Cowley Branch Line railway gets £500k for station plans

The proposed railway line will run through the Oxford Science Park and Oxford Business Park, connecting to Oxford Parkway and Oxford Station

A railway has been given £500,000 to help design two new stations.

The money from Oxford City Council will pay for design work for two Cowley Branch Line stations at Littlemore and Blackbird Leys.

The move is being described as a step towards "fixing Oxford's chronic transport problems".

Cowley Branch Line is currently only used by freight going to and from the BMW Mini Plant. It has been closed to passengers since 1963.

Oxford City Council cabinet member for housing, Linda Smith, said: "This is progress and it is really welcome progress and part of the journey towards getting us where we need to be.

"This is the kind of ambitious project that could really make a difference."

Ms Smith added the development was a further step towards "fixing Oxford's chronic transport problems".

The newly-approved design work would assist in making sure stations are easily accessible, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Network Rail has released images of what the stations could look like

There had been unanimous support from city councillors to spend £4.56m on creating a full business case for the proposed service during a council meeting in February last year.

A report stated that much of the money would be forward funded from local landowners and then repaid or offset from future Community Infrastructure Levy payments.

Under current proposals, the railway line will run through the Oxford Science Park and Oxford Business Park, connecting to the existing Oxford Parkway and Oxford Station, and will offer routes to Bicester and London among other destinations.

Funds are also being contributed to the project by Oxfordshire County Council.