OXFORDSHIRE County Council has won a national award for an event held to promote an enhanced train service between Oxford and Bicester, which has led to a 73 per rise in the number of passengers in just one year.

The council and train operator First Great Western took the Best Community Rail Event prize in the Association of Community Rail Partnerships’ Community Rail Awards, for jointly organising the three-day Bicester Link launch in May last year.

Passengers were able to enjoy free travel on the line, which also serves Islip, and on-train entertainment including a band and children’s entertainers.

This was backed up by a marketing campaign including newspaper and radio adverts, leaflet deliveries and the branding of the service as the Bicester Link.

Rodney Rose, the council’s cabinet member for transport, said: “For the launch event to be recognised as the best community rail event in the country is a fantastic achievement for the community and for everyone who played their part in making the three days so successful and enjoyable.

“Passenger growth on the Bicester Link trains is testament to the first-class marketing campaign carried out by the council and First Great Western.

“In the year since its launch, we have seen passenger numbers soar and there is now a greater awareness of the railway, with the popularity of the trains continuing to increase.”

Bicester Town station was the start or end of 105,329 journeys in 2009-10, leaping by 73.7 per cent from the 60,638 recorded in 2008-09, while Islip station saw its highest number of journeys for more than a decade. Custom was up 40 per cent, to 23,885 journeys from 17,062 in the previous year.

Dr Ian East, from Islip, the chairman of the Oxford-Bicester Rail Action Group, which represents passengers on the line, said credit must also go to the action group, which highlighted £1.2m in unused developer funding.

He said the money from Bicester Village had remained unspent until a campaign by the group persuaded the council to spend the money on extra trains.

Dr East said: “It’s good news but the real limitation to take-up of services was the limited number of options to come back.

“This has enabled a lot more people to use the trains because there are more return options.”

l The Oxford-Bicester Town line is set to close next year for at least 18 months for major engineering work as part of Chiltern Railways’ Evergreen3 project to create a second Oxford to London rail route.