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Post by wirewiper on Apr 4, 2023 16:48:22 GMT
The line between Didcot Parkway and Oxford has been closed to all trains until further notice. This is due to the condition of the viaduct over the River Thames at Nuneham, between Culham and Radley, which Network Rail has been monitoring for movement for some time. This has worsened in recent weeks, and from Monday (3rd April) Network Rail has closed the line whilst remedial works are done to stabilise the structure. Great Western Railway trains between London Paddington and Oxford, Worcester and Hereford will mostly terminate at Didcot Parkway. Trains will also operate between Oxford, Worcester and Hereford although some timings may be different. Cross Country Trains will operate hourly between Oxford, Birmingham New Street and Manchester Piccadilly. An emergency service (roughly one train every two hours) will operate between Didcot Parkway and Bournemouth. A very limited rail replacement bus service will operate between Didcot Parkway and Oxford. Passengers are asked to use alternative rail routes wherever possible; ticket acceptance is in place with Avanti West Coast, Chiltern Railways, London Midland Railways and South Western Railways, and London Underground will pass passengers who need to cross London. Rail tickets are also being accepted on Thames Travel buses X2 and X32 between Didcot and Oxford; and on Stagecoach route S6 between Oxford and Swindon. www.gwr.com/oxford-updatewww.crosscountrytrains.co.uk/disruption |
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Post by thewintersoldier on Apr 5, 2023 6:01:37 GMT
The line between Didcot Parkway and Oxford has been closed to all trains until further notice. This is due to the condition of the viaduct over the River Thames at Nuneham, between Culham and Radley, which Network Rail has been monitoring for movement for some time. This has worsened in recent weeks, and from Monday (3rd April) Network Rail has closed the line whilst remedial works are done to stabilise the structure. Great Western Railway trains between London Paddington and Oxford, Worcester and Hereford will mostly terminate at Didcot Parkway. Trains will also operate between Oxford, Worcester and Hereford although some timings may be different. Cross Country Trains will operate hourly between Oxford, Birmingham New Street and Manchester Piccadilly. An emergency service (roughly one train every two hours) will operate between Didcot Parkway and Bournemouth. A very limited rail replacement bus service will operate between Didcot Parkway and Oxford. Passengers are asked to use alternative rail routes wherever possible; ticket acceptance is in place with Avanti West Coast, Chiltern Railways, London Midland Railways and South Western Railways, and London Underground will pass passengers who need to cross London. Rail tickets are also being accepted on Thames Travel buses X2 and X32 between Didcot and Oxford; and on Stagecoach route S6 between Oxford and Swindon. www.gwr.com/oxford-updatewww.crosscountrytrains.co.uk/disruptionI’m not looking forward to the next few weeks as a Chiltern driver. We struggle with capacity already due to a shortage of units. We can’t take the extra loadings |
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Post by thewintersoldier on Apr 6, 2023 12:54:14 GMT
Chiltern internal comms
“We are working on plans to provide more capacity for customers using our services to/from Oxford following the closure of the Great Western route from Oxford to London due to a viaduct needing to be repaired. The repair is expected to take several weeks – we don’t have a date for completion yet - so we are planning to run some additional services from Monday 17 April, when people return to work after the Easter holidays. We will share more details early next week”
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Post by VPL630 on Apr 6, 2023 18:12:49 GMT
I would upload a picture of it but keep getting an error message “Error: This forum has exceeded its attachment space limit”
The damage done looks like this bridge is going to be out for a considerable amount of time, how they will fix it I’m not sure but it’s been sinking for a long time
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Post by thewintersoldier on Apr 6, 2023 20:06:11 GMT
I would upload a picture of it but keep getting an error message “Error: This forum has exceeded its attachment space limit” The damage done looks like this bridge is going to be out for a considerable amount of time, how they will fix it I’m not sure but it’s been sinking for a long time Hearing June for a fix now 😟 |
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Post by MetrolineGA1511 on Apr 15, 2023 20:03:05 GMT
I would upload a picture of it but keep getting an error message “Error: This forum has exceeded its attachment space limit” The damage done looks like this bridge is going to be out for a considerable amount of time, how they will fix it I’m not sure but it’s been sinking for a long time Hearing June for a fix now 😟 Yes, I've heard June as the potential reopening date. I heard on BBC Radio Oxford that Chiltern were requesting people to avoid using them for Oxford-London journeys if their journeys were not essential. I doubt many people will until they have experienced hopelessly overcrowded services. |
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Post by thewintersoldier on Apr 15, 2023 23:56:14 GMT
Hearing June for a fix now 😟 Yes, I've heard June as the potential reopening date. I heard on BBC Radio Oxford that Chiltern were requesting people to avoid using them for Oxford-London journeys if their journeys were not essential. I doubt many people will until they have experienced hopelessly overcrowded services. June 10th potential reopening. Yep. Today was probably busier than it was on Good Friday. There’s additional capacity being released now with a third loco set being introduced on the London - Birmingham runs to enable 6 carriages to be freed up to attach to existing London - Oxford runs. It won’t be enough sadly but chiltern don’t have any spare units lying around |
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Post by VPL630 on Apr 18, 2023 14:28:31 GMT
There have been some interesting vehicles running on the rail replacement, today I had one of the Oxford Tube Volvo B11RLE Plaxton Panorama‘s but also seen London Bus group out with their DB300/Gemini 2 a few days ago, it’s mainly coaches but with a few exceptions
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Post by wirewiper on Jun 9, 2023 15:59:03 GMT
Good news - the line reopened during the morning of Friday 9th June and some freight trains have already returned to the route. GWR has been running an hourly shuttle train service between Didcot Parkway and Oxford - it started from around 10.00 and will continue until around 20.00.
Normal services will resume on GWR and Cross Country Trains through Oxford tomorrow, Saturday 10th June (as had been intended originally) and the rail replacement buses will no longer operate.
There will be a further closure through Oxford between 29th July and 6th August 2023 as part of the reconstruction of Oxford Station, and a further four-day closure in August 2024 as the Botley Road bridge is replaced.
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Post by VPL630 on Jun 16, 2023 17:54:53 GMT
Good news - the line reopened during the morning of Friday 9th June and some freight trains have already returned to the route. GWR has been running an hourly shuttle train service between Didcot Parkway and Oxford - it started from around 10.00 and will continue until around 20.00. Normal services will resume on GWR and Cross Country Trains through Oxford tomorrow, Saturday 10th June (as had been intended originally) and the rail replacement buses will no longer operate. There will be a further closure through Oxford between 29th July and 6th August 2023 as part of the reconstruction of Oxford Station, and a further four-day closure in August 2024 as the Botley Road bridge is replaced. So today I actually drove a train over it and to the surprise of my Instructor sitting next to me there was no noticeable dip like there was before the bridge collapse, so it seems as if they have done a good job, let’s just hope it stays that way and hopefully the speed restriction will be removed soon, still quite a bit of cleanup work required but not sure if they are planning anything more long term |
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Post by VPL630 on Jul 4, 2023 7:43:38 GMT
Back up to full line speed now, looking promising
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