East-West Rail looks at new plans for Bicester crossing

The London Road crossing links south east Bicester to the town's centre

Some of the plans that were being looked at in a bid to reduce the impact of a new train route on a busy level crossing have been ditched.

More trains will run across the London Road level crossing in Bicester when the East-West rail connecting Oxford, Milton Keynes, Bedford and Cambridge will run at full capacity.

This is expected to result in longer closures of the level crossing.

East-West Rail Company (EWR) confirmed it was looking at new mitigation plans.

The announcement comes as Oxfordshire County Council previously said the new line would mean the crossing would be closed for about 50 minutes every hour during peak times.

EWR said it discounted five of the options it was previously looking at after deciding they would not work. These included plans for an accessible bridge for non-motorised users and proposals for either a road underpass or a road bridge alongside London Road.

Beth West, EWR's chief executive officer, said it was "tricky" to build a bridge or an underpass across London Road "because of the fact that it was pretty built up".

Speaking to BBC Radio Oxford, she said the company was looking at other options such as keeping the level crossing open to local traffic. But she said that also meant the firm had to think about how to route traffic around other roads.

'A lot on the table'

"We are working on a solution, we haven't made a decision yet...a lot of things are still on the table," Ms West added.

She said the company would continue to work with council leaders and would consult with the community on the final design.

Public consultations are planned for the first half of next year before a final planning application is submitted.

Ms West's comment come as earlier this year local residents called for an update on how the new train route would impact the crossing.

Residents raised several concerns, fearing those living next to the crossing would be cut off due to the wait time to cross the railway.

EWR had pledged to update residents by May this year.