FULL details of the summer closure of the Cotswold Line rail route for reinstatement of double track have been revealed, as design work enters its final stages.

First Great Western trains will be unable to run between Oxford and Worcester from Saturday, July 18, until Tuesday, September 1.

The whole route will be closed for engineering work between July 18 until August 2 — and again from August 24.

However, trains will be able to serve stations in Oxfordshire from Monday, August 3, until Sunday, August 23, when a shuttle service will operate between Oxford and Moreton-in-Marsh, in Glou-cestershire.

Replacement bus services will run to cover the closed sections of the line.

The project will see the reinstatement of four miles of double track in Oxfordshire, from just east of Charlbury to Ascott-under-Wychwood, from where double track already runs to Moreton-in-Marsh. Another 16 miles of new track will be laid from there to Evesham in Worcestershire.

The aim of the project is to improve punctuality on the route, from an average of 76 per cent — one of the poorest records on the entire rail network — to 92 per cent.

Passengers between Oxford and London will also benefit, as many of the express trains linking the cities run through to and from the Cotswold Line.

Over the summer, Network Rail engineers will be realigning existing track, moving signal cables and clearing the full width of the track to make room for the second set of rails to be laid.

New station platforms are to be built and new signals installed over the following 15 months, while trains continue to run. The work is due to be completed late next year.

Mike Gallop, the Network Rail route enhancement manager responsible for the project, said: “We have a big task ahead to bring the scheme to commission and we will continue to work hard to progress these improvements.

“We’re also really grateful for the support from the industry and community.”

wcrossley@oxfordmail.co.uk