
Helen Bessemer-Clark · Fri 31 Oct 2008, 13:36 · Link