Bicester MP asks rail minister for meeting about London Road crossing
Calum Miller said the East Railway project will result in the London Road crossing being closed to vehicles, bikes and pedestrians for more than 45 minutes every hour and could, as a result, be closed permanently by Network Rail. Mr Miller said the closure of this crossing would “cut the town in two” and would be a “significant loss of connectivity for the town”. Posting on X (formerly Twitter) he said: “Today (July 10), I wrote to Rail Minister Lord Peter Hendy about the London Road crossing in Bicester.
“Over 1,400 people have signed our petition to #KeepLondonRoadOpen. “I asked for a meeting to discuss its importance and secure funding.”
Mr Miller told the Oxford Mail: “I think it’s really important that the new minister is aware of the depth of concern in Bicester about the proposed closure of London Road.”
He said the topic was brought up by residents during the campaign leading up to the election “It’s been a real concern for residents, the whole of the town recognises the importance of London Road as an artery providing links across the town. “I had a number of conversations with residents who raised it with me, they know the Liberal Democrats have been campaigning on this issue for a number of years and so they were encouraging me to keep going in the campaign.
“I hope the new government will be open minded and supportive of this particular concern for our residents.” Mr Miller posted the letter he has written to Mr Hendy on X. Today, I wrote to Rail Minister @LordPeterHendy[2] about the London Road crossing in Bicester.
Over 1,400 people have signed our petition to #KeepLondonRoadOpen[3]. I asked for a meeting to discuss its importance and secure funding. Join the campaign here: https://t.co/BWT9gOrLRV pic.twitter.com/2y6vatvwXw[4][5]
— Calum Miller (@CalumMillerLD) July 10, 2024[6]
The letter said: “The East Railway (EWR) project to connect Oxford[7] to Cambridge is an ambitious infrastructure project that will provide connection between some of the UK’s most dynamic centres of innovation and research.”
Mr Miller went on to ask for Mr Hendy’s support in ensuring the new line does not cut the town in two and asked for a meeting to discuss the issue. 
London Road is the key artery that connects the south of the town to the centre and to schools, doctors’ surgeries as well as the town’s two stations.”
The letter also said: “Unfortunately, progress towards agreeing, funding and delivering a scheme that would maintain access for all modes of transport, including bikes and pedestrians, has been painfully slow.” Mr Miller told the Oxford Mail that he believes one of the principle reasons this progress has been slow is due to a frequent changes in ministers in the last government.
“I very much hope under this new government we can get a little bit of stability and that EWR will be able to move swiftly with more confidence about the position of the government, which is why it was so important for me to get in touch with the rail minister directly.” Mr Miller described the situation as “urgent” in his letter and asked Mr Hendy in the meantime to confirm that there is “sufficient, earmarked funding available for EWR to proceed urgently to publish firm proposals for new crossings in Bicester” and to “press EWR to bring proposals forward without delay”. The petition to keep London Road open, set up by the Oxfordshire Liberal Democrats, has over 1,400 signatures.
The petition website says: “The Lib Dem team understand how important this route is for local residents, and are doing everything they can to keep the pressure on east west Rail to keep London Road open.”
Councillor Gemma Coton said: “We can’t allow the closure of the London Road level crossing to cut our town in two. “There are families living on either side of the railway and people who need to cross to access services.
“This will only get worse with the new housing planned for Wretchwick Way, Gavray Drive, Graven Hill and Ambrosden.”