OXFORD rail station is to be expanded as part of an £88m transport scheme to combat the city's chronic road congestion.

Major improvements to the A34 and the main routes into the city also form part of an extensive package of measures allocated money by the regional transport board.

The package will see Oxford rail station extended to the other side of the Botley rail bridge, where one or more platforms for London trains will be created.

The main station building is to undergo a multi-million pound refurbishment to make a new-look station a focal point in a regenerated West End.

And there are also plans to substantially change the station forecourt as part of a wider scheme to transform St Frideswide Square.

The regional assembly's transport board wants to pump £62m into the Access to Oxford Project. But Network Rail will be expected to pay the bulk of the £25m for the new platforms and improvements to the station building.

The idea of expanding the station into the car park south of Botley Road has emerged as a cheaper alternative to building new tracks across the busy route into Oxford at an estimated cost of £70m. An earlier idea of moving the station to Oxpens as the centrepiece of the West End regeneration was abandoned last year.

Work on the station improvements could begin within the next four years. Peter Mann, the county council's assistant head of transport, said: "The refurbished station will provide a significant new entrance for people arriving at Oxford.

"It will be a central element in the Oxford West End Project. The new platform will provide additional capacity."

There are also plans to enhance rail services between Oxford and Bicester, with easier access to Bicester Town Station.

The package of improvements to the A34 effectively signals the end of any lingering prospect of widening the congested trunk road for at least 20 years.

Sophisticated traffic systems will be introduced on the A34, with real-time information, variable message signing and variable speed limits planned.

Money will be made available to improve access to the city from the north and south with bus lanes proposed on Hinksey Hill slip road to speed up bus services between Oxford and Abingdon.

Junction improvements and other bus priority measures are planned on A34 links with Wolvercote, Pear Tree and Cutteslowe.

David Robertson, county council executive member for transport, said: "Oxfordshire has never seen this amount of money before. We are delighted.

"It recognises the scale of the transport problems we have and recognises that we need infrastructure to cope with the amount of housing which has been allocated to us.

"It means that we can plan with certainty in the knowledge that we have a large sum of money coming our way to tackle some of Oxfordshire's worst transport problems. But we must continue working closely with the Government and its agencies to ensure the A34 gets the attention it deserves."

The bulk of the work would be carried out between 2011 and 2016. The money is part of an £800m regional transport programme, seen as crucial to the regional assembly's plans for substantial housing in designated growth areas such as central Oxfordshire. The county council's Access to Oxford Project has been allocated more money than any other scheme apart from a planned bypass in Chichester.

Funding for schemes will still have to approved by Government. But the chairman of the Transport Board, Nick Skellet, said: "Earlier in the year the Government accepted our advice on transport priorities for the period up to 2011 in full. We will hope to receive an equally positive outcome for this programme in the spring."

Mr Robertson added: "We are still in the process of fleshing out details. We have been looking at systems which could give motorists real-time information, telling them for example, about availability of parking in Oxford."

"There are also other sophisticated systems which can ease congestion and make traffic flow smoother. We have already looked at this at to Wolvercote roundabout."

Network Rail said talks on funding the station improvements were now underway with County Hall.

Spokesman Stuart Buss said: "We are supportive of any proposals to increase capacity on the rail network and improve services for passengers. The proposal for an additional platform at Oxford Station has our backing and we are continuing our discussions with the county council to identify the necessary funding to take this idea forward. "

There are only two passenger lines and two freight lines at Oxford station and only two platforms (with a bay at the north end), which would limit the growth of services and be inadequate if long term hopes of a new east-west railway link were realised.

The cost of raising the existing four track bridge over Botley Road and having to build two additional bridges was put at £113m.

The leader of Oxfordshire county council, Keith Mitchell, welcomed the transport board's decision. He said: "We are quietly confident of receiving the money. It's not money for tomorrow but it would help us to sort some of Oxford's traffic and transport problems."