Category: travel

OXFORDSHIRE County Council has moved a step closer to introducing 50 mph speed limits to make seven roads in the county safer.
The council’s own research has shown a reduction in accidents of 30% on other routes that have had 50mph speed limits introduced.

Formal public consultation on the proposed speed limits was carried out between December 15, 2006 and January 12, 2007.

Where will the new speed limits be?

On the A329 from Milton Common to Thame
On the B4027 from Holton to Islip
On the B4012 from Thame to Postcombe
On the B4011 from Ambrosden to Borstall
On the B4437 from Charlbury to Wootton
On the A417 from Faringdon to Wantage
On the A361 from Shilton to Lechlade

Councillor David Robertson, Oxfordshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Transport, said: “We know that 50 mph speed limits reduce accidents. Last year we had a high number of accidents in Oxfordshire and the causes of many of those were down to speed. I hope that by introducing these speed limits we will make the roads safer for motorists, pedestrians and residents in the areas involved.”

Highways officers have now been told to undertake detailed design work in the seven areas where 50mph limits are proposed. The speed limits will come into force later this year, provided any concerns or comments that arise from detailed design work can be resolved.

MOTORISTS who flout laws against using mobile phoneS while driving are to be targeted in a special operation in Abingdon today.
The operation, which is being run jointly by Oxfordshire County Council and Thames Valley Police, will happen outside the fire station on Ock Street from 8.30am, targeting rush hour traffic.

Drivers caught using mobile phones whilst driving will be stopped but, rather than being fined

ALTHOUGH there will be a normal Saturday service on the Birmingham to London Marylebone via High Wycombe line this weekend, there will be engineering works on the Birmingham to Stratford-upon-Avon and Birmingham to London Marylebone via Bicester North, on Sunday (11/02).

Weekend Engineering Works on the line between London Marylebone and Aylesbury via Amersham:
This weekend – Saturday 10 and Sunday 11 February 2007 – Chiltern Railways will have scheduled track improvement works on the line between Birmingham to London Marylebone via High Wycombe and to Aylesbury to London Marylebone via Amersham.

On Saturday there will be a normal timetabled service between the Birmingham to London Marylebone via High Wycombe line. On Sunday, buses replace trains between Birmingham Snow Hill/Stratford-upon-Avon and Bicester North. Please note that hourly Virgin Cross Country train services will operate between Banbury, Leamington Spa and Birmingham New Street (via Coventry). Passengers should use these where appropriate.

On the Aylesbury line, no Chiltern Railways trains will run between Great Missenden and London Marylebone on both Saturday and Sunday. Special buses will run between Great Missenden and Beaconsfield for Chiltern Railways connections to and from London.

For local journeys, special buses will run between Great Missenden and Amersham and also Amersham to Northwood, for connecting London Underground services to and from London Baker Street.

Some additional trains will run from Aylesbury to London Marylebone via High Wycombe.

Passengers are advised to allow more time for travel and to check real time travel information on www.chilternrailways.co.uk before they travel.

The website has full timetable information, as well as a summary of Chiltern Railways’ great value fares, such as Just

CHILTERN Railways have been short listed for two prestigious awards at this year’s London Transport Awards.
The prizes up for grabs are for Best Public Service Operator of the Year and Best Rail Station of the Year.
The awards have received the highest number of entries this year and reward and recognise excellence in transportation in London boroughs.
Marylebone is short listed for Best Station; Donald Wilson, Station Manager at Marylebone said: “I am delighted that Marylebone has been short listed for a much coveted award. This is a tribute to all the hard work that our staff put in on a daily basis to make Marylebone the best and satisfy all our passengers’ requirements.
“Last year, Marylebone benefited from the Project Evergreen II expansion with two new platforms and additional signalling implemented to increase capacity on the line and improve operating efficiency.
“Further development is planned next year to keep Marylebone one of the top train stations.”

Among the judges were members of the passenger user groups including Rufus Barnes, Chief Executive, London TravelWatch; Nick Lester, Director of Transport, Environment and Planning, London Councils; and Irving Yass, Director of Policy, London First.

Chiltern Railways also received positive passenger satisfaction feedback last week in the National Passenger Survey. Overall, 90% of passengers are satisfied with their service, the highest level ever achieved by the train company since the NPS research commenced in Spring 2002.

