The Birmingham and Oxford Junction Railway was an English railway line promoted by the Great Western Railway to gain a route from its southern base towards the industrial centres of the West Midlands, and in due course the north-west. It overtook another GWR subsidiary, the unbuilt Oxford and Rugby Railway, and the Birmingham Extension Railway which was to build a new independent station in the city. It was authorised in 1846 and formed a single project to connect Birmingham and Oxford.
The Great Western Railway used the broad gauge at the time; the rival narrow (standard) gauge London and North Western Railway used dubious tactics to retain the West Midlands in its own monopoly. Nevertheless, the line was opened throughout in 1852. It quickly became the springboard for the anticipated expansion to the Lancashire industrial areas. However the broad gauge was not permitted to be extended north of Wolverhampton, and this proved to be the seed of the end of the broad gauge.
The route became an important corridor for express passenger trains and heavy freight flows. In 1910 the Bicester cut-off was opened, shortening the journey to the north by avoiding the route by way of Oxford. When the West Coast Main Line was electrified in the 1960s, the former GWR route declined substantially, renamed as the Chiltern Main Line, it revived in the 1980s and now carries an excellent train service to rival the West Coast Main Line.
Origin
In the mid-1840s the Great Western Railway wanted to build a railway line from Oxford northwards. It did so by promoting subsidiary companies; in particular the Oxford and Rugby Railway, and the Birmingham and Oxford Junction Railway.Rex Christiansen, A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain: volume 13: Thames and Severn, David and Charles (Publishers) Limited, Newton Abbot, 1981, , page 140
Through the agency of the Oxford Railway, it had opened a line from Didcot, on the Great Western Railway main line, to Oxford, opening on 12 June 1844. The Oxford terminus was immediately south of the river, near Folly Bridge, in what is now Marlborough Road. The capital was put up by directors of the GWR, with no independent shareholders, and the company was quickly absorbed by the GWR.E T MacDermot, History of the Great Western Railway, published by the Great Western Railway, London, 1927, volume 1, pages 175 to 178 At the time Rugby was an important hub for traffic to and from the northern districts of England; the Midland Counties Railway and the London and Birmingham Railway connected there, and formed the only route to the north.
The Oxford and Rugby Railway was conceived to enable the GWR to connect the southern areas it served into the northwards network.MacDermot, pages 218 and 219 It would run from a junction with the Oxford Railway line south of Oxford, with a new through Oxford station nearer to the centre of the city, through Banbury and Fenny Compton to a junction at Rugby. The Oxford and Rugby Railway Act 1845 (8 & 9 Vict. c. clxxxviii) was given royal assent on 4 August 1845. Broad gauge was authorised, but mixed gauge would have to be provided if required by the Board of Trade.MacDermot, page 228 and 229
Early in 1845 the Grand Junction Railway projected a line from their Birmingham terminus to join the Oxford Railway at Oxford. The Grand Junction Railway was dependent on the London and Birmingham Railway for access to London, and there was considerable friction between the two companies; an Oxford line would get to London without involving the L&BR. The Great Western Railway too found the L&BR a difficult trading partner, and gave the GJR scheme its support. The GWR and the Oxford Railway were broad gauge, and the new line would be broad too; indeed the GJR prepared estimates for converting its own network to the broad gauge.MacDermot, pages 247 and 248Rex Christiansen, A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain: volume 7: the West Midlands, David & Charles, Newton Abbot, 1973, , pages 63 to 65
The GJR observed that the Oxford and Rugby Railway scheme was successful in Parliament, and they altered their own proposal to join the O&RR line at Knightcote, north of Fenny Compton,West Midlands, page 65 shortening the necessary construction. However, soon afterwards, the hostility between GJR and the L&BR suddenly abated, and they became allies; the GJR summarily resiled from the agreements it had made with the GWR. The GJR and the L&BR, together with the Manchester and Birmingham Railway, amalgamated to form the London and North Western Railway on 16 July 1846.MacDermot, pages 249 and 250
The GWR steps in
The GWR and the other parties interested in the line decided to proceed anyway, and the scheme became known as the Birmingham and Oxford Junction Railway. As the earlier scheme had presumed the use of the Grand Junction's Curzon Street station in Birmingham, an additional bill was prepared, for the Birmingham Extension Railway, a short line from Bordesley to the central station that later became known as Snow Hill station. The London and Birmingham Railway had resorted to a series of spoiling tactics intended to undermine the case for the line, but after a struggle, royal assent was given to the (9 & 10 Vict. c. cccxxxvii), and to the (9 & 10 Vict. c. cccxxxviii), on 3 August 1846.MacDermot, pages 247 to 250 Capital was to be £1 million for the two railways combined; the Birmingham and Oxford Junction Railway (Birmingham Extension Railway) Act 1846 authorised the station scheme, and directed that the extension should immediately be amalgamated with the B&OJR.MacDermot, pages 250 and 251
In fact sixteen railway bills were passed that day;There were 435 railway bills in the 1846 session as a whole. two of them for railways between Birmingham and Wolverhampton: the Birmingham, Wolverhampton and Stour Valley Railway, which was soon to fall into LNWR hands, and the Birmingham, Wolverhampton and Dudley Railway, later to be a GWR offshoot. In addition there was a Shrewsbury and Birmingham Railway, which was in fact to construct no further south than Wolverhampton.MacDermot, pages 251 and 252
It was evident that amalgamation with the GWR by the B&OJR as well as the Birmingham, Wolverhampton and Dudley Railway was advantageous. Some shareholders of the B&OJR objected on the grounds that better terms might be secured from the LNWR. However, after considerable procedural difficulties, the amalgamation was approved by the Great Western Railway Act 1848 (11 & 12 Vict. c. clix). It was formalised on 2 January 1847.MacDermot, pages 255 and 256
At this the LNWR faction attempted to subvert the whole affair, at first by acquiring large numbers of B&OJR shares, buying them at a premium. They were thereby able to win votes at shareholders' meetings. A forged common seal of the company was procured, and numerous procedural devices were attempted. At length in January 1848 the matter was found in the GWR's favour in the Court of Chancery, and the LNWR finally acquiesced.MacDermot, pages 258 to 261 The amalgamation was settled, and the line from Fenny Compton to Wolverhampton was to be built by the GWR.
