Train firm halves Oxford to London services after fuel system fault
- Published
Chiltern Railways will run only one train an hour between Oxford and London Marylebone from Tuesday
A train operator has reduced its services between Oxford and London from Tuesday.
Only one Chiltern Railways' train would now run between Oxford and London Marylebone every hour due to a fault in their fuelling system.
Customers would be able to use their tickets on Great Western Railway until further notice, the operator said.
A spokesperson for the company said the arrangement was "likely in place for the rest of the week".
Repairs at Chiltern Railways' primary maintenance depot were taking place after a fault in the control panel on their fuelling system, it said.
The work meant not enough of their diesel trains could be fuelled for a full timetable.
In a statement, the firm said they had taken "the very difficult decision to reduce services where customers have a reasonable public transport alternative".
"Trains will depart hourly instead of every 30 minutes," it said, adding: "Chiltern customers are able to use their tickets on Great Western Railway services between Paddington and Oxford until further notice."
The train operator said it expected services along its Oxford route "will be busier" as a result of the changes.
Services to stations between Aylesbury Vale Parkway, Amersham and London Marylebone would also be affected, so rail replacement buses were running between Aylesbury Vale Parkway and Amersham for connections to the London Underground network.
Line closures would also affect travel around Oxfordshire from 29 July to 6 August, when no trains would run between Oxford Parkway and Oxford, and between 30 July and 4 August, when no trains would run between Bicester North, Banbury and Leamington Spa.
"We're deeply sorry for the inconvenience this has caused, and we are working with urgency to restore capacity to the network," the company said.
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