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Varsity Line

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Varsity Line (or Oxford and Cambridge Line) is an informal name for the railway service which formerly linked the English university cities of Oxford and Cambridge, operated by the London and North Western Railway and then British Railways. A pun on the railway term main line was sometimes employed by describing the line as the "Brain Line."

Although not listed in the original Beeching report, the line from Oxford via Bletchley and Bedford to Cambridge was closed at the end of 1967.

Contents

Historic route

Present status of route

From Oxford to Bicester, the track remains open and in use (see Oxford to Bicester Line). From Bicester to Swanborne, the track is in place but overgrown. From Swanbourne to Mursley, the track has been lifted, but the trackbed remains and makes reinstatement feasible. From there1 to Newton Longville, the track is in place but overgrown. The stretch from Newton Longville to Bletchley was re-laid in spring 2006 and opened for freight traffic to the Newton Longville landfill site on 27 March 2006. From Bletchley to Bedford, the track is open and in daily use (as the Marston Vale Line).

The section of the line between Bedford and Cambridge has been completely lost and the trackbed partly developed over. At Lord's Bridge the Ryle Telescope of Mullard Radio Astronomy Observatory has been built on the route.

Revival plans

Hopes for a revival of the Varsity Line rested on the proposed East West Rail Link. As well as upgrading the track from Bicester to Bletchley, this scheme was aiming to construct a new 9-mile trackbed between Bedford and Sandy on roughly the same alignment as the original. At Sandy, trains would then have joined the East Coast Main Line to Biggleswade - Arlesey - Hitchin and then switched north-east to Letchworth - Baldock - Ashwell and Morden - Royston - Meldreth - Shepreth - Foxton - Cambridge.

However little progress was made with the project and development plans were further dashed when, in 2001, the Strategic Rail Authority rejected the option to reopen the stretch of line between Bicester and Bletchley. More recently (April 2006) the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister reported[link] itself to be in favour of the principle of re-opening the link to Oxford but gave no indication of underwriting that opinion. The imminence of local elections may not be entirely irrelevant.

An alternative alignment for the line eastwards from Sandy has been proposed in order that East Coast Main Line line capacity is not affected by the new line. This alignment would continue from Sandy to the east along the original line, skirting Sandy Warren, before heading directly east with stations at Wrestlingworth and Bassingbourn before joining the existing railway network again at Foxton. Another somewhat hopeful idea that has been discussed is to run the section between the West Coast and Midland lines along a new alignment, serving Milton Keynes before heading off to the east to join the former Bedford-Northampton line near the village of Turvey, following this alignment into Bedford. This alignment, whilst allowing Bedford and Milton Keynes stations to be served without the reversal of trains is likely to be entirely unaffordable.

Prognosis

Despite the development opportunities for the fast-growing Oxford-Cambridge Arc, it is unlikely that the Varsity Line can be revived within the next 20 years. The problem of reconstrucing the Bedford to Sandy route is a particular obstacle. However, hope remains alive that the line between Bletchley and Bicester may re-open to provide an Oxford to Milton Keynes Central train service. In February 2006, an article [link] from the Chartered Instutute of Building International News Service reported that Local Authorities in South East England Region expect that the Government will fund "a new multi-modal railway station in Aylesbury Vale." The article also anticipates the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister to give its views on the Aylesbury spur, which needs to be upgraded from freight-only to passenger-carrying services.

See also

Further reading

External links

Notes

Note 1: Bridge at Grid reference on Whaddon/Mursley road, observed 31/7/2005

 

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