Oxfordshire: a big transport agenda for a growing county

Major upgrades to Oxfordshire’s roads, rail and bus networks are being planned as the county responds to population and employment growth. Andrew Forster spoke to Oxfordshire County Council leader Ian Hudspeth and acting director of environment and economy Bev Hindle about the proposals

Andrew Forster

16 December 2016

Buses form the backbone of Oxford’s public transport system. The council has plans for bus rapid transit routes, and new park-and-ride sites located some distance from the city

Ian Hudspeth

Rail: with only two through platforms, Oxford station is already a bottleneck – even before additional proposed services such as East-West Rail are added. Oxfordshire wants a comprehensive rebuild of the station to increase capacity.

Park-and-ride: Oxfordshire wants to close the Pear Tree site and replacing it with a new site further away from the city..

Bev Hindle

Oxfordshire is going places. This month’s completion of a new rail link between London Marylebone and Oxford city centre is just one part of a much bigger plan to improve the county’s transport networks. On roads, the Government is preparing a major project to improve the county’s north-south trunk road, the A34, and build an Expressway from Oxford to Milton Keynes and Cambridge in the east. On rail, ministers this month signalled their commitment to the East West Rail...