Chiltern Railways has joined the newly created Oxfordshire Community Rail Partnership aimed at linking communities, planning departments and transport companies.

OxCRP will work with local residents and stakeholders, including station adoption groups, council members, researchers, and community centres, to address short-term needs and enable longer-term change relating to the county's rail services.

It launched this summer following a feasibility study produced by Gloucestershire Community Rail Partnership (GCRP), which was commissioned by Great Western Railway (GWR) last year.

The partnership's aims are aligned to the Department of Transport’s four pillars of community rail: providing a voice for the community, promoting sustainable, healthy, and accessible travel, bringing communities together, supporting diversity and inclusion, and supporting social and economic development.  

​In its first year it will work on three new community projects - Getaway to Independent Travel,  Route2Work and Connecting New Communities.

These will encourage hard-to-reach communities to access opportunities via rail, while encouraging new visitors to enjoy the county sustainably.  ​

​Hannah McDonnell, executive director of Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire Community Rail Partnership, said: "We are delighted to be expanding our work, impact and reach through establishing the Oxfordshire Community Rail Partnership.

"Ready to hit the ground running, our experienced and dedicated team will look closely at Oxfordshire’s specific needs to build and adapt our tried and tested approaches to supporting local people through transport and connectivity.

"We look forward to working with our new Oxfordshire partners and local communities.”

​OxCRP is already supported by Great Western Railway and hopes to work with a wide range of local partners as it continues to grow.  

Zach Bailey, stakeholder manager for Chiltern Railways, said: “Chiltern Railways is delighted to be joining the new Community Rail Partnership in Oxfordshire.

"This builds on our track record of effective community engagement across our network.

"We already have strong community links with stakeholders in the area, from our work with the Junior Citizens Trust on school education programmes, to collaborative partnerships with Bicester Village and Banbury Business Improvement District.

​"Our focus for this new partnership is to expand these activities to new areas of our network, providing volunteering and engagement opportunities for local people who share our goal of improving the look and feel of our stations for the benefit of the wider community."

Great Western Railway said local input would help improve stations and services.

Community manager Emma Morris said: "Throughout the GWR network, community rail partnerships play a leading role, bringing local people and communities together to add value to projects designed to improve services, and make stations safer, more welcoming and greener spaces.

"We welcome the commitment to this new partnership, and efforts to further improve access to transport links in Oxfordshire, in support of the local economy."

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