Train at London Marylebone 3

Chiltern Railways warn customers of busy trains between Oxford and London

Chiltern Railways has advised customers to expect busier trains than usual between Oxford and London Marylebone from Monday 17 April.

Great Western Railway (GWR) is unable to operate any trains between Oxford and Didcot Parkway until the 10 June at the earliest whilst urgent Network Rail repairs to a bridge are taking place. This means that Chiltern Railways will be the sole option for direct rail travel between Oxford and the capital.

As a result, Chiltern Railways services from Oxford, Oxford Parkway and Bicester Village to London Marylebone will be extremely busy. Chiltern Railways has worked hard to increase capacity on this route from Monday 17 April onwards, including adding additional seats and carriages to services where possible.

However, it is expected that these services will still be particularly busy due to the increase in customer demand from GWR and CrossCountry customers at Oxford.

Customers are advised to consider alternative travel routes if possible, such as starting your journey from:

  •  Didcot Parkway for direct services to London Paddington.
  •  Bicester North or Haddenham & Thame Parkway for services to and from London Marylebone.

Stations between Oxford and London Marylebone may also experience additional crowding and some short-term changes to train times due to the ongoing disruption. These include Haddenham & Thame Parkway, High Wycombe, and Beaconsfield.

If customers plan to travel on this route in the coming weeks, they should prepare for busier services and ensure they check their journey ahead of travelling on the Chiltern Railways website (www.chilternrailways.co.uk) or app.

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Notes to editors

About Chiltern

  • Chiltern Railways is part of the Arriva group, one of the leading providers of passenger transport in Europe, employing 53,000 people and delivering 2 billion passenger journeys a year across 14 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 Kidderminster.
  • 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.