Bicester North railway station

Bicester North (/ˈbɪstər/ ^ⓘ BIST-ər) is a station on the Chiltern Main Line, one of two stations serving the market town of Bicester in Oxfordshire. Services operated by Chiltern Railways run south to London Marylebone and north to Banbury, Birmingham Snow Hill and Stratford-upon-Avon.

Bicester North
The station in 2011, after completion of widening work on the southbound platform
General information
Location	Bicester, District of Cherwell England
Grid reference	SP585231
Managed by	Chiltern Railways
Platforms	2
Other information
Station code	BCS
Classification	DfT category D
History
Opened	1 July 1910
Original company	Great Western Railway
Pre-grouping	GWR
Post-grouping	GWR
Passengers
2019/20	0.839 million
Interchange	32,575
2020/21	0.148 million
Interchange	3,509
2021/22	0.512 million
Interchange	19,850
2022/23	0.633 million
Interchange	18,563
2023/24	0.758 million
Interchange	3,984
Location
Notes Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

Station entrance in 1961

Bicester North is one of Bicester's two stations. The other is Bicester Village on the Oxford to London Marylebone Line.

History

The 'Bicester cut-off' between Ashendon Junction and Aynho Junction was opened in 1910 - the final main-line stretch of route to be completed in Britain until the 1980s. This provided a shortening of the London-to-Birmingham GWR main rail line, and also gave Bicester a station with direct London trains for the first time.

The station was transferred from the Western Region of British Rail to the London Midland Region on 24 March 1974.^[1]

Services

The Monday-to-Friday off-peak service consists of:

• 2 trains per hour to London Marylebone, typically calling at Haddenham & Thame Parkway (once per hour) and High Wycombe only
• 1 train per hour to Birmingham Moor Street
• 1 train per hour to Banbury, extending to Birmingham Snow Hill once every two hours and during peak times.

Improvement works

In 2010 the down line through the station was realigned for higher speeds, as part of the Evergreen 3 project. In 2011, the up (southbound) platform was widened, using the trackbed of the former through lines.^[2]

Operator and routes

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
High Wycombe		Chiltern Railways Chiltern Main Line		Kings Sutton
Haddenham & Thame Parkway				Banbury
	Historical railways
Ardley Line open, station closed		Great Western Railway Bicester "cut-off"		Blackthorn Line open, station closed