Banbury MP Sean Woodcock has written to a railway operator, asking why its new service doesn't stop in Banbury.

Railway operator CrossCountry announced a new service, which launches on Sunday, May 17.

The service includes regular direct trains running between Oxford and Leamington Spa.

It has been launched to help plug the gap in services left when trains between Reading and Newcastle were cut during the Covid pandemic.

Banbury MP Sean Woodcock has written a letter to railway operator CrossCountry asking why its new service doesn't stop in Banbury.

placeholder image — Banbury MP Sean Woodcock has written a letter to railway operator CrossCountry asking why its new service doesn't stop in Banbury.

However, Mr Woodcock says the launch of the new service will result in an hour’s gap in services between Oxford and Banbury at certain points in the day.

The Banbury MP wrote a letter to CrossCountry, expressing his disappointment and urging them to reconsider their approach.

He said: “I receive frequent complaints about the CrossCountry train service from constituents who face overcrowding and delays to their journeys whilst using CrossCountry trains.

“These issues are already a source of frustration, and the absence of additional stopping services at Banbury risks increasing these concerns by limiting the extent to which increased capacity elsewhere on the network benefits local passengers.

“In light of this, I would be grateful if you could clarify the rationale behind the decision for these new services not to stop at Banbury and whether any assessment has been made of the impact on local passengers.

“I would also urge you to reconsider this approach and explore options to ensure that Banbury can share in the benefits of the revised timetable.”

CrossCountry has responded by saying it hopes the decision will result in less crowding and more available seats for Banbury passengers.

Nick Westcott, CrossCountry’s service delivery director, said: “CrossCountry customers will see no change in the number of services at Banbury from May.

Four extra-long-distance CrossCountry services will operate through Oxfordshire, passing non-stop between Oxford and Leamington Spa.

“This will provide more seats for people travelling long distances by encouraging people travelling locally to use other trains, including the significant increase in services being introduced by Chiltern Railways between Banbury and Birmingham.

“We will continue to monitor passenger demand at Banbury and welcome feedback on the changes from Sunday 17 May.”

For more information about CrossCountry’s services, visit: https://www.crosscountrytrains.co.uk/