Updated
26
April

Train
services


between
Bicester,
Bletchley
and
Milton
Keynes
are
not
expected
to
start
until
almost
the
end
of
this
year,
although
test
trains
ran
successfully
on
the
line
last
October.

The
Department
for
Transport
had
already
announced
in
March
that
Chiltern
Railways,
which
is
set
to
be
renationalised
by
2027,
will
provide
the
services
using
six
Class
196
units,
but
at
the
time
it
did
not
reveal
the
start
date,
except
that
it
would
be
‘later
this
year’.

The
update
about
a
launch
came
during
an
event
at
the
Railway
Civil
Engineers’
Association
in
London
yesterday.

Uncertainty
remains
about
the
next
stage
of
the
project
to
upgrade
the
existing
double
track
line
between
Bletchley
and
Bedford,
which
was
the
only
section
of
the
former
Varsity
Line
to
escape
closure
in
British
Rail
days.

Chiltern
has
been
training
crews
with
special
movements
between
Bletchley
High
Level,
Fenny
Stratford
and
Bletchley
depot,
which
involve
reversing
at
Fenny
Stratford.
The
training
route
includes
the
single
line
over
Fenny
Stratford
viaduct,
and
the
line
is
thought
to
be
a
candidate
for
doubling
to
avoid
a
bottleneck
when
services
eventually
start
running
between
Oxford
and
Bedford.

A
spokesman
for
the
EWR
Co
said:
‘The
East
West
Rail
Alliance
which
built
and
delivered
the
new
infrastructure
between
Bicester
and
Bletchley
handed
the
line
over
to
Network
Rail
on
time
and
on
budget.
Now
Chiltern
has
been
officially
appointed
as
their
operator, 
their
driving
training
programme
is
now
in
full
swing.
As
your
readers
will
know
it
takes
time
to
recruit
and
train
the
required
number
of
drivers
to
operate
a
route
and
ensure
they
are
fully
route
trained,
particularly
as
this
route
is
complex
as
it
connects
with
the
busy
West
Coast
Main
Line.

‘Chiltern
are
also
completing
fit
out
work
at
the
stations
such
as
Winslow
to
ensure
everything
is
in
place
for
the
entry
into
service
and
are
also
preparing
the
Class
196s
by
applying
livery
and
branding
to
these
units.
It
was
always
the
plan
that
after
the
announcement
of
the
operator
it
would
take
around
9
months
to
put
everything
in
place
to
begin
services.’ 

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