Place Bicester Station code BIT DfT category F1 Original company Buckinghamshire Railway | Grid reference SP586219 Managed by Chiltern Railways 2011/12 0.213 million Number of platforms 2 | |
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Address 6HB, Station Approach, Bicester OX26, United Kingdom Similar Bicester North railway st, Oxford Parkway railway st, Islip railway station, Bicester Village, Oxford railway station | ||
Bicester village railway station 2 days before opening
Bicester Village (previously Bicester Town 1987–2015, Bicester London Road 1954–1987, Bicester 1850–1954) is the smaller of two railway stations serving the town of Bicester in Oxfordshire (the larger is Bicester North). It is 12 miles (19 km) northeast of Oxford on the Oxford to Bletchley line near its junction with the Chiltern Main Line. The renamed Bicester Village station reopened on 25 October 2015 with trains initially running between Oxford Parkway and London Marylebone. All trains serving it are operated by Chiltern Railways.
Contents
History
The Buckinghamshire Railway, which already had a route between Bletchley and Banbury, had powers to build a line to Oxford. The first part of this line, from a junction to the west of Winslow (at a point which became known as Verney Junction) as far as Islip, opened on 1 October 1850, and this included a station at Bicester. Originally named "Bicester", the station was renamed "Bicester London Road" in March 1954, although the nameboards were not altered until 20 September 1954.
There was another track in front of the platform, beside the passenger and freight running line. This was the long reversing siding for the Bicester Military Railway, serving the local MOD depot.
1968 closure
The station was closed, along with the rest of the Oxford–Bletchley section of the Varsity Line, on 1 January 1968. However, the station was used by several excursion trains through the 1970s and 1980s.
1987 reopening
Network SouthEast reopened the station as "Bicester Town" on 11 May 1987, as the terminus of the Oxford to Bicester Line. From May 2009 First Great Western and Oxfordshire County Council branded the line "The Bicester Link". Since then operation of the line has been transferred from FGW to Chiltern Railways.
Since 1987 the frequency of trains varied and passenger numbers fluctuated accordingly. In the four years 2007–2011, more frequent trains increased the total number of passengers using Bicester Town by 258%.
In August 2008 Chiltern Railways announced a proposal to build a new 1⁄4 mile (400 m) chord to link the Oxford to Bicester Line with the Chiltern Main Line to carry a new service between Oxford and London via High Wycombe. The single line between Bicester Town and Oxford was to be doubled and a new station built at Oxford Parkway. Approval was granted in October 2012.
From December 2008 the service on Mondays to Saturdays was improved with an evening service and a doubling of the service on Saturdays. The service was increased to 11 trains (12 on Fridays) on weekdays and 13 on Saturdays. From May 2009, further improvements saw extra trains in the daytime on Mondays to Fridays and a new all-year round Sunday service, with trains every 90 minutes.
On 22 May 2011 Chiltern Railways took over all passenger operations from First Great Western ahead of the new service between London Marylebone and Oxford that was due to start in 2013. It was later amended to 2015.
2014 closure for rebuild, 2015 reopening
The station closed on 15 February 2014 (the last trains having run late on 14 February) in order to allow upgrade of the line between Oxford and Bicester. The reopening, first planned for May 2015, was delayed until 25 October 2015 with the official ceremony the following day.
On 12 March 2015 Chiltern Railways announced that it would rename the station Bicester Village after the nearby designer retail outlet. This change has been seen as controversial by many who live in Bicester who thought that it had taken place without proper consultation.
Before it closed for the rebuild, the station had one platform, a covered waiting area, seats, a clock, help point and public address. There were a number of cycle stands but no ticket facilities. Passengers could buy these on the train instead. As part of the works the station was completely rebuilt as a two-platform station.
Station facilities
The station has two car parks; between them they provide 230 standard spaces, plus 18 spaces for passengers with reduced mobility. The station also has parking for 60 pedal cycles and 18 motorcycles.
Services
The station is served by a half-hourly service between London Marylebone and Oxford.
Future services
As of December 2016, the line eastward towards Bletchley is formally mothballed but actually unusable. However work is in progress to rebuild the line so that the Oxford–Bicester service may be extended to Milton Keynes Central and Bedford via Winslow and Bletchley.
Once the East West Rail Link is running, it is also planned to be served by an hourly Reading—Bedford service and an hourly Reading–Milton Keynes Central service, bringing the total number of trains to Oxford to four per hour, several times the frequency it had before rebuilding.