WORK on the railway in North Oxford is set to be completed today.

Network Rail has been at the line near Wolvercote to carry out major engineering work on the tracks.

It is part of a scheme to build a new freight line parallel to the existing tracks, but Network Rail’s decision to carry out the work over the Christmas period had been controversial.

The company, which said it would keep noise and disruption to a minimum, was last night testing the signalling for the new line.

This was expected to begin at around 11pm and continue until the work is completed at 2pm today.

At the moment, freight trains passing through Oxford are limited to a length of 500m, because of the size of a number of loops – which are in effect overtaking lanes – between Birmingham and Southampton.

The work at Wolvercote and some other locations will mean trains can be lengthened to 775m and carry many more shipping containers on each service.

The extra track being laid in Oxford and an existing loop line at the other side of the railway formation will be used by passenger trains, allowing them to overtake freight trains being held on the central tracks.