Week-long bridge replacement works disrupts trains

Some train services travelling through Oxford are set to be affected by work to install a new railway bridge near the city's station.

The work will see rail replacement services in place between Didcot Parkway and Oxford, and between Banbury and Oxford/Didcot Parkway for a week from Sunday.

Footpath access from the Botley Road into the city centre will also be affected. The current walkway, which passes under the bridge will be closed, with pedestrians needing to follow a new route through the train station.

The works are the next step in the oft-maligned £161m project to upgrade Oxford Railway Station, which has been beset by regular delays.

Giles Clark, project director for Network Rail, said the closure marked a "major milestone" in the work to "provide more capacity and better journeys" in Oxford.

He explained the week-long closure would see the current bridge demolished - with two new bridges installed in the vacant space.

When asked if the works could be delayed, much like the entire railway station project has been repeatedly, Clark said: "We've got to recognise that there's always challenges and a huge amount of work to do in these eight days."

"But we're confident that we have a really good plan and a really good team working on this."

He added that Network Rail understood that "getting to this stage" had been a "difficult journey", and thanked passengers and local residents for their patience.

As part of the week long works, pedestrians will be diverted from the current walkway under the Botley Road bridge, and instead be sent via a makeshift walkway through the train station.

"We've done something we've not done before in the railway, which is have a major pedestrian route going through a station," Clark said.

"We'll be linking Platforms 3 and Platforms 4 with two polystyrene bridges which we've had manufactured specifically for the job, and people will be able to go through without going across any steps," he added.

You can follow BBC Oxfordshire on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.