Bicester Village is one of two railway stations serving Bicester, in Oxfordshire, England; the other is . It lies north-east of on the Oxford–Bicester line, near to its junction with the Chiltern Main Line. The station reopened on 25 October 2015 with this new name (as it serves Bicester Village shopping centre in particular), with trains initially running between and . The station and all trains serving it are operated by Chiltern Railways.
Following the reinstatement of the railway line between Bicester and , as part of East West Rail, Chiltern Railways had expected to begin services between Oxford and via Bicester and Bletchley from late 2025. , the date when services will begin remains unresolved.
History
The Buckinghamshire Railway, which already had a route between Bletchley and , had powers to build a line to . The first part of this line, which ran from a junction to the west of (at a point which became known as ) to , 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.
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 northern terminus of the Oxford to Bicester Line. From May 2009, First Great Western (FGW) 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 has varied and passenger numbers have fluctuated accordingly. In the four years 2007–2011, more frequent trains led to an increase in the total number of passengers using Bicester Town by 258%.
In August 2008, Chiltern Railways announced a proposal to build a new chord to link the Oxford-to-Bicester Line with the Chiltern Main Line to carry a new service between Oxford and London, via . The single line between Bicester Town and Oxford was to be doubled and a new station built at . 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 Monday-to-Thursday, 12 on Fridays and 13 on Saturdays. From May 2009, further improvements saw extra trains in the daytime on Mondays to Fridays and a new 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.
Closure and reopening
The last trains ran late on 14 February 2014 before the station was closed 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. The outlet's presence has also led to the use of Arabic and Chinese language signage and station calls in Mandarin to aid foreign travellers.
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 bicycle 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 and ticket machines were provided.
Facilities
The station has two car parks; between them, they provide 230 standard spaces, plus 18 for passengers with reduced mobility. There is also parking for 60 bicycles and 18 motorcycles.
A shuttle bus route BV1 connects the station to the shopping village.
Services
The station is served by two trains per hour in each direction between and .
Future services
, the line eastward towards Bletchley is out of service while work is in progress on the section between Bicester and Bletchley. The route is scheduled to reopen by late 2024. Services are planned to link Bicester with , and .
Once East West Rail is running, an hourly Oxford-Bedford service and a half-hourly Oxford-Milton Keynes Central service are planned, bringing the total number of trains between Bicester Village and Oxford up to five per hour.
Notes
References
External links
East West Rail Consortium Chiltern Railways Evergreen 3 project