Present Status of Route
Between Oxford and Bicester the line is open and in regular passenger and freight use (see Oxford to Bicester Line) but limited to 25-40 mph. Since 1951 passenger trains have operated from the former Great Western Railway Oxford station. Between Bicester and Swanbourne the track is in place but overgrown. Within this the stretch between Bicester and Claydon Junction is used for regular freight trains carrying refuse to the landfill site at Calvert. Between Swanbourne and Mursley the track has been lifted but the trackbed remains and reinstatement is technically feasible. Between Mursley and Newton Longville the track is in place but overgrown. The stretch between Newton Longville and Bletchley was re-laid in spring 2006 and opened on 27 March 2006 for freight traffic, carrying refuse to the Newton Longville landfill site. Between Bletchley and Bedford the track is open and in daily passenger use as the Marston Vale Line.
Between Bedford and Cambridge all of the track has been removed and some sections of the trackbed have been lost. At Sandy and Potton new housing occupies the former route. Between Lord's Bridge and Cambridge, the Ryle Telescope of Mullard Radio Astronomy Observatory now occupies a 3-mile (4.8 km) length of the former route. Between Trumpington Park and Ride and Cambridge Station the entire route has been converted to be part of the Cambridgeshire Guided Busway.
A further problem is the lack of through platforms at Bletchley and Bedford. The current track layout at Bletchley means that, without the proposed new high-level station, through trains would have to go around the station without stopping. Similarly, Bedford St Johns station was rebuilt on a different site, and is no longer on the through alignment towards Sandy.
Read more about this topic: Varsity Line
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