A joint venture (JV) between Carillion and Buckingham Group Contracting has secured a £87m contract from Network Rail to deliver the design and construction of the new Chiltern Railways route between London Marylebone and Oxford, as well as the western section of the East West Rail scheme to Bedford and Milton Keynes.
The contract includes the construction of a new one kilometre section of railway to connect the Bicester Town to Oxford line to the Chiltern Main Line, widening the existing track bed, doubling over 18km of track, increasing line speed to 100mph and construction of new overbridges, underbridges and footbridges.
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The JV will also close 37 level crossings, build a new station at Oxford Parkway, renovate Bicester Town and Islip stations, as well as installing a new signalling system, as per the agreed terms.
The Oxford to London Marylebone services will operated by Chiltern Railways, and begin in summer 2015 from the newly built Oxford Parkway station, and from Oxford city centre in spring 2016, following the completion of renovation of Oxford station.
The Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire region is expected to benifit economically, socially and environmentally with the Oxford to London line and East West Rail.
After the completion of the Oxford to London line and the western phase of the East West Rail scheme, a further phase will reconstruct the unused track between Claydon Junction and Bletchley, upgrade the track between Bicester and Claydon junction, and Aylesbury and Claydon junction, as well as build a new station at Winslow.
Image: Contract awarded for the design and build of a new route between London and Oxford. Photo courtesy of Network Rail.
