Oxford City Council has awarded an Infrastructure Place Study contract for the new Cowley Branch Line to SLC Rail.<\/p>\n
The Infrastructure Place Study, led by SLC Rail, will help to identify any additional infrastructure place needs to ensure that the rail scheme is fully integrated with existing communities,\u00a0 maximising options to improve local movement and connectivity. This work will happen in parallel with the development of the finance and funding strategy that will support the project\u2019s Full Business Case.<\/p>\n
The SLC Rail commission is part of a wider \u00a34.5million package of work aiming to reopen the Cowley Branch Line to passengers, supported by Oxford City Council, Oxfordshire County Council and major local landowners.<\/p>\n
The line is currently only used for freight services to BMW\u2019s Cowley manufacturing plant. If funding is secured for the implementation phase, the rail track would be upgraded for reinstated passenger rail services, with two new stations at \u201cOxford Littlemore\u201d (near Oxford Science Park) and \u201cOxford Cowley\u201d (near ARC Oxford).<\/p>\n
The Infrastructure Place Study multi-disciplinary team includes 5th Studio (spatial framework), SLC Property (property and planning), Anthony Collins Solicitors (legal planning policy), Transition by Design (stakeholder engagement), and Maddison Graphic (engagement material).<\/p>\n
SLC Rail will work closely with Network Rail who are currently developing the engineering design for the rail infrastructure and core station solutions, and producing the Full Business Case, drawing upon previous development work. The two work streams will work closely together in order to create the most compelling funding asks to Government and other potential funders during 2024.<\/p>\n
Together the SLC Rail and Network Rail work packages aim to deliver seamless station design solutions that meet the requirements of local stakeholders to promote modal shift to sustainable rail transportation.<\/p>\n
Sam Uren, Director of SLC Rail, said: \u201cThis is the type of exciting project we like to get involved with, and we\u2019re keen to contribute to its progression so that the new stations are thoughtfully integrated and fully accessible to maximise the positive impact to the communities within southeast Oxford.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tom Holbrook, Director of 5th<\/sup>\u00a0Studio, said \u201cThe Infrastructure Place Study for the Cowley Branch line will build on our thinking for the National Infrastructure Commission on good growth in the Oxford to Cambridge Arc. It joins a suite of projects at different scales in the practice that aim for better integrated rail infrastructure and urban planning.\u201d<\/p>\n Councillor Louise Upton, Cabinet Member for Planning, said:\u00a0\u201cI am delighted that we\u2019ve reached this exciting stage in our proposals to facilitate reopening\u00a0the Cowley Branch Line to passengers. A passenger service on this line would allow people to get from Blackbird Leys to the city centre\u00a0in just over 10 minutes. This\u00a0would\u00a0really\u00a0improve the city\u2019s public transport options, increasing overall capacity\u00a0locally, reducing congestion on our roads and contributing to a better rail network regionally. While Network Rail is already working\u00a0on the designs for the two proposed stations, this new commission\u00a0will\u00a0specifically look at bridges and paths to ensure that the new stations are accessible\u00a0to the surrounding\u00a0residential\u00a0and commercial areas\u00a0and\u00a0provide\u00a0new links across the existing line. We\u2019re\u00a0looking forward to working with SLC Rail, 5th\u00a0Studio, Transition by Design, Anthony Collins,\u00a0and all stakeholders so that the train line can deliver\u00a0maximum benefits for local communities and businesses.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Oxford City Council has awarded an Infrastructure Place Study contract for the new Cowley Branch Line to SLC Rail. The Infrastructure Place Study, led by SLC Rail, will help to identify any additional infrastructure place needs to ensure that the rail scheme is fully integrated with existing communities,\u00a0 maximising options to improve local movement and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4022,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4021","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorised"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n