A MULTI-MILLION-POUND expansion of Oxford station is planned in order to create a rail link to challenge the A34.

Network Rail has submitted plans to Oxford City Council that would see longer platforms built to allow Chiltern Railways’ extended trains to stop there.

It is forecast that 3.3 million more passengers will pass through the station each year by 2026 compared to 2011.

The Chiltern trains would have nine carriages instead of four to cope with the extra demand, and would run from Bicester, Banbury and the new Oxford Parkway station in Water Eaton to London Marylebone.

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The extended platforms at Oxford would allow the new extended trains to stop there and create a direct link from Didcot to Bicester.

City council leader Bob Price said: “We are extremely happy at the way in which railway improvements will make it easier to get to London and the way in which they put Oxford at the centre of the rail network.

“I think it will have some effect on congestion and we certainly welcome that.

“It will ease pressure on Woodstock Road, Banbury Road and so on.

“Rail investment is really important for tourism and for the business economy because all the research shows that railways are vital in improving the attractiveness of Oxford."

Network Rail would not reveal the cost of the expansion project but a similar scheme approved in October 2010 but never implemented would have cost about £12.5 million.

The company’s planning statement for the scheme said: “East West Rail [a wider project to link East and South West England] will enable half a million new rail trips, and provide a direct Didcot-Oxford-Bicester link to rival the A34.”

Rail user’s group Railfuture, which campaigns for better train services, said the scheme would not just benefit people who use trains regularly.

Thames Valley representative Andrew McCallum, from Banbury, said: “I would like to see the dominance of the A34 challenged.

“The congestion is getting chronic and something needs to be done.

“This is not the whole solution but it is a big part of it.

“The trains could keep going down to Didcot and even the South Coast.

“It will benefit those who use the train, those who will still have to use the roads and those who currently use the roads but will be able to take the train.”

The project would also see the one-storey staff accommodation block beside the station demolished and a temporary two-storey building built in its place.

Network Rail said it could be there for up to ten years as part of the station masterplan if that scheme goes ahead.

The masterplan, supported by the city council, Oxfordshire County Council, and First Great Western, would see £75m spent to redevelop the station.

The platform extensions are not officially part of the scheme but would be the first stage of redevelopment of the station.

Susanna Pressel, city councillor for Jericho and Osney ward which contains the station, said the plans for a temporary accommodation block concerned her.

She said: “I share the concern of some residents who would be seriously affected by these proposals.

“I have seen their tiny back gardens and I hope it will not be necessary to put a new two-storey building right up against them.

“This would cause them to lose a lot of sunlight.

“We need to make sure that anything that is built does not cause more noise pollution or light pollution.”

A consultation will run until Monday, February 16, and the city council will be asked to decide whether to approve the scheme by March 9.

Oxfordshire County Council cabinet member for transport David Nimmo Smith said: “The changes planned at Oxford station are welcome. It is already a very busy railway station and there is more passenger and freight traffic to come in future years.

“The extra capacity that is planned is very timely and I look forward to seeing work getting under way.

“It is important that local people are able to see that there are positive plans in place for the future.”

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