UK: Oxford City Council has appointed a team headed by SLC Rail to undertake an Infrastructure Place study to support plans for the reintroduction of passenger trains on the freight-only branch that serves BMW’s Cowley factory.
| Infrastructure Place Study multi-disciplinary team | |
|---|---|
| 5th Studio | spatial framework |
| SLC Property | property and planning |
| Anthony Collins Solicitors | legal planning policy |
| Transition by Design | stakeholder engagement |
| Maddison Graphic | engagement material |
The study will identify the bridges and paths that would be needed to ensure that the proposed stations at Oxford Littlemore and Oxford Cowley were accessible from the surrounding residential and commercial areas and to provide new links across the line.
The study is to be undertaken in parallel with Network Rail’s production of engineering designs and the development of the finance and funding strategy to support a full business case which will be submitted to the government.
‘A passenger service on this line would allow people to get from Blackbird Leys to the city centre in just over 10 min’, said Councillor Louise Upton, Cabinet Member for Planning, on January 11. ‘This would really improve the city’s public transport options, increasing overall capacity locally, reducing congestion on our roads and contributing to a better rail network regionally.’
