The electrification of the railway between Oxford and Didcot will go ahead as planned despite the project being scrapped across parts of the country.

The Government yesterday announced that the modernisation of the railway Cardiff to Swansea, the Midland mainline and tracks in the Lake District would be dropped.

It comes after Network Rail went £1.9bn over budget on the scheme to electrify the Great Western mainline - which includes the section through Oxford.

But the Department for Transport told the Oxford Mail the Oxford to Didcot work would not be affected by the announcement. 

The new InterCity Express trains will now have to be fitted with bi-mode technology to run on electric where the modernisation has taken place and then turning on the diesel engine where necessary. 

The DfT said that passengers through the non-electrified part would "benefit sooner and experience less disruption compared with putting up intrusive wires and masts along routes where they are no longer required."

The nine-day blockade of the line between Banbury, Oxford and Didcot will begin tomorrow and will see bridges and parts of the track reconfigured for electrification.