Recent heavy rainfall has led to a landslip affecting the Chiltern main line near Bicester North station. Network Rail are undertaking urgent repairs on Sunday 14 and Monday 15 January.
A reduced service is able to run between Birmingham Moor Street and London Marylebone stations, however trains will start/terminate at either Bicester North or Haddenham & Thame Parkway depending on direction of travel, with a limited replacement bus service in between these stations for local journeys. Services between Oxford and London Marylebone stations have been cancelled.
Ticket acceptance is in place with:
- Avanti West Coast
- Great Western Railways
- CrossCountry (between Reading and Birmingham New Street).
- West Midlands Railways (for local West Midlands services).
- London Underground - via any reasonable route.
- Elizabeth Line between Bond Street and Reading.
- X7 bus - Aylesbury to Oxford (via Haddenham & Thame Parkway).
- X9 and X90 buses - High Wycombe to Princes Risborough.
Service changes:
- 1 train per hour between London Marylebone and Birmingham Moor Street (rains will start/terminate at either Bicester North or Haddenham & Thame Parkway depending on direction of travel, with a limited replacement bus service in between these stations for local journeys)
- No service between London Marylebone and Oxford via Bicester Village
- Shuttle service between Oxford and Bicester Village to connect into GWR service at Oxford
- All other lines are currently unaffected.
DO NOT TRAVEL: Repairs to the railway in the Bicester area on Monday 15 January
Chiltern Railways is advising customers not to travel on its services on Monday 15 January.
Due to recent heavy rainfall, a landslip occurred on Thursday 11 January on the Chiltern main line between Bicester North and Haddenham & Thame Parkway.
The line has been partially blocked, meaning that fewer services have been able to run on the one track available since the disruption began.
For Network Rail to undertake urgent repairs to the railway, the line between Bicester North and Haddenham & Thame Parkway will be fully closed on Sunday 14 January and Monday 15 January. This means that no trains will be able run through the area.
Trains will start/terminate at either Bicester North or Haddenham & Thame Parkway depending on direction of travel, with a limited replacement bus service in between these stations for local journeys. Due to this significant disruption, Chiltern is asking customers to not to travel on these days and seek alternative methods of transport.
Ticket acceptance is in place with Avanti West Coast, CrossCountry, Great Western Railway, London Northwestern Railway and London Underground/Elizabeth Line via any reasonable route.
Customers should ensure they check their full journey before they travel.
Chiltern Railways sincerely apologies for the disruption this will cause customers, and wishes to stress that there is no alternative to making these urgent repairs across Sunday and Monday. Disruption will likely continue as the lines reopen at reduced speed on Tuesday 16 January. We will provide a further update for customers on Monday regarding the service on Tuesday 16 January.
If customers have an advance ticket booked with Chiltern, they will be entitled to a full, fee-free refund from the original retailer or the opportunity to rebook their journey.
A copy of the emergency timetable planned for Sunday 14 January 2024 may be downloaded here. A copy of the emergency timetable planned for Monday 15 January may be downloaded here. We strongly advise that customers DO NOT TRAVEL and seek alternative travel via other routes wherever possible.
Where rail replacement buses are running, these are now showing in online journey planners. Please note that online journey planners are not currently completely accurate - where possible these will be checked and updated on Monday morning.
Please check your journey before travelling.
A document showing suggested alternative routes is available here (external link).