Author: Emma Gascoigne

Witney and West Oxfordshire MP, Robert Courts recently arranged a meeting with the Rail Minister to discuss the North Cotswold Line Taskforce and how we can bring the North Cotswold line up to its full potential.

Robert strongly believes it is vital we make use of the rail infrastructure we already have by pushing for the upgrades stated above to the existing Cotswold Line and Hanborough Station which are costed, deliverable and within reach. These upgrades must be the priority of the County Council to deliver, any further “go slows” from the Liberal Democrats on these plans is unacceptable.

MP, Robert Courts said: “As the latest part of my campaign, I was delighted to welcome the North Cotswold Line Partnership to Parliament for discussions with the Rail Minister.

“The meeting was an incredibly important opportunity for myself and the Partnership to sit down with the Minister to discuss the necessary upgrades and to work out a plan to engage with the Government going forwards.

“There is not – and never will be, under any Government – a magic pot of money into which a hand can be dipped to extract vast funds for projects at no cost. It is for this reason, I have been focusing on making full use of the rail links we already have, by calling for realistic upgrades to the Cotswold Line.”

Listen to an interview about this on BBC Oxford here [timecode: 1:19].

The Cotswold Line Promotion Group and Vale Public Transport Group are holding a Film Evening at Pershore Library on Thursday, February 29,  at 7pm, entitled Steam through the Vale & Cotswolds, presented by film archivist Michael Clemens, featuring films shot by his late father Jim in the last years of mainline steam operation on British Railways.

All welcome. Tickets cost £5 on the door .

The library is in Church Street, off the town’s High Street, postcode WR10 1DT.

Former CLPG chairman John Ellis was taken completely by surprise when he was asked to unveil his own name on a GB Railfreight locomotive.

John’s family, former colleagues from his railway career and CLPG committee members had been sworn to secrecy about the ceremony organised by Great Western Railway at Moreton-in-Marsh station on Saturday, July 15.

The naming of Class 66 locomotive No 66785 was arranged to mark John’s 60+ years of involvement with the railways, which began in 1962 when he joined the then British Railways as a graduate management trainee.

He went on to hold senior roles with British Rail, Railtrack and GB Railways, and as an independent rail consultant, and served for 12 years until May 2023 as the chairman of the Cotswold Line Promotion Group.

He said: “It’s very rare for me to be at a loss for words. This is quite an overwhelming experience. I’m still looking around and seeing people I never ever thought would be here.”

GWR commercial development director Tom Pierpoint told guests that John had “made a massive difference to today’s railway and to me – your commitment and passion and enthusiasm has been really inspirational.”

Former British Rail colleague Dick Fearn told John: “Your leadership from those days has been a great benefit to many people since.”

John Smith, the managing director of GB Railfreight, recalled John’s role in helping to set up the company.

He said: “John was a great coach and a great help to me in building up the business,” and added, “without you and the guidance that you offered me back in the day, I don’t think we would have developed it.”

John was presented with a miniature version of the nameplate and a model of 66785.

A new bicycle ‘hub’ has been built at Moreton-in-Marsh station, with space for 84 bikes.

It will provide covered storage for the Bainton Bikes hire cycles that are available at the station, along with bikes belonging to rail passengers and people visiting the town.

The project is linked to the development of a new integrated transport hub for the town in a joint project involving train operator Great Western Railway and Moreton-in-Marsh Town Council.

The transport hub will provide extra car parking capacity for the station and the town centre, plus facilities for buses that connect with trains at the station, using the site of the disused Royal British Legion Club adjacent to the station. GWR and the council acquired the site for £1.1m in 2021.

Direct services to London Paddington are back for Worcestershire and Oxfordshire after major project to replace 160-year-old viaduct support completes ahead of schedule

Engineers have worked around the clock to safely reopen Nuneham Viaduct, in Oxfordshire, a day early, on Friday 9 June, following an intensive ten-week programme of work.

The railway between Didcot and Oxford was closed on Monday 3 April after significant movements in the viaduct were detected due to emerging structural issues with the south bank abutment (structure that supports the bridge). The abutment was built as part of the original viaduct in 1856.

The rail industry, including Great Western Railway (GWR), Chiltern Railways and CrossCountry, worked closely to keep passengers moving during the closure, whilst Network Rail’s engineers and contractors at Balfour Beatty carried out emergency repairs, which completed, ahead of schedule. Network Rail also worked with freight operators to keep goods moving throughout by diverting trains via London.

On Friday 9 June, the first passenger service to cross the viaduct in just under ten weeks was a GWR shuttle train between Oxford and Didcot. A full timetable for all train operators is planned to resume from Saturday 10 June.

A major project

Around 800 people have worked nearly 60,000 hours, to successfully install the new steel support, which will secure the future of this important rail link for generations to come.

In the final week of the major project, the 150-tonne bridge was lowered onto the new abutment, a new embankment built, before the railway tracks and cables were put back in place.

The repair of the viaduct has been complex, challenging and required some heavy engineering:

• 24 x 15m long steel piles were driven into the bed of the River Thames to create a solid platform for the temporary structure that held the weight of the viaduct while the abutment was demolished and rebuilt.
• Eight more piles were driven up to 20m into the embankment to support the new structure.
• A 750-tonne crane was used to lift the temporary structure into place.
• 4,500 tonnes of material removed from the old embankment
• 5,500 tonnes of material brought back in to build the new embankment

Engineers will remain on site for up to 12 weeks to finish works and demobilise the construction site, working outside of train operating hours, whilst track, signalling and station upgrades continue in Oxford city centre*.

Network Rail capital delivery director Stuart Calvert said: “We’re extremely pleased to be able to reopen the railway through Nuneham, ahead of schedule, on Friday 09 June.

“A complex and challenging repair like this would normally take two to three years to complete, but thanks to the hard work and dedication of our talented teams of engineers, and industry experts, this major project has been turned around in just under ten weeks.

“Once again, I would like to thank our passengers, freight customers, local community and our industry partners for their patience, understanding and support whilst we carried out this work, which will protect this important rail link for generations to come.”

Mark Hopwood, Managing Director at Great Western Railway, said: “We’re delighted Network Rail has been able to finish its work ahead of schedule and we have been able to reintroduce services between Oxford and Didcot. We look forward to welcoming people back and thank them for their patience and understanding over the past two months.

“This is a crucial part of our network and I’d like to thank our colleagues at Network Rail and fellow train operators for their support and hard work throughout this difficult period. I’d also like to thank GWR colleagues who have gone above and beyond to keep customers on the move.”

Elizabeth Jackson, Customer Service Manager for the West & Wales at CrossCountry said: “We’re very pleased the line has now reopened, which is good news for customers.

“We worked collaboratively with industry colleagues to ensure customers were impacted as little as possible and, now Network Rail’s work is complete, CrossCountry customers will benefit from direct connectivity from Reading and Oxford to the Midlands and North East, from Saturday 10 June.”

Richard Allan, Managing Director at Chiltern Railways, said: “We are relieved that repairs to the Nuneham Viaduct have been completed after a challenging two months for customers.

“Chiltern has allocated 4,000 additional seats to its route between London and Oxford every weekday since 17 April – moving capacity from other routes to Oxford – to try and meet the significant increase in demand caused by the closure of the Paddington route.

“We know that our services have been busier than usual because of the viaduct closure, and thank our customers for their patience.”

Huw Merriman MP, Minister of State for Rail said: “It’s welcome news that services will return for rail passengers and commuters in Oxfordshire, after what has been a disruptive couple of months.

“I would like to thank travellers and freight operators for their patience as well as Network Rail for carrying out this essential work so efficiently.”