An illustrated history of the railways of Oxford, from the opening of the Oxford Railway by the Great Western Railway on 12 June 1844 through to the privatised railway of 2020. It examines the development of railways in the area, including the London and North Western ‘Buckinghamshire Railway’ from Bletchley, together with four other local branch lines:
- The Abingdon Railway
- The Witney Railway
- The Wycombe Railway
- The Blenheim and Woodstock Railway
The book also looks at the development of services in the area, including the opening of the Great Western/Great Central joint line from Culworth Junction to Banbury Junction in August 1900, which gave rise to the growth of inter-regional ‘cross country' services passing through Oxford.
Separate chapters look at Great Western Stations and Great Western Engine Sheds in detail, with other chapters dealing with signalling, the goods department and passenger services.
For many years locomotives from all of the big four railway companies could be seen arriving and departing of on a daily basis at Oxford. Those days are long gone, but Oxford is still as busy as ever, with passenger services to London, the south and the north of England.
Railways of Oxford: A Transport Hub That Links Britain tells the story of how Oxford became an important part of the railway network. Well illustrated. 224 pages. Hardback.