Rebuilding the Carterton-Witney-Eynsham-Oxford Railway

Charlie has been campaigning hard to rebuild the railway between Carterton, Witney, Eynsham and Oxford, which will help relieve the growing problem of gridlock on local roads. This problem will keep getting worse as the Government want to put thousands of new homes in West Oxfordshire. Rebuilding the railway is a practical solution for everyone who has painfully slow journeys down the A40 that delay them getting to work in the morning, or home to see their family at the end of the day. 

Why does Charlie think the railway is so important?

🏠 The Labour Government are pushing thousands of new homes into West Oxfordshire which is going to make congestion on local roads even worse than it is currently.  

🚗 Witney to Oxford car travel will take 30 minutes longer by 2031 – and that’s before taking into account the extra houses that are likely to be built in West Oxon.

🚆 There is currently no major railway station to the west of Oxford, apart from Hanborough, which is very small with one train an hour outside of peak times.

✈️ There is currently no railway station which serves RAF Brize Norton - the biggest RAF base in the country, with 7,500 people working there.

🏥 People living in West Oxfordshire who have to get to hospitals in Oxford for care currently have no option except the road. The unpredictability of journey times adds a great deal of stress, and people have to leave home sometimes hours in advance.

💷 The Chancellor has announced big plans for investment in Oxfordshire and we want to make sure the benefits of infrastructure like East West Rail are felt by people in Witney and Carterton too.

👔 Very few businesses seek to invest in West Oxon because of the terrible congestion. A railway would bring high skilled, high paying jobs into the area, reducing the need to commute out to find work.

How will the new line look?

The proposed route would have a station in Carterton, one near the A40 to the south of Witney and another at Eynsham just north of the A40 before joining the existing Cotswolds line West of Yarnton. The line would then continue through to Oxford on the existing route.

This would give us a fast, reliable and green transport solution with Oxford reachable in 9 minutes from Eynsham, 16 minutes from Witney and 22 minutes from Carterton.

What is Charlie doing about it?

Charlie is working closely with Councillors and senior officers at West Oxfordshire District Council and Oxfordshire County Council to develop plans to rebuild the railway and secure funding to support it. Some local Conservatives on the council are trying to undermine this project without putting forward any workable solution to these challenges themselves. Charlie is interested in finding real solutions to the challenges local people are facing. He has been working to include the proposal in the council’s ‘local development plan’ for West Oxfordshire, which will enable us to secure funding streams which could support building the railway. 

What can residents do to help?

There are two ways in which we are asking local residents to help ensure that our railway is restored:

✍️ Sign our petition below to show your support for the project. The more supporters who sign, the louder our voice becomes.

🗳️ Build important political support for the railway by voting for Liberal Democrat Candidates at election time.

📧 Respond to the consultation for West Oxfordshire District Council's draft Local Plan 2043. A template consultation response is provided below, which you are welcome to adapt or to copy as-is. You can respond either by sending an email to planning.consultation@westoxon.gov.uk or by filling in the submission form here: West Oxfordshire Local Plan 2043.

Template consultation response 

I am writing to share my views as part of the public consultation on the Regulation 19 draft West Oxfordshire Local Plan 2043.

As you will be aware, many people are extremely worried that West Oxfordshire is being required by the Government to deliver 18,000 new homes, without assurances that our public services and infrastructure will be expanded to manage such rapid population growth.

In particular, building 18,000 new homes in West Oxfordshire will make congestion on local roads even worse than it is already. During peak hours, the S1 bus has an average speed of just 11.3mph, travelling between Witney and Oxford. As Policy SP5 rightly highlights: “Traffic congestion along the A40 corridor is one of the most significant infrastructure challenges facing West Oxfordshire. The corridor is a key movement route for residents, businesses and visitors, providing access to employment, education, services and facilities both within the district and beyond”. 

I would therefore urge you to make the following points strongly in the Local Plan before it is submitted to the Planning Inspector:

• It is essential that a Mass Rapid Transport (MRT) solution along the A40 corridor is developed and delivered as soon as possible.  To be sound, the Plan should set out a timeline for when this work will be developed and delivered, within the period covered by this local plan. 
• Significant numbers of new homes cannot be delivered in West Oxfordshire unless and until there is a firm commitment to an MRT solution. Substantial new housing developments will not be approved by the local authority until this commitment is in place.  

I would also like to emphasise my view that this Mass Rapid Transit solution should be a railway. I do not think any of the other modes of MRT being considered are likely to offer the necessary speed, reliability, sustainability and capacity which a railway can. Witney and Carterton are some of the largest populations in England without direct access to the rail network and if the area is to continue to grow and develop, this must change. Residents of our area have already expressed strong support for the Carterton-Witney-Oxford corridor link, in Oxfordshire County Council’s OxRail 2040 Consultation.