Banbury rail line to shut for nine days

The railway line running through Banbury will close for over a week as part of a multi-million upgrade.
Banbury Railway Station. NNL-150302-163023009Banbury Railway Station. NNL-150302-163023009
Banbury Railway Station. NNL-150302-163023009

The line between Leamington, Banbury and Bicester North will be closed for nine days from Saturday July 30 as part of £76m of improvement works. Trains on the stretch of line will be replaced by a bus service wil the work is carried out.

Network Rail says the work is necessary to improve the punctuality and reliability of train services on the Chiltern main line which will proved passengers with a better railway between Birmingham and London.

Until the line reopens on Monday August 8, engineers will replace the signalling through the Banbury area and upgrade it to a more reliable and modern system which will be controlled from the West Midlands Signalling Centre in Birmingham.

Network Rail said a significant amount of the upgrade work has already taken place during 2015 during line closures on Sundays.

As well as a new track layout through Banbury station and the installation of signalling equipment, the upgrade work will also be adding the infrastructure for a new depot south of Banbury which is currently being built. The depot will provide essential maintenance provision for the Chiltern Railways train fleet. Parts of the depot will open later this year.

For more information about the closure visit www.chilternrailways.co.uk/banbury-upgrade