Editing Oxford (section)

===Rail===
[[File:Oxford Railway Station at dusk Nov 2011.jpg|alt=|thumb|[[Oxford railway station]], in the city centre]]
[[File:Oxford Parkway 3rd November2015 14.JPG|alt=|thumb|[[Oxford Parkway railway station|Oxford Parkway Station]], on the outskirts near [[Kidlington]]]]

[[Oxford railway station]] is half a mile (about 1&nbsp;km) west of the city centre. The station is served by trains from three train operating companies. [[Great Western Railway (train operating company)|Great Western Railway (GWR)]] manage the station and run direct services to [[London Paddington station|London Paddington]] and [[Worcester Foregate Street railway station|Worcester]], [[Great Malvern railway station|Malvern]] and [[Hereford railway station|Hereford]]. [[CrossCountry]] trains call at Oxford on their [[Bournemouth railway station|Bournemouth]]—[[Manchester Piccadilly station|Manchester]] route via [[Southampton Central railway station|Southampton]], [[Reading railway station|Reading]] and [[Birmingham New Street railway station|Birmingham]]. [[Chiltern Railways]] operates a service to [[Marylebone station|London Marylebone]] and will operate the [[East West Rail]] trains to [[Milton Keynes Central railway station|Milton Keynes]] when these start running in 2025.

Oxford has had three main railway stations. The first was opened at Grandpont in 1844,{{sfn|MacDermot|1927|pp=180–181}} but this was a terminus, inconvenient for routes to the north;{{sfn|MacDermot|1927|p=300}} it was replaced by the present station on [[Park End Street]] in 1852 with the opening of the [[Birmingham New Street railway station|Birmingham]] route.{{sfn|MacDermot|1927|p=327}} Another terminus, at [[Oxford Rewley Road railway station|Rewley Road]], was opened in 1851 to serve the [[Bletchley railway station|Bletchley]] route;{{sfn|Mitchell|Smith|2005|loc=Historical Background}} this station closed in 1951.{{sfn|Mitchell|Smith|2005|loc=fig. 8}} There have also been a number of local railway stations, all of which are now closed. <!-- Several were provided in the earlier part of the twentieth century. (needs thinking about, do this bit later) --> A fourth station, {{rws|Oxford Parkway}}, is just outside the city, at the [[park and ride]] site near [[Kidlington]]. The present railway station opened in 1852.

Oxford is the junction for a short branch line to [[Bicester]], a remnant of the former [[Varsity line]] to [[Cambridge]]. This [[Oxford–Bicester line]] was upgraded to {{convert|100|mph|0|abbr=on}} running during an 18-month closure in 2014/2015 – and is scheduled to be extended to form the planned [[East West Rail]] line to Milton Keynes.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.eastwestrail.org.uk/ |title=Welcome to |publisher=East West Rail |date=18 August 2014 |access-date=23 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140807025346/http://www.eastwestrail.org.uk/ |archive-date=7 August 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref> East West Rail is proposed to continue through {{rws|Bletchley}} (for {{rws|Milton Keynes Central}}) to [[Bedford railway station|Bedford]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.eastwestrail.org.uk/western-section |title=Western Section |publisher=East West Rail |date=18 August 2014 |access-date=23 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140807030413/http://www.eastwestrail.org.uk/western-section |archive-date=7 August 2014 |url-status=live }}</ref> Cambridge,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.eastwestrail.org.uk/central-section |title=Central Section |publisher=East West Rail |date=18 August 2014 |access-date=23 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140807032336/http://www.eastwestrail.org.uk/central-section |archive-date=7 August 2014 |url-status=live }}</ref> and ultimately [[Ipswich railway station|Ipswich]] and [[Norwich railway station|Norwich]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.eastwestrail.org.uk/eastern-section |title=Eastern Section |publisher=East West Rail |date=18 August 2014 |access-date=23 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140807025204/http://www.eastwestrail.org.uk/eastern-section |archive-date=7 August 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref> thus providing alternative route to [[East Anglia]] without needing to travel via, and connect between, the [[London station group|London]] mainline terminals.

[[Chiltern Railways]] operates from Oxford to London Marylebone via {{rws|Bicester Village}}, having sponsored the building of about 400 metres of new track between Bicester Village and the [[Chiltern Main Line]] southwards in 2014. The route serves [[High Wycombe railway station|High Wycombe]] and London Marylebone, avoiding London Paddington and [[Didcot Parkway railway station|Didcot Parkway]].

In 1844, the [[Great Western Railway]] linked [[Oxford railway station|Oxford]] with [[Paddington railway station|London Paddington]] via {{stnlnk|Didcot}} and {{stnlnk|Reading}};{{sfn|Simpson|1997|p=59}}{{sfn|Simpson|2001|p=9}} in 1851, the [[London & North Western Railway]] opened its own route from Oxford to [[Euston railway station|London Euston]], via [[Bicester Village railway station|Bicester]], {{stnlnk|Bletchley}} and [[Watford Junction railway station|Watford]];{{sfn|Simpson|1997|p=101}} and in 1864 a third route, also to Paddington, running via {{stnlnk|Thame}}, {{stnlnk|High Wycombe}} and {{stnlnk|Maidenhead}}, was provided;{{sfn|Simpson|2001|p=57}} this was shortened in 1906 by the opening of a direct route between High Wycombe and London Paddington by way of {{stnlnk|Denham}}.{{sfn|MacDermot|1931|p=432}} The distance from Oxford to London was {{convert|78|mi|km|1}} via Bletchley; {{convert|63.5|mi|km|1}} via Didcot and Reading; {{convert|63.25|mi|km|1}} via Thame and Maidenhead;{{sfn|Cooke|1960|p=70}} and {{convert|55.75|mi|km|1}} via Denham.{{sfn|MacDermot|1931|p=432}}

Only the original ({{rws|Didcot}}) route is still in use for its full length, portions of the others remain. There were also routes to the north and west. The line to {{stnlnk|Banbury}} was opened in 1850,{{sfn|MacDermot|1927|p=300}} and was extended to [[Birmingham Snow Hill railway station|Birmingham Snow Hill]] in 1852;{{sfn|MacDermot|1927|p=327}} a route to [[Worcester Shrub Hill railway station|Worcester]] opened in 1853.{{sfn|MacDermot|1927|p=498}} A branch to [[Witney railway station (goods)|Witney]] was opened in 1862,{{sfn|MacDermot|1927|p=551}} which was extended to {{stnlnk|Fairford}} in 1873.{{sfn|MacDermot|1931|p=27}} The line to Witney and Fairford closed in 1962, but the others remain open.