Oxfordshire is well served by the National Rail network, with two main line routes to London, express services to the South Coast, the North of England and Scotland, and local trains linking the major towns and rural communities.

The key route passing through the county is the Great Western main line, between London Paddington, the West of England and South Wales, via Didcot Parkway, which is also the junction for the line north to Oxford and on to Banbury.

In addition to frequent Oxford-Reading-London services, this route also carries trains linking the South Coast, via Oxford and Banbury, with the West Midlands, the North and Scotland.

The Chiltern Line is the other link to London, offering frequent services between London Marylebone and Birmingham, via Banbury, Bicester and Haddenham &Thame Parkway stations. Some Chiltern trains also call at Kings Sutton, one of three village stations between Oxford and Banbury, the others being at Tackley and Heyford.

Oxford is also linked by rail to Bicester Town station, trains calling en route at Islip, and with Worcester and Hereford by the Cotswold Line, which serves communities along its route through west Oxfordshire, with a mix of express and stopping trains, most of which run through to and from London.

Henley is linked to the Reading-London main line by a branch line from Twyford, which serves Shiplake en route, and has direct trains to and from London in the rush-hour.

For all timetable information, go to the National Rail website For more information on the network, go to Network Rail website.

Operators
 The passenger train operators in the county are:

  • First Great Western, which runs Oxford-Didcot-Reading-London Paddington services, the Oxford-Bicester and Oxford-Banbury local services, the Cotswold Line and long-distance expresses to Bath, Bristol and South Wales, which call at Didcot.
  • Chiltern Railways, which links Banbury, Bicester North and Haddenham & Thame Parkway stations with London Marylebone and the West Midlands. It also operates trains between London and Stratford-upon-Avon, via Oxfordshire.
  • Virgin CrossCountry, which runs north-south express trains, via Oxford and Banbury. These link Bournemouth, Southampton and Reading with destinations as far afield as Manchester, Leeds, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Carlisle, Edinburgh and Glasgow.

Stations

The county's principal stations are:

  • Oxford, in Frideswide Square.
  • Banbury, in Station Road
  • Didcot Parkway, in Station Approach
  • All are served by frequent express trains to destinations across the country, staff are on duty all day and the Travel Centres can issue a full range of rail tickets.

Other communities with stations are:

  • Appleford, served by Oxford-Didcot-London stopping trains.
  • Ascott-under-Wychwood, on the Cotswold Line.
  • Bicester: North station, in Buckingham Road, is on the Chiltern Railways route between London and Banbury, a taxibus service from the forecourt runs around the town and to Launton and Ambrosden; Town station, in London Road, is used by trains from Oxford and Islip.
  • Charlbury, on the Cotswold Line. A taxibus service offers connections to the town, Finstock and the Wychwoods.
  • Cholsey, served by Oxford-Didcot-London stopping trains.
  • Combe,on the Cotswold Line.
  • Culham, served by Oxford-Didcot-London stopping trains.
  • Finstock, on the Cotswold Line.
  • Goring & Streatley, served by Oxford-Didcot-London stopping trains.
  • Haddenham & Thame Parkway, on the Chiltern Railways route between London and Banbury.
  • Hanborough, on the Cotswold Line.
  • Henley, served by a branch line from Twyford.
  • Heyford, served by Oxford-Banbury stopping trains.
  • Islip, served by Oxford-Bicester Town trains.
  • Kingham, on the Cotswold Line. The X8 bus from Chipping Norton connects with trains.
  • Kings Sutton, served by Oxford-Banbury stopping trains and some Chiltern Railways trains.
  • Radley, served by Oxford-Didcot-London stopping trains.
  • Shiplake, served by Henley branch trains.
  • Shipton, on the Cotswold Line.
  • Tackley, served by Oxford-Banbury stopping trains.

Passenger groups

There are a number of organisations which represent passengers. These include:

Railcards

The National Rail operators offer a range of railcards offering discounted travel on trains.

These include the Family Railcard; Senior Railcard, for over 60s; Young Person's Railcard, for under-26s; and the Disabled Person's Railcard.

Two railcards that are especially useful for Oxfordshire passengers are the Network Card, which offers discounted off-peak travel in South East England to passengers of all ages, and the Cotswold Line Railcard, which offers off-peak travel for journeys on the route between Oxford and Worcester.

For details go to www.railcard.co.uk

Public transport information and bus connections

Useful websites:

  • Traveline is an impartial website offering advice and timetable information for travel by bus, coach and train.
  • Transport Direct is a Government website providing access to information about transport facilities and services in the UK, including journey planners and live travel news.
  • Plusbus is a scheme offering train and bus travel on one ticket. The scheme operates in Oxford and beyond the city boundary to Botley, Cumnor and Kidlington on top of train fares. Daily, weekly and monthly, quarterly and annual prices are available. Plusbus is also available in Banbury.
  • First Great Western and Chiltern Railways also offer combined rail and bus tickets to many communities - including Abingdon, Banbury, Bicester and Thame - close to stations on their networks in the Thames Valley, Cotswolds, West of England, the West Country and the West Midlands, covering the rail journey and connecting buses to your destination. See the companies' websites for more details, or ask at staffed stations.

Railfreight

A number of locations in Oxfordshire are served by freight trains and the county is a key transit route for traffic between south coast ports, the Midlands and the North.

The Bicester Military Railway, serving the town's Ministry of Defence storage depot, is the largest system of its kind in the UK, and is served by regular trains transporting supplies for the Armed Forces.

In Oxford, the BMW Mini factory at Cowley sends out new cars by rail and extra sidings to handle trains carrying components to the factory are planned as part of the expansion of the factory to build the new generation Mini.

Hinksey Sidings are used by Network Rail for track engineering trains. The Banbury Road stone terminal, next to the line to Bicester on the northern outskirts of Oxford, has been reopened this year by the Hanson Group to handle aggregates brought by train from Somerset.

Appleford Sidings, just south of the village's station, receive container trains carrying refuse from London, Bristol and Bath for dumping in landfill sites in former gravel workings.

Didcot power station receives coal supplies by rail from ports around the country and oil, used to light the boilers, in tanker trains from the Lindsey refinery on Humberside.

The two main railfreight companies operating services in Oxfordshire are English Welsh & Scottish Railway (EWS) and Freightliner

Preserved railways

Oxfordshire is home to three preserved railways run by enthusiasts and open to the public:

  • Didcot Railway Centre: The centre, at the old Great Western Railway locomotive sheds at Didcot Parkway station, recreates the glory days of the GWR.
  • Cholsey & Wallingford Railway runs steam and diesel trains on the former Great Western Railway branch line between Wallingford and the main line station at Cholsey.
  • Chinnor & Princes Risborough Railway runs steam and diesel trains on part of the old Watlington branch line. Trains operate from Chinnor station, but the railway aims to run to the mainline station at Princes Risborough in the future.

British Transport Police

The British Transport Police is a dedicated police force patrolling Britain's railway network. For more information, see www.btp.police.uk