WORK to replace a railway bridge close to Oxford's Port Meadow will lead to more peaceful lives for people living in nearby homes, according to Network Rail.

Householders in Waterways, in North Oxford, have suffered for years with vibrations from trains using the Castle Mill bridge.

But it is hoped engineering currently being carried out at the site will pave the way for quieter track.

A 1,200-tonne crane has been used this week to demolish the existing Castle Mill stream bridge to make way for a more modern bridge ahead of the switch-over which will also see a new fleet of electric trains running out of Oxford station by the end of 2018.

Trains will run faster once the project is completed, but Network Rail says the upgraded track will also ease vibrations felt in houses along in the line.

Network Rail's programme manager Rob Mashford said a group of Waterways residents had recently visited the site to inspect the ongoing work, but blamed the quality of the homes for the problems.

He said: "We have had a lot of complaints about vibrations around this part of the track.

"It's the houses, not the railways, at fault for the vibrations – you can stand next to the track when a train goes past and not feel the vibration."

But Mr Mashford said that improvement work would make things better for those affected homeowners.

He added: "This is an old railway line and the upgraded track will be a lot quieter so the houses will vibrate a lot less.

"We showed a group of residents the work earlier this week and it was very positive."

There were also objections from Waterways residents over linking the Oxford and Oxford Parkway stations on the same section of track.

They argued the extra trains would exacerbate the problem of vibrations due to extra trains on the track.

Network Rail insist that using an electric line would mean this would not be a problem, but former Waterways resident Lyn Bibbings, who sold her house in December and moved to Burford partly because of the vibrations, said improving relations with residents would be hard.

She said: "I voted with my feet and moved away. But people are still very anxious and cross.

"It is a line used by heavy goods and the vibrations are felt by people all along it going north."

The line is due to re-open on Monday morning once upgraded track is re-laid and signalling works are completed.

Trains between Oxford and Banbury, and Oxford and Hanborough, will being running again next week but work to raise the tracks at Hinksey to protect against flooding will see the railway closed between Oxford and Didcot Parkway until Monday August 15.