Great Western Railway, Chiltern Railways and CrossCountry Trains at Oxford on December 12th 2020

At the time this was my 3rd visit to Oxford station and also it would be my last trainspotting for 2020.

All filming was done in compliance with guidelines with face covering worn and maintaining social distancing for the duration of filming.

When Oxford first opened on June 12th 1844 by the GWR which was located in Western Road, Granpont however was relocated to todays of the present station on October 1st 1852.

The former original Terminus eventually became a goods depot however would close in 1872.

Oxford station has had several refurbishments over the years firstly in 1971 by British Railways

The present station building added along with footbridge by Network Southeast dates from 1990 a few years before privatisation in 1994

Step free access additional with Lifts and replacement of the footbridge dates from 2011.

The station is managed by Great Western Railway eventhough some of the original First Great Western signage is still retained although FGW which was rebranded to GWR in September 2016.

Chiltern Railways provide an Half Hourly service from London Marylebone via High Wycombe which terminate in the Bay Platforms 1 and 2.

The former Varsity Line to Cambridge had been axed by Beeching however in the early 2000s an option was explored to provide an alternative service to London

Dubbed as The Evergreen Project which consisted of 3 stages which included the upgrade of the signalling and line of the Chiltern Main Line the line from Bicester Village to Oxford came under the 3rd stage

It was completed firstly as far as Oxford Parkway in October 2015 however due to difficulties with the Woolecote Tunnel and work on the chord junction to connect the Chiltern route into Oxford it wouldn’t be until 14 months later when Full services began running into Oxford in December 2016.

Almost most services are covered by Class 168s whether it's Clubmans or Turbostars sometimes Class 172s however on the day of filming majority of services to Oxford were being covered by Class 165 Turbos and Chiltern Railways were running a reduced service on the rest of it’s route.

Platforms 3 and 4 are used by Great Western Railway and CrossCountry services split by through lines which are nowadays used by Freight services.

Main Great Western Railway services now by Class 800s or Class 802 IETs which provide an Half hourly service from London Paddington

Terminating services from London Paddington head to the reversing sidings although alternate with certain services continue beyond here via the Cotswolds Line to destinations such as Worcester Shrub Hill, Worcester Foregate Street, Great Malvern and Hereford.

Other GWR services provided by Class 165 turbos operate the stopping services to and from Didcot Parkway with 1 train every 2 hours continuing to Banbury.

In fact in December 2019 there were also 2 trains a day to and from Banbury to London Paddington are provided by IETs although run non stop between Oxford and Banbury.

CrossCountry Trains provided by Class 220 and 221 Voyagers normally run services from Manchester Piccadilly to Bournemouth with other services from Reading to Newcastle or Newcastle to Southampton Central however at the time of filming CrossCountry services were running reduced service with Manchester Piccadilly to Bournemouth services running although other services were cut back to Reading.

When Electrification for the GWML announced in July 2009 it included plans to electrify the route from the GWML at Didcot East Jn to Oxford however due to the soaring costs of the GWML electrification project it was shelved in November 2016.

However with the Varsity Line to Cambridge via Milton Keynes Central being reinstated there a possibility that electrification could happen after all whether it's overhead wires or other green resources battery power or hydrogen power however only time will tell.

Music Used
JJD - Adventure
Music provided by NCS

Video link:
NoCopyrightSounds
   • JJD - Adventure | Glitch Hop | NCS - ...  

Filmed on iPhone 11 on Saturday December 12th 2020 and edited on iMovie