A SERIES of enhancement projects to improve the capacity and reliability of Oxfordshire's railways feature in Network Rail's new strategic business plan.

The company said the schemes, and others on routes out of London's Paddington station, would help to address "severe performance issues" affecting trains in the county, in particular "reactionary delays", where problems affecting one service knock on along its route and affect other trains.

Oxford commuters have welcomed the proposals, but are worried about potential disruption while work is carried out, including the major reconstruction of Reading station.

Among the projects planned in Oxfordshire up to 2014 are:

  • Upgrading of the freight train loop lines north of Oxford station to take passenger trains, allowing Bicester services to run in and out of the station without getting in the way of main line expresses - planned for completion by December 2008
  • Work between Oxford and Didcot to ease conflicts between express and local passenger trains and freight services. Work could include a south-facing bay platform on part of Oxford station's car park for use by London trains to reduce complex shunting moves around the station and building extra freight loops on the route - planned for completion by February 2010
  • Reinstatement of double track on the Cotswold Line from Oxford to Worcester to tackle persistent problems with delays caused by single-track sections - planned for completion by December 2010
  • Resignalling of Banbury station and possible provision of extra platforms - planned for 2013-14
  • Extra capacity for freight trains on the Didcot-Oxford-Banbury route, including work on bridges to allow larger shipping containers to be carried - by April 2014.

A number of other schemes are also listed, which may be added to the main work programme, including:

  • Adding a second pair of tracks between Didcot and Swindon to segregate express passenger and freight trains
  • Increasing the speed of Bicester line trains at Oxford North junction from 25mph to 40mph.

Network Rail said that lines were so busy that as soon as there were problems, organising diversions and getting trains back to normal afterwards was extremely difficult.

Zahra Akkerhuys, of commuter group Ox Rail Action, said: "There's no doubt that major work needs to be done and these plans are welcome, but they are long-term projects. We're worried about the short term.

"It's already stressful and difficult enough, using overcrowded trains.

"Until Network Rail and Great Western can get the basics of running a reliable service right, I'm concerned that they won't be able to cope when major work gets under way.

"We want to know how they are going to work together to make life as easy as possible for passengers during these projects."