Botley Road rail bridge closure

What’s happening to your bus service

Overview of the closure:

As part of its wider improvements to the western side of Oxford Railway station, Network rail is replacing the bridge over the Botley Road.

The rail bridge on Botley Road will be closed from 11th April 2023 until further notice.

The rail station and railway upgrades, part of the Oxfordshire Connect programme, involves expanding Oxford Station and the railway to allow more rail services for passengers and freight and reduce journey times in the future. The road network near the station will also be improved to create safer junctions with Botley Road, encourage sustainable transport by enhancing bus travel as well as providing more space for cyclists and pedestrians through the addition of a four-metre cycle/footway on each side of the main road. You can find out more about the works at the Network Rail Media Centre.

Due to scale and nature of the works on the highway, including the need to divert vital utility services, the impact on Botley Road will be significant.

What does this mean for bus services?

Whilst we will still be able to access Botley Road, we will not be able to take a bus beyond Botley Road to or from Frideswide Square (outside Oxford Rail Station) and Oxford City Centre from the Western side of the city. Pedestrian and cycle access through the closure points is planned to be maintained throughout, although the specific route through may change.

The closure will affect Stagecoach services S1, S2, S6 and S9.

We have worked closely with Network Rail and Oxfordshire County Council to ensure we can maintain connections to Oxford city centre where possible and minimise disruption for our passengers.

Because of the size of the disruption there is no solution that would match every requirement and we would like to thank our customers in advance for their understanding and patience during the closure.

Stagecoach Services affected in detail:

Due to the frequency of the S1, and to enable Stagecoach to provide a service into Oxford City Centre from Witney for as many passengers as possible, the S1 will divert from Eynsham Church via A40 and Woodstock Road into Oxford City Centre terminating at Frideswide Square (outside Oxford Railway Station). It will then run the same route in reverse back to Eynsham Church.

Stop B2 in George St (next to the New Theatre) will be the main pick up for customers travelling back towards Witney and Carterton.

The route prior between Carterton and Eynsham will be unchanged.

Passengers travelling from Carterton or Witney to Farmoor, Dean Court, Elms Parade or the first half of Botley Road can still travel to these destinations by changing onto the new E1 service in Eynsham. See tab 2 for details of this service.

A new timetable will run to allow extra time to get to and from Oxford City Centre via A40 and Woodstock Road and will run to a 20 minute frequency Monday to Saturday.

Please note, on Easter Sunday and Bank Holiday Monday, the S1 will run to the current Sunday timetable (via Botley Road). The diversion will come into effect from Tuesday 11th April.

View S1 timetable from 11th April 2023

New route starting in Eynsham to serve Farmoor and Botley Road for the duration of the works (previously served by the S1). The E1 will provide a service up to every 30 mins between 0500 and midnight Monday to Saturday (0900 and 2000 on Sundays).

The E1 will run along Botley Road, finishing and starting at the Osney Island stop near Oxford Railway Station bridge.

View E1 timetable from 11th April 2023

The 2-hourly Cheltenham to Oxford buses will stay on the normal route and timetable.

The short journeys from Curbridge to Oxford will terminate in Witney, passengers looking to travel onto Oxford from Curbridge will need to catch the S1 from Witney. Through-tickets will be available for passengers wishing to make this connection, just ask the driver.

View S2 timetable from 11th April 2023

The S6 will run as normal route to the stop on Botley Road at Oxford Railway Bridge.

The timetable will be largely unchanged, with the exception of journeys finishing and starting at the Osney Island stop near Oxford Railway Station bridge, rather than Oxford City Centre.

View S6 timetable from 11th April 2023

The S9 will run as normal route to the stop on Botley Road at Oxford Railway Bridge.

The timetable will be largely unchanged, with the exception of journeys finishing and starting at the Osney Island stop near Oxford Railway Station bridge, rather than Oxford City Centre.

View S9 timetable from 11th April 2023

FAQs

Why does the Botley Road rail bridge need to close?

Network Rail confirmed the road is to close near the rail bridge to allow the work to be completed more quickly.

This method of accommodating the railway work would preserve access to businesses and services along Botley Rd and minimise the likelihood of the substantial queuing that would occur with just lane closures. Such queues would then ultimately impact on A34 and bus journey times.

Can you not run a diversion instead and find alternative routes directly to the city centre?

It is expected that the other main routes into Oxford will get busier as a result of the Botley Road works. Limited road works on these roads will be allowed to help mitigate this but due to our familiarity with Botley Road, it was agreed we would continue to serve Botley Road as best we can

Why is the S1 diverting and not serving Botley Road like the majority of other services?

Most passengers on the S1 are travelling to Oxford City Centre or the Railway Station. Diverting from Eynsham via the A40 and Woodstock Road to Oxford maintains a reliable route to these end destinations.

Passengers travelling from Carterton or Witney to Farmoor, Dean Court, Elms Parade or the first half of Botley Road (or in reverse towards Witney and Carterton) can still travel to these locations by changing onto the new E1 service in Eynsham, details above.

What does this mean if I have a MegaRider ticket?

There will be no change to our ticket terms and conditions so you can continue to use your regular bus ticket.

Will ticket prices be reduced considering the fare is to get into Oxford city centre, but the bus is unable to get me there?

Through tickets enable our customers to continue the full leg of their intended journey, free of charge.

Customers travelling towards Oxford City Centre can continue their journey after Osney Island via Stagecoach services 1, 14, S1, S3 and S7 from the Station or Frideswide Square. Customers just need to show the driver their ticket and they can travel free of charge further into the city.

Passengers travelling out of Oxford on services S6 and S9 can travel for free on Stagecoach services 1, 14, S1, S3 and S7 to the railway station for a shorter walk to the stop at Osney Island.

Passengers travelling on the S2 from Curbridge which terminates in Witney can change onto the S1 or S7 to Oxford.

Will journey times be affected?
For services S6 and S9, departures times from Swindon and Wantage will remain unchanged as will arrival times in the city centre although customers will need to factor in the walking distance from the final stop at the Railway Bridge to their end destination.

Departures times from Oxford on the S6 and S9 will also remain the same but again to account for the bus stop at the Railway Bridge being further away than the usual stop, passengers should account for this.

Timetables will remain unchanged between Elms Parade to Wantage and Besselsleigh to Swindon.

New timetables will be in operation for this closure and can be viewed be selecting the relevant service tab above.

Contact details

If you have any questions regarding these changes, contact us at [email protected] or 0345 241 8000*

You can reach us between 8:00 and 18:00 from Monday to Friday and between 09:00 and 17:00 Saturday and Sunday.

* Calls are charged at geographic rates (the same as 01/02 numbers) and are included in call packages from both landlines and mobiles.

Tweet us on social too at @Stagecoach_Ox