The gauge question The furore was well publicised, and it moved the House of Lords to order the Railway Commissioners to consider the gauge question. It was obvious that a through railway from London to Birmingham ought not to have an avoidable break of gauge, but the whole question was reopened. This issue was now debated inconclusively, but on 31 August 1848 the amalgamation bill was passed and mixed gauge was authorised.MacDermot, page 272West Midlands, page 70
LNWR prevarication
The GWR line was required to make a narrow (standard) gauge connection with the LNWR on the south side of Birmingham. The original authorisation of the B&OJR was to terminate at Curzon Street, but the LNWR was now vacating that station and extending the line approaching it into the centre of Birmingham, in order to reach the station that was later named New Street. The LNWR would not allow the GWR to make the mandatory connection into that line, fearing that the GWR would make advantageous use of the Stour Valley Line, and insisted on completion of the original connection to Curzon Street, although that was now useless. Nevertheless, as matters proceeded the LNWR realised this must involve a flat crossing of their Birmingham (New Street) extension line, and they objected to the GWR connection entering their property, although they had demanded it. The GWR meanwhile constructed the necessary viaduct up to the property boundary; in fact work on it was still progressing when the line into Snow Hill opened. The connection on the viaduct was not wanted by either company and never carried track or trains.The 1905 Ordnance Survey plan at Six Inches to One Mile, sheet XIV:NW revised 1902 to 1903 shows a spur siding on the first part of the viaduct. MacDermot commented:
And so the derelict Duddeston Viaduct or most of it still stands, a melancholy monument to the ill-conditioned spite of a great Railway Company against a victorious rival in the old fighting days.MacDermot, page 274
The viaduct still stands .
In 1846 the Oxford and Rugby Railway was absorbed into the GWR.MacDermot, page 193
On 31 August 1848 the Great Western Railway Act 1848 (11 & 12 Vict. c. clix) was passed authorising the absorption of the B&OJR and the Birmingham Extension Railway, and the laying of mixed gauge track on it.MacDermot, page 272 The entire route from Millstream Junction, south of Oxford, to the future Snow Hill station in Birmingham, as well as the Birmingham, Wolverhampton and Dudley Railway, were now in GWR hands.MacDermot, page 272
Construction Work had started on the Oxford and Rugby line in 1845, but there was a delay in getting possession of the necessary land; then the contractor proved unsatisfactory, and work was in abeyance for some time. By August 1849 it had been decided that the Oxford and Rugby powers would only be used as far as Fenny Compton, and that the Rugby part of the powers would be abandoned. The company obtained Board of Trade permission to open a single line to Banbury on the broad gauge only, as for the time being no narrow gauge line connected with it.MacDermot, pages 295 to 297 The Board of Trade were cowed by an angry response from the LNWR demanding that the useless third rail should be provided, but the GWR held out.MacDermot, pages 296 to 299
The line between Oxford and Banbury was opened as a broad gauge single line on 2 September 1850; the formation was made for double track.MacDermot, page 300 As yet there was no station at Oxford on the line, and trains reversed at Millstream Junction and used the Oxford Railway terminus. Work started on construction of the B&OJR part of the line in 1847, the contractors Peto and Betts being employed. Money was very short and the work was delayed on that account. The portion of the Oxford and Rugby Railway as far as Fenny Compton was being proceeded with. There was to be a new station at Oxford.MacDermot, page 322
Captain Douglas Galton of the Board of Trade visited the line for the statutory inspection of the line for passenger operation on 14 September 1852. He was satisfied with the line in general, but the final short section into Snow Hill, and the Duddeston Viaduct, were not ready, and he declined to approve those last sections. The shortcoming was rectified and the line into Snow Hill was approved on 28 September 1852. The line was opened to the public throughout from Oxford to Birmingham on 1 October 1852, as a mixed gauge double track.MacDermot, page 327Thames and Severn, page 142
The connecting Birmingham, Wolverhampton and Dudley Railway opened on 14 November 1854, connecting through the short Wolverhampton Railway with the Shrewsbury and Birmingham Railway.MacDermot, page 336
Gauge conversion