Station code BCS DfT category D Number of platforms 2 | Grid reference SP585231 2011/12 1.356 million | |
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Similar Bicester Village railway st, Marylebone station, High Wycombe railway st, Bicester Village, Haddenham & Thame Parkway r | ||
Bicester North /ˈbɪstər/ is a station on the Chiltern Main Line, one of two stations serving Bicester in Oxfordshire. Services operated by Chiltern Railways run south to London Marylebone and north to Banbury, Birmingham Snow Hill and Stratford-upon-Avon.
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Bicester North is one of Bicester's two stations. The other is Bicester Village on the Oxford to London Marylebone Line.
History
The 'Bicester cut-off' between Ashendon Junction and Aynho Junction was opened in 1910 - the final main-line stretch of route to be completed in Britain until the 1980s. This provided a shortening of the London-to-Birmingham GWR main rail line, and also gave Bicester a station with direct London trains for the first time.
The station was transferred from the Western Region of British Rail to the London Midland Region on 24 March 1974.
In recent years passenger traffic at Bicester North has grown rapidly. In the seven years 2003–10 the number of passengers using the station increased by 89%.
Services
The Monday - Friday off-peak service consists of:
Additional services run at peak hours, and other timetabled services run at weekends.
Improvement works
In 2010 the down line through the station was realigned for higher speeds, as part of the Evergreen 3 project. In 2011, the up (southbound) platform was widened, using the trackbed of the former through lines.