Banbury railway station

Banbury railway station serves the town of Banbury in Oxfordshire, England. The station is currently operated by Chiltern Railways, lying on the Chiltern Main Line, and has four platforms in use.

History


Banbury Bridge Street station opened on 2 September 1850, some four months after the Buckinghamshire Railway (L&NWR) opened its Banbury Merton Street terminus. When meadows and a by the recently discussed race-course at Grimsbury were sold to the Great Western Railway circa 1850, the owner also sold the other part of his land, north of the Middleton road to the Banbury Freehold Land Society, which was financially backed by Cobb's Bank, to  build  middle-class houses on, but development was slow at the time and some plots were never built upon. The station was going to be part of the GWR's Oxford & Rugby railway, before the problems with changing gauges at Rugby put paid to that. The 24 mile single track extension from Oxford to Banbury did open, and at first Banbury was just a single platform through station (works were continuing to Birmingham) however the popularity of the line meant that the route was soon double tracked barely two years later, and the station was given an extra platform in an up and down configuration. In 1884 an extra up line was added, and by 1903 Banbury had the extra up line converted into up and down bays, along with an extra bay on the downside, and freight loops to cope with the traffic from the GCML joining at Banbury junction to the north. The inclusion of terminating bays and freight loops reflected Banbury's increasing strategic position in the national network. The Station was rebuilt into its present incarnation in 1958.

Banbury was once a junction for the line to Buckingham, however that closed in the 1960s. There was also another station very near by at Banbury Merton Street Station. Banbury Bridge Street station occupied one of the most strategic and important locations in the entire rail network in Britain. For example, the Aberdeen to Penzance Express used the Woodford Halse branch of the GCR through Banbury as part of its journey and the "Ports to Ports Express" from the North-East (Newcastle, Middlesbrough etc.) to South Wales (Cardiff, Newport) used the GCR branch line and the Banbury and Cheltenham Direct Railway, and passed though Banbury as well as Newcastle-Bournemouth, Newcastle-Southampton, York-Swindon Sleeper, Bournemouth-Birkenhead/Manchester etc., etc. . Most Cross Country Services in Britain passed through Banbury, which helped the station become just as, if not more, important as the London Termini, which also helped fuel the growth of the town and its Cattle Market.

The station was renamed Banbury General after Nationalisation, to distinguish it from the nearby Banbury Merton Street station. The suffix was officially dropped by 1974, but remained on tickets until the Edmondson type ticket machines were replaced in the early 1980s.

The railway station of today lies on the site of the Great Western Railway's line from Oxford to Banbury opened in 1850. The original station's overall roof survived until 1953, 5 years before a rebuild in 1958. The rebuilding of the station was delayed due to the Second World War, and could have been based on the GWR's new station at Leamington Spa, which was finished just before war commenced.

List of former services through Banbury

 * "Ports to Ports" Middlesbrough/Hull/Sunderland — Cardiff/Newport/Swansea/Barry Island/Barry
 * Bournemouth — Birkenhead
 * Birkenhead — Dover via Reading

Layout


Following the reconstruction of the station in 1956-58, there were six numbered platforms: these were formed into two islands, the western one having two through tracks and a single bay at its northern end, whilst the eastern island had a single through platform, but two bays, one at each end. The two islands were connected to each other, and to the station entrance hall, by a footbridge.

At that time, the three through platforms were numbered 1, 3 & 4 from west to east, whilst the three bays were 2, 5 & 6. All but one have been re-designated since — the present-day platform 2 was formerly platform 3, whilst the un-numbered bay at its northern end was originally platform 2; and present-day platforms 3 & 4 were formerly 4 & 6 respectively. Platform 5, at the northern end of the present platform 3, has lost both its track and its number.

The present station has four numbered platforms (one active bay not numbered), numbered 1 to 4 from west to east, and are split into two island platforms.

Platform 1 A through platform used as a bay platform by First Great Western's terminating local trains to Oxford and commuter trains beyond to Reading and Paddington, and by Chiltern Railways through and terminating services from the south — all terminating trains at this platform travel a short distance up the line before reversing back to the same platform and boarding outbound passengers, unless a train has since occupied the platform, which then means the train reverses to platform 3 to board passengers, It is also used as an emergency through platform if one of the others is out of use for any reason. Platforms 2 and 3 are through platforms: platform 2 is for Chiltern services north to Leamington Spa, CrossCountry services to Birmingham New Street, Manchester, The North West and Scotland; platform 3 is for Chiltern services to London via Bicester and Cross Country services to Oxford, Reading and the South Coast. There are also two terminal platforms: platform 4 is for terminating Chiltern services to and from London; An unnumbered bay platform (trains stopping here are classified as either or both Platforms 1 & 2, usually 1) is used by terminating Chiltern services to and from Birmingham and Stratford. Freight loops serve as main through lines for non-stopping freight trains. All passenger services passing Banbury stop at the station, and heritage trains stop here to fill up on water.

Many redundant loops and sidings surround the station: most of these were for goods services stopping at Banbury, which have all disappeared. Two goods loops survive to allow the stoppage of goods trains for the uninterrupted passage of passenger trains.

The station is also being considered for remodelling to improve 'operational flexibility' by Network Rail

Two new lower-quadrant semaphore signals were installed in late 2010 to allow passenger trains in platforms 1 & 2 to depart in the up direction. Their numbers are BS27 and BS33, and are controlled from Banbury South signal box.

Services
Chiltern Railways provide most trains to Banbury, with trains between London Marylebone and Birmingham Snow Hill, Stratford-upon-Avon and Kidderminster, as well as trains from London terminating there.

It is also the northern terminus of First Great Western's local services from London Paddington via Oxford and operates Mondays to Saturdays only.

Banbury is also served by CrossCountry services between Birmingham New Street and Reading.

2008 train fire
On 14 March 2008, a CrossCountry Voyager forming the 4.25pm service to Derby caught fire while standing on platform 2 at Banbury. Passengers in both trains at the station and the station itself were evacuated. Fire crews arrived and the fire was put out.