A new hourly service between Oxford, Swindon, Bath and Bristol could be delivered as early as next year and requires zero capital investment from Government, according to a new report co-authored by East West Main Line Partnership, England’s Economic Heartland and Western Gateway STB, and supported by Network Rail and Great Western.
Currently, there is no direct rail service connecting Oxford to Swindon, Bath and Bristol, with interchange required at Didcot Parkway. Journey times are not competitive with road journeys.
The new hourly Oxford-Swindon-Chippenham-Bath Spa-Bristol Temple Meads service would build on Great Western Railway’s popular Saturday trial service introduced in 2024. It would deliver journeys between Bristol and Oxford in under an hour and a quarter, and between Swindon and Oxford in just over half an hour.
Network Rail’s economic appraisal concluded there is “sufficient capacity on the Great Western Main Line and along the Oxford Corridor to introduce these services; that no new infrastructure spend is required; that the proposals have a positive benefit-cost ratio (BCR) of above four, representing “very high” value for money for a variety of demand scenarios (even including lower than forecast demand); and could be financially positive (ie, not requiring operational subsidy).”
The new service would better link a corridor worth £75bn to the UK economy and with specialisms in knowledge-intensive sectors such as life sciences, physics, engineering, software-as-a-service and AI technology.
It would also provide the west of England with access to East West Rail services from Oxford to Milton Keynes, which are due to start later this year. EEH, WG, and EWMLP all share the ultimate ambition for the East West Rail core scheme between Oxford and Cambridge to enable direct coast-to-coast services between Bristol and Ipswich and Norwich.
A financial commitment from DfT in the ‘low single figure millions’ is required to make the service a reality: The ask is for commitment to fund this amount (with the expectation that the service is likely to generate more revenue than it will cost). Commitment from DfT to specify the service in a future contract would also allow it to be factored into timetable development and decisions on network capacity.
The report, ‘The case for reinstating Oxford-Swindon-Bath‑Bristol rail services’ is available on England’s Economic Heartland’s website, and has formed a central pillar of its authors’ submission into the forthcoming Spending Review.
Cllr Katie Thornburrow, Chair of the East West Main Line Partnership, said: “This proposal provides a low-cost, quick-win opportunity to better link Oxford with Swindon, Bath and Bristol. It marks an exciting step towards realising a truly coast-to-coast East West Main Line from the west of England through to the east of England.”