Varsity Line

Varsity Line
Bletchley station, at the midpoint of the line, in 1962
Overview
Statussee East West Rail
OwnerNetwork Rail
LocaleSouth East England
Termini
Stations13 open
2 planned
Service
TypeHeavy rail
SystemNational Rail
Operator(s)Chiltern Railways (Oxford–Bicester)
West Midlands Trains (Bletchley–Bedford)
History
Opened1846–1851
Closed1968: Bedford to Cambridge; Oxford–Bletchley (to passengers)
1993: mothballed Claydon Junction–Bletchley (to all traffic)
Technical
Number of tracks1–2
Track gauge1,435 mm (4 ft 8+12 in) standard gauge
Varsity Line
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Oxford
Rewley Road
Oxford
Wolvercote tunnel
Oxford Parkway
Islip
Bicester
London Road
Bicester chord
Claydon curve
Freight traffic
reversing siding
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Swanbourne Siding
Bletchley
Fenny Stratford
Bow Brickhill
Woburn Sands
Aspley Guise
Ridgmont
Lidlington
Millbrook
Stewartby
Kempston
Hardwick
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Bedford St Johns
Bedford
Sandy curve
Sandy
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Cambridge

The Varsity Line was the main railway line that linked the English university cities of Oxford and Cambridge, operated by the London and North Western Railway.

In World War II, the line became a strategic route for freight avoiding London, and additional connections were made to nearby lines to improve it, but it was not greatly used for its intended purpose. After the war, the line was again scheduled to be developed as a strategic route, but that scheme was never fully implemented either.

Passenger services were withdrawn from most of the line on 1 January 1968, and only the Bletchley–Bedford section remained open for passenger traffic.

In 1987, the section between Oxford and Bicester was reopened, followed in 2015 by a connection to the Chiltern Main Line at Bicester, enabling Chiltern Railways to operate an Oxford to London passenger service. There are funded plans for the entire line to be re-established by the mid 2020s, partly on a new route and under a new name  – East West Rail.