Peter Masson wrote:

"TheOneKEA" wrote

I suspect that with extensive improvements to the LNWR route between
Oxford and Bicester Town, combined with a decent curvature and gradient
on the chord, you could get competitive journey times between Oxford
and Marylebone. Plus of course, you get the onward links between Oxford
and High Wycombe, Risborough and Aylesbury.

Unfortunately though I think FGW has cornered the Oxford-London market,
so the chord might only get built on the strength of depopulating the
M40 of people driving from Buckinghamshire to Oxford for work or school.

I can't see how Chiltern can possibly compete for London to Oxford traffic.
FGW can get there in 52 minutes, and if it had to compete on speed could do
the journey non-stop in no more than 45 minutes. Chiltern's best time,
non-stop, to Bicester is 50 minutes. It seems to me that Chiltern, like the
Metropolitan before them, have got mesmerised with Oxford as a destination.
They realise that they've got no chance of reopening via Thame; Aston Rowant
Parkway seems to be a non-starter, and going via Bicester comes into the
category of Great Way Round. Perhaps Chiltern need to build a spur on to the
trackbed of the Brill Tramway and dust off the Met's scheme for extending
this to Oxford. ;-)

Peter

When this topic came up on an earlier thread I suggested that if
Chiltern were to build a North Oxford Parkway station on the Bicester
line, it might prove attractive to residents of Witney, Woodstock,
Kidlington and surrounding areas. They could get a train to London
without having to negotiate Oxford's traffic and the door-to-door
journey time might be competative.

Andy