The project involved the construction a new 1km chord at Bicester linking the London Marylebone - High Wycombe - Banbury line with the Bicester – Oxford line, which has been doubled and rebuilt for 160km/h operation. Two new stations have been constructed at Bicester Village, close to the former Bicester Town station, and Oxford Parkway, a park-and-ride facility situated alongside the A34 highway at Water Eaton north of Oxford. The existing station at Islip on the Bicester - Oxford Line has also been rebuilt and 37 level crossings have been eliminated.
Chiltern is contributing £130m to the £320m project through its franchise agreement with the Department for Transport (DfT), which runs from March 2002 to December 2021.
From December, Chiltern will operate two fast services per hour from London Marylebone to Bicester Village and Oxford Parkway, with a journey time of around an hour. These services will be extended to Oxford in March 2016.
The upgrading of the Oxford – Bicester line is the first phase of East – West Rail, which will reinstate the cross-country link between Oxford, Aylesbury, and Bletchley.
