If you’re not familiar with south west England, it may shock you to find out that despite not being far from each other on the map, there hasn’t been a direct train service between Bristol and Oxford for the past 20 years.
Up until recently, travellers had to change at Didcot Parkway or Reading to get from one of these marvellous, historic cities to the other. But finally, Great Western Railway has officially resurrected a direct route, which was last seen all the way back in 2003.
From Saturday September 14, two return journeys between Bristol Temple Meads and Oxford will take place every Saturday for a four-month trial period.
The service also includes stops at Bath Spa, Chippenham and Swindon. The quickest journey is predicted to take around one hour 11 minutes, just marginally quicker than the fastest route available at the moment, which takes around one hour and 14 minutes via Didcot Parkway.
Mark Hopwood, GWR’s managing director, said: ‘We’re always looking at innovative ways of creating new business and improving connectivity.
‘Changing customer patterns since Covid have provided a clear opportunity for us to expand our leisure offering and the Bristol-Oxford route is one which offers real potential.’
These are the timings for the new route, which only runs on Saturdays:
- 10.18am: Bristol Temple Meads-Oxford
- Calling at Bath Spa (10.31am); Chippenham (10.44am); Swindon 10.58am) and Oxford (11.29am)
- 12.03pm: Oxford-Bristol Temple Meads
- Calling at Swindon (12.34pm); Chippenham (12.45pm); Bath Spa (1pm) and Bristol Temple Meads (1.12pm)
- 3.18pm Bristol Temple Meads-Oxford
- Calling at Bath Spa (3.31pm); Chippenham (3.45pm); Swindon (4pm) and Oxford (4.31pm)
- 5.12pm Oxford-Bristol Temple Meads
- Calling at Swindon (5.46pm); Chippenham (5.58pm); Bath Spa (6.11pm) and Bristol Temple Meads (6.23pm)
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