A public inquiry is under way into Network Rail’s £69 million plan to redevelop Oxford station with a new entrance and additional platform. The inquiry is scheduled to last until December 17.
A second station entrance would be built on the west side. The plan also includes a full-length platform canopy, waiting room, cafe, toilets, and offices for staff.
The entrance on Botley Road would be linked to the new platform by a subway.
The fifth platform would enable the station to accommodate services on East West Rail between Oxford, Milton Keynes and Bedford.
A new, wider rail bridge over Botley Road would include a cycle and footway on each side. It would also mean double-decker buses could pass underneath for the first time.
If the plans are approved, Network Rail would bid for further funding from the Department for Transport, which is “expected” in spring 2022. Construction could start next year and be completed by the end of 2024.
To read the full sotry, see RAIL 946
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Bob McIntyre - 10/12/2021 11:51
As someone who travels into Oxford along Botley Road on an ordinary Stagecoach double decker bus, I should point out that I am still waiting for the top to be sliced off by the railway bridge. The bridge was lowered a long time ago to accommodate buses and has pumps in the bottom for when heavy rain occurs. The issue here is that adding an extra line/platform will require the bridge to be extended to the west and Botley Road will have to be deepened to accommodate it. What worries many of us is that it will involve more digging down into the flood plane where the water table is already very high and when the pumps go wrong one of the main arteries into a city which already has sclerosis, will shut. And the road will also have to be made steeper on the west side and thus more dangerous than it is now for cyclists.
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