A new campaign group has been established aiming to restore a passenger rail service from central Oxford to Cowley.
The Cowley Branch Line has been closed for passengers since 1963 and has since been reserved for freight trains.
The newly established Campaign for Cowley Branch Line has supported the planned creation of two new stations, which would allow for a nine-minute journey time between Oxford central and Cowley. According to the group, the restoration of a passenger rail service in east Oxford would provide a “fast and reliable” transport link to the city centre.
The campaign promises that the project will be complete in years, not decades, create up to 10,000 new jobs, enable over 1 million journeys in its first three years, and allow for the development of 2.5 million square feet of new workspace.
The two new planned stations would be Oxford Cowley (for Advanced Research Computing Oxford and Blackbird Leys) and Oxford Littlemore (for the Science Park and Littlemore). Regular services would go to the city centre, while twice-hourly trains would also run to London Marylebone.
Oxford City Council gave £500,000 to a project to help design the new branch stations. Currently the only passenger rail services in Oxford run from Oxford Station in the city centre, and from Oxford Parkway Station in the far north of Oxford.
The detailed business case for the Cowley Branch Line is due to be submitted to the government this spring, and Oxford City Council and Network Rail have said that they will work to progress the reopening as quickly as possible.
Oxford East MP Anneliese Dodds, who has campaigned for the project, said: “It’s important to deliver this project because it goes beyond just a transport measure and helps us deliver much needed housing for Oxford residents as well as creating a new expanded hub for innovation and economic growth.”
Ms Dodds told Cherwell: “I have campaigned for the reopening of this line to passengers since I first had the privilege of being elected … The biggest benefit of reopening the line is that it would slash journey times for people living in Blackbird Leys, Cowley and Littlemore travelling into the city centre.
“I have to say that I’ve very rarely found anyone who isn’t hugely positive about the idea of opening up the line for passengers. Every year I arrange a ‘Cowley branch line walk’ to show support for the reopening, and every year even more people are keen to demonstrate their backing.”
A consultation carried out by the local authority, external in November reported “overwhelming support” for the reopening proposal.
Student reaction to the news has been mixed. An undergraduate who wished to remain anonymous told Cherwell: “The college takes the mick with second- and third-year accommodation already. But if the commute time became quick with this planned train, I wouldn’t put it past them to start building far-out accommodation in Cowley and making it a commuter town. Cycling in from Summertown is bad enough: Cowley would be a nightmare.”
The Cowley Branch Line last saw passenger trains in 1963, with services being withdrawn to cut costs at the time. Since then, the line has remained open for freight purposes, nowadays being primarily used in order to serve the BMW Mini factory.
