Bicester North railway station

Bicester North (ⁱ/ˈbɪstər/) is a station on the Chiltern Main Line, one of two stations serving Bicester. Services operated by Chiltern Railways run south to London Marylebone and north to Banbury, Birmingham Snow Hill and Stratford-upon-Avon.

Bicester North is the larger of Bicester's two stations. The smaller is Bicester Town, the present terminus of Oxford to Bicester Line.

History

The station was transferred from the Western Region of British Rail to the London Midland Region on 24 March 1974.^[1]

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%.^[2]

Services

The typical off-peak weekday service consists of three or four trains per hour to and from London Marylebone. One service per hour is non-stop to Marylebone, taking around 55 minutes to cover the 55 miles (89 km). The other services call at various intermediate destinations such as Princes Risborough and High Wycombe and can take up to 15 minutes longer. Two services per hour continue northwards to Birmingham Snow Hill, taking around 1 hour 20 minutes. The remaining services either terminate at Bicester North or continue to Banbury or Stratford-upon-Avon.

At weekends, there are generally three trains per hour from London, two of which continue to Birmingham.

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.^[3]

Operator and routes

References

External links

• Train times and station information for Bicester North railway station from National Rail
• Map sources for Bicester North railway station