First rail line of its kind in 100 years set for Marylebone

A proposed new rail link from Oxford to Marylebone will be the first new route from a city into London for 100 years.

The new East-West rail link has been touted as a ‘no brainer’, as it offers reduced journey times and increased freight links between London and Oxford, Cambridge, Bicester, Milton Keynes and Easy Anglia. Most notable, though, it would make for the first time cities have been linked to London via a new train line in over a century, therailengineer.com reports.

This scheme was first put in place by Chiltern Railways and named the ‘Evergreen 3’ scheme. It began as a new way to link Marylebone with Oxford but stretched out much further than the original plans had speculated.

Chiltern Railways is currently experiencing a wave of positive sentiment, with theinformationdaily.com even going so far as to claim the route is the only one in Britain which can give the famously reliable German service a run for its money. It was said that Chiltern trains in and out of Marylebone are much more reliable in terms of journey times and car parking than many other rivals.

As those living in London often cite transport as being one of their biggest concerns, the growing strength of Chiltern Railways could make Marylebone and the surrounding areas an even more attractive prospect, not just for getting around London but getting out to the countryside in relatively short times.

Explaining just why Chiltern deserves the plaudits, transport journalist SA Mathieson explained: “[It] is under some government control – in this case Germany’s – as the firm is ultimately owned by Deutsche Bahn, which is majority owned by the German government.

“The public service spirit runs deep… it advertises its aim ‘to be the best passenger railway in the UK’. It has made serious efforts to achieve this, not least by having one of the best punctuality records.”