Aynho Junction

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Coordinates: 51°59′41″N 1°16′45″W / 51.9946°N 1.2792°W / 51.9946; -1.2792

Aynho Junction
Legend
Track layout
Chiltern Main Line
to Banbury
 
signal box location
freight loop
Chiltern Main Line
Cherwell Valley Line
to Oxford
 

Aynho Junction is a railway junction in Northamptonshire, England, five miles south of Banbury. The junction is a flying junction, with the down line from Bicester North grade separated from the up and down lines from Oxford. The junction is the point where the Great Western Railway's New North Main Line (via Northolt, High Wycombe and Bicester North) of 1910 joins the original Didcot and Chester Line via Oxford. The former line is also known as the Bicester cut-off line.

Location and former stations[]

Aynho Junction is located at the distances from the locations shown.[1]

Location of Aynho Junction
Aynho (down) Junction from: Engineer's Line Reference Distance (miles-chains )
London Paddington via Didcot Station MLN1, DCL 81 miles 12 chains
London Paddington via Northolt Jn and High Wycombe MLN1, ANL, NAJ2, NAJ3 62 miles 33 chains
London Marylebone via Neasden Jn, Northolt Jn and High Wycombe MCJ, NAJ1, NAJ2, NAJ3 63 miles 60 chains
Former Ashendon Jn NAJ3 18 miles 29 chains
Banbury Station DCL 05 miles 06 chains

Aynho (up) junction is 2 chains south of the down junction.

Former stations[]

There were two stations south of Aynho Junction, one on each line.

  • Aynho for Deddington station was located on the Didcot and Chester Line (DCL) 67 chains south of Aynho Junction. In the 'Beeching Report'[2] (Appendix 2, Section 3) Aynho for Deddington station was identified as a passenger station to be closed; it closed on 2 November 1964.
  • Aynho Park Platform was located on the Northolt and Aynho Junction Line (NAJ3) 70 chains south of Aynho Junction. In the 'Beeching Report'[2] (Appendix 2, Section 7) Aynho Park Platform was denoted as 'closure already implemented' having closed on 7 January 1963.

Train services[]

Today it is the point where Chiltern Railways' services to Birmingham Snow Hill join the same route used by Great Western Railway's services to Banbury, CrossCountry services between Reading and Birmingham New Street and freight traffic.

Signalling[]

Until the resignalling scheme in 1992, which transferred control to Banbury South signal box, the junction was controlled by Aynho Junction signal box. This was located between the down lines from Oxford and Bicester North. The signal box was decommissioned in 1992 and eventually demolished ten years later.

As part of Chiltern's Evergreen 3, the junction was relaid and upgraded for higher speeds and a new panel was fitted to Banbury South signal box.[3]

In January 2015 a £40m contract was signed between Siemens Rail Automation and Network Rail to renew the signalling in the Banbury area. The work involves developing a new layout at Banbury and new signalling in the area, including Ayhno. This was completed in August 2016.

The Aynho/Banbury/Leamington is now controlled from a workstation at West Midlands Signalling centre in Birmingham, via a Trackguard Westlock computer-based interlocking.[4]

References[]

  1. ^ Bridge, Mike (2010). Railway Track Diagrams Book 3 Western. Bradford on Avon: Trackmaps. ISBN 978-0-9549866-6-7.
  2. ^ a b British Railways Board (1963). The Reshaping of British Railways. London: HMSO.
  3. ^ "Chiltern Renaissance - the Evergreen Success". 26 October 2011.
  4. ^ "Siemens to undertake Banbury resignalling".


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