UK Property Forums consultant Hugh Blaza has argued so long for the re-opening of the Cowley branch line, we felt compelled to ask his thoughts after last week’s news of a £120 million investment.
News confirming the resurrection of the Cowley branch railway line (CBL) has been greeted with near universal relief and approval.
The line will unlock so much to support the city of Oxford, the county and beyond – and everyone with a connection to the place.
It’s had me thinking about somewhere else. This Summer, I took a short road trip through a part of France. The city of Rennes was en route back to the ferry. I thought it would be a convenient stop on the tour with a famous cathedral worth a visit, but otherwise, I wasn’t expecting much.
Wrong: this was a very cool place! A traffic-free centre, chic shops set in broad streets and boulevards, framing impressive historic buildings. People strolling past the cafés and restaurants which spilled into the streets and squares (see image).
The city, although quite small, does have a metro, which clearly helps move people about, but this appeared to be a place relaxed and at ease with itself. Innovation, apparently, is one of its main drivers. Ringing any bells..?
You see where I’m going with this? In a few years, even if Oxford won’t have a metro (and unlikely it ever could), we will have a perimeter railway system. This will connect the important new developments springing up just outside the ring road and will deliver commuters in and out of the centre.
There are details to resolve, such as whether car parks are to be provided close to the stations (it is a kind of park and ride, after all). There is also the existential worry about the effects of the inevitable new housing developments which it will help unlock. But the innovation and progress driving Oxfordshire’s growth require solutions.
Just because the Cowley branch line was a no-brainer never meant that its arrival was a nailed-on certainty. A lot of people have worked very hard to persuade the powers that be to deliver it.
A lot of private, as well as public, money has been pledged. But surely it will prove to be money very well spent; an essential investment in support of the activities and freedom of movement of the populace.
And are we, at last, moving towards the holy grail of an integrated public transport system and if so, how long before the rest of it comes down the line to serve all parts of the city?
Restricting traffic is a part of the equation but it is unpopular for a variety of reasons. Dots are being joined, but the task isn’t yet complete; with the congestion charge about to hit, we will need to assess its pros and cons – and the winners and losers – very carefully.
But the CBL is very good news, even though it leaves one hanging question: electrification? I guess neither Rome, nor Oxford (or even Rennes) was built in a day.
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