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Preferred Options 2025
ID sylw: 107237
Derbyniwyd: 26/02/2025
Ymatebydd: Oxfordshire County Council
Railway lines and roads, such as the M40, A44, A429 and A423 are the key transport links between this Joint Local Plan area and Oxfordshire. Growth in the South Warwickshire Local Plan area may result in additional capacity issues on these routes, which will have implications for Oxfordshire residents.
The Chiltern Mainline travels through the South Warwickshire Local Plan area as well as Oxfordshire with stations such as Oxford, Bicester North, Banbury and Leamington Spa. Improvements to the stations and the trains will be needed to cater for growth.
Although the North Cotswold Line passes to the south and west of the South Warwickshire Local Plan area, it can be expected that people will travel to stations on that line, for example at Honeybourne and Evesham, in order to travel to locations on that line between Oxford and Worcester and connections onward. Oxfordshire County Council, with partners including Warwickshire County Council, is seeking that the Department for Transport give its support to the Strategic Outline Business Case which the North Cotswold Line Taskforce has produced, for the infrastructure improvements to allow a second service every hour between Worcester and London Paddington. The pamphlet available online notes that the North Cotswold Line's potential to sustainably support economic and housing growth is severely limited by its current hourly service. Increasing the frequency to every 30 minutes can be achieved relatively simply, requiring less than ten miles of track doubling together with additional platforms at Hanborough in Oxfordshire and Pershore in Worcestershire.
The South Warwickshire Local Plan High Level Transport Assessment, by Jacobs for Warwickshire County Council dated 29 August 2024, considers rail infrastructure needs, but focuses on the West Midlands Rail Investment Strategy. We think that further work on wider rail infrastructure needs will be needed prior to completing the Regulation 19 Local Plan.