Station redevelopment and Integrated Transport Hub at Oxpens

We still believe relocating the station to Oxpens is worth further consideration.

25 July 2013

We have lobbied at national and local levels for serious consideration of replacement of the railway station by a properly-integrated transport hub at the Oxpens site, to improve interchange between rail and bus services, and cyclists and pedestrians. We are delighted that Government funding has been confirmed for major station improvements and reconstruction of the Botley Road bridge, as part of huge investment in the rail infrastructure, however, we have not yet succeeded in having the Oxpens site seriously considered.

We are also delighted that Network Rail and the County and City Councils seem now to be collaborating on the preparation of a masterplan for the existing station site, although progress on this appears to have stagnated. Hopefully, the new station will eventually provide truly worthy gateway, and a properly functioning transport interchange. We continue to believe that the merits of re-locating the station nearer to Oxpens should be properly evaluated, in view of the tight space constraints and problematic access off Frideswide Square, and particularly as the Westgate redevelopment proposals advance, and we continue to press for this to happen.

Meanwhile the County Council has decided now to proceed with reconfiguring Frideswide Square, despite the lack of resolution of the new bridge details at its west end. This seems to risk carrying out work which may prove abortive, and disrupting traffic flows during separate construction periods for the square and the bridge.