The grand ambition of the East West Rail is to join the dreaming spires of Oxford and Cambridge. The brochure puts it less poetically: reconnecting two of England’s most productive knowledge clusters. But in the English site of Bicester, the scheme threatens to create a more immediate geographical reality: a town divided by a closed level crossing.
Residents of the town, which sits just outside Oxford, fear that the closure of the London Road crossing will create a “Great Divide”, leaving drivers, shoppers and school runners staring across the rails. Spare a thought, too, for bargain hunters heading to Bicester Village – a destination so popular with international visitors that locals sometimes joke it is “China’s most popular out-of-town shopping centre”.
Bisecting Bicester
The problem centres on the London Road level crossing, which is expected to close when East West Rail services begin running between Oxford and Cambridge. The closure would remove a key road link through the fast-growing town. Currently, the only regular service is a daily intermodal freight operation by Maritime Transport, connecting Southampton container terminal with Northampton Gateway (see RailFreight.com).
In Parliament, the elected representative, Calum Miller, warned that the consequences could be significant: “Bicester is one of the fastest-growing towns in the country, but the town will be cut in two when rail services start between Oxford and Cambridge and the London Road level crossing closes.”
Petition from the divided village
Miller previously presented a petition in the House of Commons calling for a replacement crossing. According to the official record, 4,526 residents backed a proposal for “the construction of an underpass at the London Road level crossing in Bicester that could accommodate car users as well as cyclists and pedestrians.” It would probably accommodate trains as well, but that was taken as read.
The government response noted that the crossing may close because of increased train movements associated with East West Rail. Officials say the project is currently considering either an accessible pedestrian overbridge or an underpass, though a vehicular underpass would depend on “affordability and feasibility”.
Bargain hunters and the rail barrier
The issue also has an economic dimension. So much so, the issue made it to parliament – and Prime Minister’s Questions no less. Bicester’s outlet shopping destination, Bicester Village, draws millions of visitors each year, many arriving by rail or coach in search of discounted luxury goods.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer acknowledged that the retail magnet needs reliable access. “I agree that access to Bicester Village must be maintained—my children say that as well,” he quipped, to a ripple of laughter (tough audience that House of Commons). “I think [East West Rail] has put forward two options for replacing the crossing,” he told the house.
Design an outlet, not a designer outlet
The Prime Minister added that residents would soon have the chance to comment on possible solutions. “I reassure him and his constituents that they will have the opportunity to express their views on what would work for them during the upcoming consultation.”
Until then, the residents of Bicester face the prospect that a railway designed to connect two great cities could first redraw the map of their own town. If the crossing disappears without a replacement, the most reliable route from north to south might involve a detour through a designer outlet. Not much of a bargain, that.