DO NOT TRAVEL: repairs to the railway in the Bicester area on Sunday 14 and Monday 15 January
Chiltern Railways is advising customers not to travel on its services on Sunday 14 and Monday 15 January.
Due to recent heavy rainfall, a landslip occurred on Thursday 11 January on the Chiltern main line between Bicester North and Haddenham & Thame Parkway.
The line has been partially blocked, meaning that fewer services have been able to run on the one track available since the disruption began.
For Network Rail to undertake urgent repairs to the railway, the line between Bicester North and Haddenham & Thame Parkway will be fully closed on Sunday 14 January and Monday 15 January. This means that no trains will be able run through the area.
Trains will start/terminate at either Bicester North or Haddenham & Thame Parkway depending on direction of travel, with a limited replacement bus service in between these stations for local journeys. Due to this significant disruption, Chiltern is asking customers to not to travel on these days and seek alternative methods of transport.
Ticket acceptance is in place with Avanti West Coast, CrossCountry, Great Western Railway, London Northwestern Railway and London Underground/Elizabeth Line via any reasonable route.
The current reduced timetable between London Marylebone and Birmingham Moor Street, and the cancellation of services between London Marylebone and Oxford, remains in place on Saturday 13 January. Customers should ensure they check their full journey before they travel.
Chiltern Railways sincerely apologies for the disruption this will cause customers, and wishes to stress that there is no alternative to making these urgent repairs across Sunday and Monday. Disruption will likely continue as the lines reopen at reduced speed on Tuesday 16 January. We will provide a further update for customers on Monday regarding the service on Tuesday 16 January.
If customers have an advance ticket booked with Chiltern, they will be entitled to a full, fee-free refund or the opportunity to rebook their journey.
Richard Allan, Managing Director of Chiltern Railways, said:
"We'd like to apologise to customers who are affected by the closure of the railway near Bicester for urgent repairs to the track following a landslip. We are asking customers not to travel on Sunday 14 and Monday 15 January while these significant repairs to the railway embankment take place. This decision was not taken lightly, but is essential while Network Rail repair this landslip on the Chiltern main line. I would urge customers to consider alternative methods of transport. Ticket acceptance will also be in place with numerous other train operators. I'd like to thank customers for their patience and understanding while Network Rail work at pace to reopen the railway."
Contact Information
Matt Turner
Notes to editors
About Chiltern:
- Chiltern Railways is part of the Arriva group, one of the leading providers of passenger transport in Europe, employing around 38,000 people and delivering around 1.5 billion passenger journeys across 10 European countries. Arriva are part of Deutsche Bahn (DB), one of the world’s leading passenger and logistics companies, responsible for DB's passenger transport services outside Germany.
- Chiltern operates commuter/regional rail passenger services from its Central London terminus at London Marylebone along the M40 corridor to destinations in Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Warwickshire, as well as long-distance services to the West Midlands along two routes. Services on the Chiltern Main Line run from London Marylebone to Birmingham Snow Hill, Stratford-upon-Avon and Oxford, with some peak-hour services to Stourbridge Junction.
- Chiltern also runs trains on the London to Aylesbury Line to Aylesbury (with some trains terminating at Aylesbury Vale Parkway instead), on the Princes Risborough to Aylesbury and Oxford to Bicester branch lines.