The winner will be announced at the London Transport Awards Dinner on Wednesday 25th April at the London Hilton on Park Lane.

A NEW stage has been reached in a

The earlier Signalling problems have now been resolved, and our normal advertised service will run commencing around 1300 hours. Passengers are advised to check times before they travel on www.chilternrailways.co.uk.

The signalling problem was due to a power failure that has now been fixed.

WITH the cost of rail travel in this country rising all the time, Nicholas Newman, of Oxford Prospect, has some great ideas for saving money on rail tickets.
See Link

Photo: Courtesy of Reuters

ROAD safety experts at Oxfordshire County Council have expressed their delight at a dramatic fall in the number of child cyclists injured on the county’s roads.
The council is also celebrating the fact that 2006 was also a record year for the number of children taking part in the council’s cycle training scheme.
In 2006, 34 young people were injured, which is the lowest figure since 1979, and less than half the 89 children injured in 1997, when the council started keeping records. The figures are:-

1997 89
1998 70
1999 86
2000 64
2001 73
2002 44
2003 52
2004 44
2005 47
2006 34

In 2006 a record 3,657 children took up free cycle training and the the council has 700 volunteers who help deliver the scheme to largely primary school children aged 9+.
Wendy Jennings, Oxfordshire County Council Road Safety Officer, said: “I am thrilled that so many children have taken part in our training schemes and that the number of injuries has declined so much. What a credit this is to our volunteers who put in so much hard work. It must be a delight to them to learn that their efforts have had such an impact.”

Councillor David Robertson, Oxfordshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Transport, said: “It cannot be a co-incidence that the number of children trained has gone up while the number of injuries sustained has plummeted. This is an example of forward planning and thinking providing value for money for people in Oxfordshire as well as safeguarding our communities.”

CHILTERN RAILWAYS TRAVEL ADVISORY: Tuesday 23 January 2007.
Normal Saturday service this weekend.

Normal Sunday service on the Birmingham to London Marylebone via High Wycombe line

Sunday Engineering Works on the line between London Marylebone and Aylesbury via Amersham

Service alterations on the Aylesbury to Princes Risborough line this Sunday

This weekend – Saturday 27 and Sunday 28 January – Chiltern Railways is pleased to announce that it is running a full service with no scheduled track improvement works on the line between Birmingham to London Marylebone via High Wycombe and Banbury.

On Saturday 27 January, a normal service will run on the line between Aylesbury and London Marylebone via Amersham.

On Sunday 28 January, between the hours of 08:30 and 19:30, buses replace trains between Aylesbury and Princes Risborough. There is an onward connection to London Marylebone from Princes Risborough. Passengers are advised to check times of buses on this line before they travel because they differ to the scheduled train times for a normal Sunday.

On Sunday 28 January, between the hours of 09:00 and 20:00, Aylesbury to London Marylebone via Amersham services are replaced by buses between Aylesbury and Stoke Mandeville, where there will be a connecting train to/from London Marylebone. During these hours, one train per hour will operate between Stoke Mandeville and London Marylebone. The afternoon and evening Aylesbury/Amersham shuttles will not run.

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SPEEDING motorists are to be told of the devastating affects that breaking a 30 mph speed limit could have in the event of an accident.
Oxfordshire County Council’s Road Safety Team joined forces with Thames Valley Police yesterday, January 15, to stop motorists who are breaking the law at a site known for excessive speed, Burford Road, Witney

A total of 68 people were killed on Oxfordshire’s roads in 2006. An early analysis of these collisions shows one of the biggest factors was excessive speed.

The fatal accidents were predominantly on rural/higher speed roads with car occupants being the single biggest group of casualties.

Roads policing officers talked to drivers who were exceeding the speed limit – even if only by a few mph. They were reminded of the difference in severity of injuries resulting from crashes at 30mph and 35mph.

Councillor David Robertson, Oxfordshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Transport, said: “It saddens me to see so many lives lost. We will be looking closely at the data to see if there is anything at all the council can do to change this. However, at this early stage it appears that the deaths were largely due to human error.”

Inspector Paul Winks from Thames Valley Police said: “I am pleased to be working in partnership with the county council?s road safety officers in this worthwhile casualty reduction initiative. The level of deaths and serious injuries on the roads of Oxfordshire are unacceptably high. The police and other agencies must work closely together to make the roads safer.”