Chiltern Railways' £250m investment
Chiltern Railways has announced plans to build a new rail link from London's Marylebone station to Oxford.
The project, "scheduled to be complete by 2013", involves building 0.5 miles of new track to enable the Oxford connection, linking existing lines at Bicester.
Subject to Transport and Works Act approval, it will be the first new rail link from London to a major British city since the "Bicester cut-off" was opened in 1910.
The new link will go into Water Eaton Parkway in North Oxford, an integrated transport hub, linked to the A34, A40 and Oxford city centre.
The new link is part of a £250m development plan for Chiltern, which will include an upgrade of the Chiltern Railways route, between Marylebone and Birmingham. More than 50 miles of track will be upgraded to 100mph running.
The work will decrease journey times by as much as 20%, from 2011. As an example Birmingham Moor Street to London Marylebone will take 100 minutes, compared to the current 128.
Adrian Shooter (pictured), chairman of Chiltern Railways, said: "This is the biggest passenger rail project for several generations not to call on the taxpayer for support.
The project will initially be paid for by Network Rail, who will be repaid by Chiltern Railways over 30 years through a "facility charge". The Department for Transport has said that any future franchisee will retain this liability.
"Working closely with Network Rail, we are going to create a new main line railway for the people of Oxfordshire and the Midlands.
"This deal demonstrates that real improvements to rail services can be paid for without public subsidy by attracting people out of their cars and onto trains."
Main line style carriages will also be introduced on the Birmingham route, plus additional platforms will be opened at Birmingham Moor Street station.
Chiltern Railways is owned by Deutsche Bahn AG and is part of DB Regio, Deutsche Bahn's local and regional service provider.
www.chilternrailways.co.uk